Amen! The Seabees are awesome.
Not too many construction workers in this world can build an airstrip while simultaneously giving the enemy a sound arse-kicking!
Posted on 01/11/2003 10:15:14 AM PST by Imal
(This was originally posted in the Iraq Betting Pool thread as part of an exchange between myself and Grampa Dave, both of us salty old dogs. After writing it, I thought I would share it as an article unto itself. -Imal)
Many a year has passed since I last punched holes in the water for Liberty (I was one of Hymie's Boys in Reagan's Navy -- God bless them both), and I can't say I was sorry to rejoin the civilian world, but I'll be damned if we haven't left our Navy in the very best of hands.
Funny you should mention Pearl Harbor, as I used to be based there. Each time our boat passed by Ford Island, on our way to or from "Papa Hotel", we rendered honors to USS Arizona (though it was quite a few hundred yards away from our course), and it was always sobering to remember that the men who went down with that ship were just like my buds on the boat.
Especially poignant for me, being a bubblehead, was the WWII Submarine Memorial at SUBASE, a nice little park with trees and grass, and which had monuments with plaques listing the ratings and names of the officers and crewmen of the 52 submarines lost during the war, "Still On Patrol". I used to go there (it's right down the hill from my old barracks) quite a bit, read the names, think about the men behind them and what it must have been like to go down in one of those pig boats, and I still can't think about it without getting pretty choked up.
My boat also came within a gnat's ass of joining them on one mission (I don't name my boat for security reasons), so I really have an appreciation for what a serious business being a sailor in our Navy is -- despite all the clowning around us squids are known for.
When Stark and Cole got hit, I felt it almost physically, like a wound to my body. The final moments of Thresher and Scorpion, not to mention some close ones on my boat, sometimes haunt my dreams. And I am not blind nor deaf to those who have died in so many "routine" operations over the years, either.
So when I see the clouds of war gathering, I know it ain't all fun and games. Sons and daughters of our great nation will die, and we should never cheapen their sacrifices by sending them forth in vain.
But God help those who wind up on the business end of our guns, missiles and torpedoes, because no one else can once the word is given!
And now, with a man of honor once again as CinC, a man who seems to understand what sea power is all about, knowing what it means to send our best into harm's way, and knowing why we must do so, I feel no compunctions in saying, with profound pride, to those who today carry on the Navy tradition with poise and distinction:
And ditto that for all you wingnuts, grunts and coasties out there, too.
The U.S. Air Force, Army and Coast Guard. Cross them at your peril!
Yep, that they were, although I know of a few nuke boats that would probably earn the name, too. ;^)
There are lots of movies about what it was like to be on one of the old pig boats, but none can convey what it really must have been like to have gone for days without showering, breathing in the stifling stench of the diesels, covered with sweat, grease and brine, sleeping in a rack with your nose six inches from the one above you, being packed into that tiny little can with dozens of guys that stank as badly as you did, and not being able to turn your head without smacking it into some valve or another hanging down from the overhead.
Compared to those, my boat was a palace, even though the largest open space in it was smaller than my bedroom is today.
Yeah, he had his reasons, but as far as I'm concerned, there's a special place in hell for scum like him, and I hope he's having a terrible time there.
And may the men he let die be forever pissing down on him from Heaven.
Amen! The Seabees are awesome.
Not too many construction workers in this world can build an airstrip while simultaneously giving the enemy a sound arse-kicking!
Before you buy this book, for some real fun go to your local library and ask one of the politically correct librarians if they have this book or can borrow this book from a lending library.
I did this at our local libray with one of these creatures. At first she/it got really hostile when I showed her the printout telling about the book. Then she went on the computer got even madder and then suddenly changed. She asked how I knew about the author and this book. I said that friend on the internet told me about this book.
This weird interchange went on for about 7 minutes. My wife was watching it from about 25 feet away and came up at the final part. As the clipped hair and now semi friendly librarian, had entered the data for to try and get the book if not available, she would buy it in Feb. if I requested it at that time. As I thanked her, she smiled and asked if I was in the military, and I said a long time ago. She asked what branch and I said Navy. She smiled and said we will let you know if we find the book or need your request to order it.
My wife had watched the changes in her personality and said that on my next trip, I should ask this librarian if she was in the military and what she did. My wife said that if the book came in or I went back to talk to this liberian, she wanted a comfortable seat to watch act 2.
Thanks for the insightful observations about Pearl, haven't been there yet, want to go so bad I can taste it. Someday ...
The U.S. Submarine Memorials Locator File
Non sibi sed patria
Not for self, but for country
This one?
"South Carolina, a 1165-ton (burden) iron screw steamship built at Boston, Massachusetts in 1860, was purchased by the Navy in May 1861 for Civil War service. She was commissioned later in that month as USS South Carolina and assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron. "
Thanks for the link!
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