If I could be…

OK, I’m it now. 74 of Bow Ramp tossed down the gauntlet. It’s raining here, and dinner is still in the works, so here goes…Here are the directions from 74:

I guess I'm "it" now. It always seems to roll down hill doesn't it. First Lex (the Four Striper) tasks Chap (the Three Striper) and now Chap tasks me (the Two Striper) with this "thing." Answering the questions will be easy. Its finding people junior to me (that know how to blog) and have time on their hands that will be the killer. Anyway, here's the deal. There is a list of fifteen possible professions I might like to be in. I'm to pick five from the list and write about why I would like to do each of the five. After that I pick three worthy souls (victims) to carry on with the torture.

I’m sure I’ll find some victims in the MilBlog ring to visit this upon, and…I think I’ll pass it along to another entire set of regular blog commenters in the “outside” world at Right Thinking Girl because they are so full of life over there. So here is the list: If I could be a scientist… If I could be a farmer… If I could be a musician… If I could be a doctor… If I could be a painter… If I could be a gardener… If I could be a missionary… If I could be a chef… If I could be an architect… If I could be a linguist… If I could be a psychologist… If I could be a librarian… If I could be an athlete… If I could be a lawyer… If I could be an inn-keeper… If I could be a professor… If I could be a writer… If I could be a llama-rider… If I could be a bonnie pirate… If I could be an astronaut… If I could be a world famous blogger… If I could be a justice on any one court in the world… If I could be married to any current famous political figure… 1. If I could be a scientist…So many projects, so little time. But….I’d love to figure out the teleporting thing. Now before you think it would be for practical stuff, I have the leisure market in mind. There is such a constraint of freefall from 15,000 feet. It’s a pain to use oxygen, so you have about a minute plus a little of freefall from there (if you are "belly flying", for head down, even less). If you could have a teleportation system, you could get your team or group on the “pad” on the ground, then “beam up” to 15,000 feet. With a device carried on you, you could select the times you could cycle between 15K and 4000 feet. Like maybe 5 time. You could turn some serious points in formation building by starting at 15K down to 4K, then beaming back up. At the end of the 5 “cycles” you could select to be teleported to the ground (for the chickens) or to continue in freefall to canopy deployment. You could also have a “minimum” altitude by which, if you were still falling too fast, where the teleportation system monitors you and would safely bring you back to earth in the case of a malfunction that you hadn’t successfully handled. I foresee serious bucks for each franchise operator….oh, see the United States Parachute Association web site for more details, without the teleportation technology. 2. If I could be an astronaut…I would want to be the first person to skydive on Mars. The canopy would only have to be a few square feet, the view would be incredible, and really wouldn’t mind having to buy that case of beer. In fact, I’d be willing to buy a case for each time I personally got to show the film. (Note to “Wuffos:” If it’s a first, you buy the case…) There would be like serious bragging rights at any drop zone. On the other hand, maybe I’d just need one of those multi-airbag things to encapsulate me right before impact. It would be hard to use of accuracy, but it may lead to a new competition in bounce distance, similar to “swooping” here on earth. 3. If I could be a lawyer…I’d like to begin a movement to work lawyers out of a job. With my Dr. Deming Total Quality Management/Adm Kelso Total Quality Leadership training background, I found out that it’s really good to figure out how to make things efficient. I’m very often at a loss when I heard about lawyers using a variation of the “we had to destroy the village to save it” style of justification. “We had to person to get away with (fill in the blank here) because we passed a law of a completely different subject, and the defendant said it applied to this case and we were too stupid to consider the unintended consequences in the first place, so we just have to rule in a completely logical manner.” I say we take the dead language and chuck it out, along with the forms and exact formatting. Lets make law based on the “common” man, not a bunch of people who have had the money to be able to set themselves up to pass more complicated laws, so we have to give them more money just to understand it. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me as well. 4. If I could be a professor…Oh, how I’d love to be a history professor. There is so much we seem to be ignoring about civilization that can help us build a better future. The opportunity to find young, willing minds and feed them the information, just to see what comes back out would be tremendously rewarding. 5. If I could be married to any current famous political figure…mmmm…Ann Coulter. No explanation necessary. And, yes, I know this statement began with “IF.”

Conviction, Courage and Devotion 60 Years Ago

This is, by necessity, a long post. It is a story to honor those who have braved combat, and displayed great courage. Please read it through, and then tell others about it. Somewhere in a box, I have a picture. It is three elementary school children and a blonde German Shepard-Elkhound mix puppy standing next to a monument. The picture was taken in 1962 or 63, and it is my two sisters and I, and our dog, Scooter. All of that is important, and it's not. What is not as important is how my life has been intertwined with the name cast on the brass plate, and what is is the bigger story, the story of how that name came to be placed on the monument. As I sat down to gather the links, I re-read the Medal of Honor citiation. It covered a period from April 29th through May 21st. One some web pages, the day of this man's most significant action, is listed as May 5th, 1945, which, was a Saturday, by the way. Hang on to that fact, you'll need it by the end of the post. The monument was then, the day of the picture of my sisters and I, located near a sugar cane field on the island of Okinawa. It was there my father told us a story of an Army Medic by the name of Corporal Desmond T. Doss, who distinguished himself (that day) by climbing an escarpment, repeatedly, venturing out onto a machine gun fire swept battle field of open, relatively flat ground, to recover his fellow soldiers, and lower them down the escarpment to safety. A brave man indeed, but he was braver still, in the context of then, and even today than those key points describe. Desmond T. Doss is (he is still living) a 7th Day Adventist. This Christian denomination does not believe in the taking of life. Desmond Doss could have easily avoided service in WWII. Because of his upbrining and personal faithfulness, a request for CO status would have, most likely, been granted without question. Yet, Desmond T. Doss joined the Army, not to kill, but to save lives. This quote discussed the character of a man, being vilified for his faith by those he served with:

So what do you do with a soldier who won't train on Saturday, eat meat, or carry a gun or bayonet? Doss' commanding officer knew what to do. Paperwork was initiated to declare him unstable, a miss-fit, and wash him out of military service with a Section-8 discharge as "unsuitable for military service." But Doss wanted to serve his country, he just refused to kill. He performed all of his other duties with dedication, was an exemplary a soldier in every other way. At his hearing he told the board, "I'd be a very poor Christian if I accepted a discharge implying that I was mentally off because of my religion. I'm sorry, gentlemen, but I can't accept that kind of a discharge." So the Army was "stuck" with Desmond Doss.

Desmond's story has been put into a book, The Unlikeliest Hero by Booten Herdon, and a movie, The Conscientious Objector. This site Home of Heros has the details of this story, and many others. Desmond's story begins here. Desmond Doss saved lives at Guam in July 1944, then at Leyte in the Philippines in Oct 1944, and Okinawa in Apr-May 1945 while assigned to the 77th Infantry Division, 307th Medical Detachment. At the amphibious assault at Leyte, here's an account of what happened:

Time after time at Leyte Doss braved enemy fire to go to the wounded, and to remove them to safety. Once he darted into the open to treat and rescue a wounded man even while the area was alive with sniper fire. From a distance his fellow soldiers watched in horror as a Japanese sniper leveled his rifle at the fearless medic. Because of the sniper's position they could not return fire for fear of injuring some of their own. Doss treated the wounded man, evacuated him to the rear, and returned to his position. One of the sergeants told him, "Doss, we expected to see you killed any second. We couldn't shoot the sniper without killing our own men, and he had his machine gun aimed right at you. Didn't you see him?"

And, read this, which came to light many years after the war:

Years later a missionary in Japan related the story of Doss' brush with death that day. After the service a Japanese man in the back of the room told one of the deacons, "That could very well have been me. I was there, and I remember having a soldier in my gun site, but I couldn't pull the trigger." Doss not only survived Leyte, for his repeated heroism he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. So as Corporal Doss stood before the men of Company B at the base of the Maeda Escarpment on Okinawa, they were beginning to believe in the prayers of the medic whose only weapon was his Bible.

Sounds to me like God's protection.... The time leading directly to his winning of the MOH begins with this actual quote from Lt Goronto, as his unit was about to take the Maeda Escarpment, a 400 ft high sheer cliff:

"Fellows, come over here and gather around. Doss wants to pray for us."

He did, and on that first assault, while Alfa Company was being chewed up by the Japanses, Bravo had taken about 8-9 enemy emplacements, with only one wounded soldier. That was the 29th of April. Here's the story of the results of the after action report:

The next day a follow-up inquiry was made to determine how Company B had accomplished the miraculous assault on the Maeda Escarpment without a single casualty. A photographer arrived to take a picture and Lieutenant Goronto sent Desmond to the top to pose. (The photo at right is the US Army photo taken that day, and Desmond Doss is the man at the top.) As far back as Army headquarters in the States, everyone asked how Company B had pulled it off. No one could find a reasonable explanation. Finally, with no other way to conclude the report, the official answer was filed...all the way back to the United States. The official answer: "Doss prayed!"

Another miracle. The fighting continued, and on May 5th, it got bloody for Bravo Company.

On May 5th the tide of battle turned against the Americans. Enemy artillery, mortars and machinegun fire began to rake into the ranks of Company B, 77th Infantry Division. Japanese soldiers swarmed out of their foxholes and caves in every direction. Almost immediately 75 men fell wounded, and the remaining men were forced to fall back and retreat to the base of the escarpment. The only soldiers remaining at the top of the cliff were the wounded, the Japanese, and Desmond T. Doss. Heedless of the shells that burst around him and the bullets directed his way, Desmond tended his injured comrades. At the base of the escarpment those few soldiers who had managed to escape the onslaught could only sit helplessly by and hear the sounds of the battle as the wounded struggled to survive atop the cliff. And then...amazingly...a wounded soldier appeared over the face of the escarpment. Dangling from a rope, he slowly descended to the safety of its base as a tall medic fed the rope through his hands from the summit. First one, then another, and another....and another. Heedless of the advancing Japanese, Desmond Doss went about the work of sending the wounded to safety. Reports of that day tell of Japanese advancing with rifles and bayonets to within a few feet of the medic, slowly lowering his men to safety, before one of the wounded could kill the enemy before they shot Doss. For five hours Doss lowered soldier after soldier down the face of the escarpment, using little more than a tree stump to wind the top edge of the rope around. Throughout the five hours Desmond had only one thought. He prayed, "Lord, help me get one more. Just ONE more!" How many men Doss saved that day, only God knows. One hundred and fifty-five soldiers went up the escarpment that day, and only 55 were able to retreat without assistance. The Army determined the conscious objector who had almost been court martialed or discharged as unfit for military service, had saved 100 lives. "Couldn't be," Desmond had replied. It couldn't have been more than 50. I wouldn't have had the time to save 100 men." In deference to Desmond's humble estimate, when the citation for his Medal of Honor was written, they "split the difference", crediting the intrepid soldier with saving 75 fellow soldiers.

More miracles, about 100 men being rescued for a start, but this lone medic, slaving away to save the wounded, ending the fierce battle unscathed. In the ensuing days, Cpl Doss continued to save the men he served with, and was wounded himself. He tended to his own wounds and directed other wounded be cared for before himself. Read the rest of the story here and here. And through it all, when he got to the hospital ship, and found he was missing the Bible his wife had given him, he had word sent to his unit on the beach, to let them know he had lost this precious "weapon." Desmond Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Roosevelt. When he returned hom after the ceremony, there was something waiting for him:

At home another surprise awaited the young man. His men hadn't forgotten the brave medic or his love for the Word of God. The message about "Doss' Bible" had been delivered. Incredibly, the men who once mocked the Godly Seventh-Day Adventist who would not compromise, had returned to the Maeda Escarpment with a new mission and purpose. After soundly defeating the Japanese they fanned out across the rocky terrain and conducted a search until they found, and mailed home, Desmond's Bible.

Near the beginning of this post, I asked you to hang onto the fact that May 5th was a Saturday. The 7th Day Adventists continue to keep the original Jewish Sabbath on Saturday, unlike other Christian denominations that use Sunday as the Sabbath. Desmond Doss was saving many lives on the Sabbath he observed. Desmond Doss remains active in his Church near Lookout Mountain in Rising Fawn, Georgia. I plan to make a trip up there soon to meet this man, who does what so few others seem to be able to do: Live by a moral code, regardless of the ridcule of others, and to steadfastly love his "neighbor" as he would love himself. I can only guess this is the first story I heard about the coveted Congressional Medal of Honor, as a 3rd grader on an island far out in the Pacific Ocean. It took me years to see that the story of Desmond Doss is a reflection of Jesus Christ on earth, which is the story I missed until a few years ago. In reflecting on not only this "connection" in my life, I also lived on Guam a few years later, and while I was in the Navy, I served aboard a ship named for a sailor, GM Paul Carr, who died aboard USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (DE-413) on Oct 25th, 1944 at the Battle Off Samar, while the outnumbered and out gunned task force of "Taffy 3" kept a Japanese battle force from breaking through and wiping out the Army troops ashore at Leyte, where Desmond Doss had landed. I can hang onto Psalm 139:16 as a result of this study. While researching this material, I found the Army has made a specialized pack for the "Combat Live Savers" (CLS) personnel, and have named the M3A Pack in honor of Desmond Doss.

Laundry Equipment Bugging You? Watch This....

Update: If you're here from LGF on or about 6/30/2005, here's the correct link to Cpl Doss' Story...my bad! Ah, the MilBlogs listings.... I found another "Zoomie" and scrolled down a bit. He had linked to a video that many may be thankful that someone did this, and can watch, relishing in that concept of "vicarious living."

Army Infantry Life vs Civilian Life

I lifted this quote from a recent post on Airborne Hog Society. It's classic...

I have worked in the civilian world in rural, suburban, and urban areas. I have gone to college in Alabama - in the buckle of the Bible belt - and in the heart of Boston, which is just about the exact opposite. I have lived in small towns, suburbs, and cities. There are no better people to live with, talk with, befriend or work with than infantrymen. It is difficult to explain why and I lack the eloquence, time, and a sufficiently well-rested brain to explain why. So, I will just sum it up by saying this. Here is a conversation that you will never hear in an infantry unit: Sergeant: “Gee, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I got a little upset and said some things that I shouldn’t have.” Soldier: “I understand. We all get stressed out sometimes.” Sergeant: “Thanks for understanding. Hey, how about a hug?” Instead, you are more likely to hear this: Sergeant: “All right, I’m done yelling at you. Dust yourself off and get back to work. If you ever pull some stupid crap like that again, I will smoke you into a coma.” Soldier: “Hooah, Sergeant.” Sergeant: “Shut up.” I cleaned that up quite a bit, too.

De Tocqueville on the Quran....

Once more, I find interesting things on Fjord Man. In this post, he links to a site that has an analysis of comments by modern historians Lewis and Pipes, against the backdrop of the insightful commentary of De Tocqueville. Here's the "money quote:"

"I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. So far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself."

A brilliant mind....

"For the next ten years, you just meet them all again"

After I got close to the end of my 20 years, I began to subscribe to this self discerned philosophy: "For the first ten years you meet people, for the next ten years, you just meet them again." As I checked out Neptunus Lex's blog, his story about his time as a 3rd class "middy" connected the two of us through the subject of his post. I had another personal "deja vu" time in 1989. It was at the change of command on my ship. I had the honor (duty as XO) to be the MC, and while I was at the podium, a face in the crowd kept attracting my attention. I couldn't place it, but I knew it was familiar. Once the ceremony was over, and I had the reception on track, I sought this man out, who was not wearing a uniform, and introduced myself, with the line: "I know you from somewhere." He grinned and we began running the lists of duty stations...no match. He did tell me he had been the new CO's roommate at the Naval Academy. He, unlike Ned, had been an A-6 pilot, so I didn't concentrate on references to Surface Force places. Still no go. We racked our brains for a while longer. and he asked me if I had ever been to Newport (RI). Of course I had been, it's the mecca for Surface guys, with our important professional schools being there. Like Pensacola to any aviator. At this point, the connection came quickly, as he told me he had been in Communications Afloat School. I asked when, and sure enough, it was Dec 76. We had both been in the same class, me as an Ensign, he as a LT. He volunteered he sat in the back and slept throught most of it. I know I was up front. Back then, to us Ensigns, our LT SWOS Basic insturctor (LTs) had convinced us LTs were at least demi-Gods (even though they themselves were merely post Division Officers). For this reason, I didn't mingle with the LTs in the back of the room. Small world, smaller service, and the ability to still make a connection after 13 years, between two communities.

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

But I do know when I'll be back again. There will be light blogging for the rest of the week. Two main reasons are a short vacation to attend a college graduation, and I am also working on a post for May 5th, which commemorates 60 years since an act of heroism took place. Please check back for that story, it's one worth hearing. For those coming by to see what's new, if it looks scarce, it is, but I'll be back by Monday night, but maybe sooner, if network connections allow.... In the meantime, for the tech toy inclined, check this out... DX1 Input system

Repeat after me, you guys with dolphins on your breast...

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home!" Now click your heels together and follow this link to find TOTO. Who knows, you might want to make a wallpaper out of this image...

“How are we going to get that one?”

There stood the Captain, the XO, the OOD, and a whole bunch of others, looking over the starboard bridge wing at the drone in the water, a few yards from the hull of the ship. Rewind to the morning of that day in the northern Puerto Rican “OPAREA.” We were in the Caribbean to pump fuel and deliver stores to the “real” ships, who were down there exercising the equipment that differentiated them from being merchant hulls. We have a detachment from Fleet Composite Squadron Six (VC-6) embarked to provide drone target services. The VC-6 guys loved using us as a launch platform. MILWAUKEE (AOR-2) had a big flight deck aft, designed to support two CH-46 cargo helicopters for VERTREP (vertical replenishment – more on this in some future post). There were two cavernous hangers for the “birds” built into the after superstructure, plenty of room to stage the drones on their launch platforms. They could set up the drones for launch in an area free of the elements, and with plenty of lighting in the pre-dawn period. When the operations were to begin, they rolled up the doors and wheeled the set up drones out to the deck edge, wired them up and they were ready to go. They also loved to set up their control station in my helo control tower. Once more, it was enclosed, with three big windows, and an elevated, commanding view of the flight deck and aft of the ship. They flew the drones by watching an x-y plotter that dead reckoned the flight path of the drones. They would mark the plotting surface with the planned formation of shooters, so they could guide the drone over the ship getting its run. The drones launched with small rockets from the frame that held them and were on their way. It was pretty cool to hang out on the flight deck, between launches, and watch the tin cans lined up astern, pounding out VT-NF 5”/54 rounds at the inbound targets. The plan for the day was to sequentially launch drones all day long, as each one reached fuel exhaustion and had the chute deployment commanded, the next one left the deck. My crew in Combat Information Center (CIC), under the watchful eyes of OSC “Mac,” would plot the splash point of each drone, so we could send the helo out to retrieve them at the end of the exercise. Being pretty new at all of this, I recall he used an overlay for the maneuvering board with a “Z” on it. I wish I could remember the name of the method, but is was an “old school” search and rescue plotting method. I do remember this: When the shooters smartly hauled off when the last target splashed, Chief Mac’s plotting drove the recovery platform to all six of them, regardless of the fact some had been floating out there for about 6 hours. The VC-6 crew cleared their gear off the deck and an H-46 was rolled out for launch. They had the “wet crewman” (Search and Rescue Swimmer) aboard, and a long pendant to be used to attach to the hook on the top of the drone, so they could lift it and then deposit it back on the flight deck. The OS Helo Direction Controller in CIC vectored the H-46 to first drone and the Captain requested a course to one of the other drones. Off we steered to one of the orange unmanned vehicles. Now I’m caught up. Wide angle shot from the pilot house door at the multitude of personnel of the bridge watch team and the CO and XO leaning over the bulwark, some 50 feet above the ocean surface at this thing floating right next to us. Cut to the helo, about a half mile away, hovering so close to the water, that the wheels were almost touching the surface, with a mist of blowing sea water enveloping the chopper. You can see the movement of the pendant off the rear ramp, as the crew, invisible at this distance, due to the mist and shadowed interior of the helo, thrashed about, trying to snag the hook of the drone without much success. Since the helo crew had their job somewhat under control and sunset coming in the not too distant time frame, we once again peer over the bridge wing. Finally, the CO rhetorically asks “How are we going to get that?” After about 10 seconds of silence, I say “I will!” All eyes pan my direction. “I have my snorkeling gear in my stateroom” I volunteer. The idea takes hold. I also look up at the Signal Bridge and ask if one of the SMs (who was a swimmer) wanted to go. He said “yes,” and the Captain directed the crew to man the whaleboat. I took off and grabbed my gear, pulling on my pair of “UDTs” and headed to the starboard boat davit. We lowered the boat, drove the short distance to the drone. The signalman and I rolled over the side and attached a line from the whaleboat to the drone. Once the line was secured to a set of bits, we swam over and each grabbed a wing, while the motor whaleboat pulled the drone over to a position under the boat boom. We connected the hook to the drone and up it went. We had just shown how we could pretty much double up on drone recovery, get one with the helo, and one with the ship. In short order we had the 6 drones back aboard to be flushed out and prepped for future launches. Over the next few weeks, I got to recover a number of drones. Not only was it a fun break from watch standing, this happened in February, while our spouses and children were going through one of the coldest winters Norfolk, VA had had in quite some time. The water temperature was a bathtub warm 85 degrees, and so clear that I could see the entire bottom of the ship from about a ¼ mile away. The ship drew 40’ of draft when loaded and was 659’ long. The water depth was 12,000’ and it was incredible to look down in the water, seeing the sun’s rays being swallowed by the dark blue way below the surface. In all my formal “swim calls” during this operation, I only saw one fish, which was a very large sun fish that had come to inspect one of the drones. There were no sharks around, or anything else. We steamed back into Norfolk on March 1st, during a snow storm. It was quite a contrast from the Caribbean. Actually, the snow wasn’t such a bad deal compared to the dirty looks we got from our families because we had really nice sun tans….. What can I say? Someone had to do it…

An Open Letter of Thanks to Mudville Gazette

Traffic is up over here, and most all of it has been the result of Greyhawk and Mrs. Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette having "open posts." The point of these open posts is to allow us fledgling bloggers to connect our posts to a well read blog, and therefore get more readers ourselves. By using the detail seciton of Site Meter, I can see about 90% of my hits show the "entry page" as ones I have listed on open posts on Mudville. Occassionally, some readers even hang around an view a few other pages, as well. Additionally, it looks like I've gained a core readership, as I see some of the same addresses coming in about the same time each day. For you other "newbies," they have made the offer for you to do the same,as well as having posted very detailed directions on becoming a blogger. I have found some great blogs because others have begun doing the same thing with their posts. AND! There's more! They are in Germany, so they are up while we are still snoozing away. They know what's up before we even are rolling out of our racks. Mrs. Greyhawk's "Dawn Patrol" posts are a fantastic "news clipping service" for the terminally busy. Greyhawk uses his world experience to make exceptionally cogent commetns on the world geo-political condition. These two also began and manage the MilBlog ring. All of this takes work, but moreso, it has to be a passion of theirs, as demonstrated by the results of their personal investments. If you want to join the MilBlog ring, here's the post. Bottom line: If you're not reading Mudville Gazette as you take on that first cup of coffee each day, you're missing a heads up on life.... Thank you, the Greyhawk team, for adding my main source of traffic.

Senator John McCain on the Pledge of Alliegance

It's Saturday morning and I'm out cruising the net for pictures of the former commands I served on, and some items from organizations I had significant interactions with. I had found Bluejacket and it has a nice compliation of pictures, insignia, history of the Sea Service, and another section. If you are looking for a great place to get to know our Navy and it's history, go check it out. There is an excerpt from a speech by Senator John McCain describing the dedication of one man, in a North Veitnamese prison, to making the best American flag he could, so they could pledge their allegiance to our Country:

"What so proudly we hail."

Excerpt from a speech made by United States Senator John S. McCain As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POW's 10,000 miles from home. One of the men that moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes 'til he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country - and our military - provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he sewed the American flag on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now. But I can assure you that - in that stark cell - it was indeed the most important and meaningful event. One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple hours. Then they opened the door of the cell and threw him back inside. He was not in good condition, and we tried to clean him up as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept as well as we could. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room. As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of white cloth, a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He was not making that flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to pledge our allegiance to our flag and country. So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Once More, Denzel Washington Supports the Troops

Jack Army posted a short item based on a request for one of his friends about Denzel Washington visiting one of the Fisher Houses in the San Antonio area. Go read the whole post....and see the pictures...and, make a point of reading Jack's blog....

Officer Counseling, or Lack Thereof

As a matter of setting the stage, I’ll begin here: During my career, there were many periods of time when retention was a big issue. In the Surface Community, that meant enlisted retention. This is a very important issue, and once more, it is in these times. The program for enlisted counseling was well laid out, and I’ll have to admit, until I was XO, I spent more time making sure the nuts and blots of my primary duty were in place, and then, somewhere down the available time line, enlisted retention issues were given time, mostly when the XO made a big issue of getting all those required counseling sessions in. While I was XO (88-90), it was one of those times when we needed to retain about 30% of the “1st term” sailors. I dutifully laid out a plan to make sure we did our job, and it even began to sink in as to how important it was. I rode herd on the Department Heads, and made sure the Division Officer and Chiefs followed through. It worked. In the process of making sure our enlisted counseling efforts were in place, I found out (much to my surprise) that there was a parallel officer counseling program. Here I was, with 12 years of service under my belt as an officer, and then I found out there was a program I hadn’t ever been exposed to. No one ever had mentioned it in “Little SWOS,” Department Head School, XO Afloat, nor any inspection I had ever been through, This including the dreaded “Command Admin” one, which did through evaluate the “retention” program (read “enlisted retention” program). I can’t say I was completely left out, as any time I asked a senior officer for advice, they always made dedicated time to sit down with me, and have substantive discussions on the matter of upcoming career choices. I didn’t ask but a few times. All the while, as I found out sometime in 1988 or 89, my chain of command had had an obligation to regularly sit me down and counsel me on my future. It hadn’t happened. I stayed in, because I just was always going to be in, not because I didn’t have anywhere else to go. One time, just one time, in a semi-informal setting, the Operations Officer on my ship (I worked for the Combat Systems Officer), while we stood a watch in Combat Information Center (CIC) took me aside, since it was very quiet in our independent steaming status, looked me in the eye and asked “What are you planning to do in the Navy?” His name was LT William Malone. He is probably one of the least most likely officers I served with to expect he would be the only one to ask me. He and I had a long talk that watch, about the Surface “Career Path.” I doubt he did this because it was in the OPNAVINST on officer counseling, but he did it because it was his opportunity to help grow the community. The thing that also amazes me is I worked for some outstanding officers through 20 years of service, but they were deficient in this regard. How many junior officers (JOs) took a hike, not even realizing there might be something ahead of them, if they stayed in? Here’s the point. I only heard of my peers ever talk about being pulled in and being counseled on career choices. While we were very junior officers, generally while we were in our first sea tours, when we got our fitness reports (those usually being done on an annual basis), we might get a pat on the back, a few “rudder orders” on doing some skill (related to our present duty assignment) better, but it was usually a short session, and not a forum to ask a lot of questions about “where do I go from here?” The one that did talk about it was a Surface Warfare Officer who applied to and was accepted for a transfer into the Civil Engineering Staff Corps. While he was in his indoctrination, they had to write out their career goals, and then they had a lengthy 1 on 1 with a senior Civil Engineer. I’m sure, particularly in the aviation arena, the “JOs” were regularly pulled aside to ascertain if their multi-million training would be available to the Navy after their 5 year obligation was up. I’m sure the good sticks got special attention to make sure they convinced them to hang around. I know they and the nuclear capable officer were plied with lots of money, which sounded like a lot, but, if they took it, I now understand it was a great bargain for the taxpayer in retaining them. For you officers out there, think about your experience coming up in the ranks. Did your boss ever sit you down and help you formulate your path for the few years to come, let alone possibly out to the end of your career, so you might ensure success in attaining your goals? What different choices might you have made, if only someone with more time in grade had bothered to show you what was available? If you are an officer with officers working for you, have you taken time to check the plans of your subordinates? Do you see someone with promise that you’d hate to see resign their commission? How about making some time to set them up for a successful path. It will be well worth the effort. Also, take a look around at your service’s regs and see if it’s something you should have been doing all along. You’ll look like a hero of administrative warfare, on top of retaining those sharp officers that your troops deserve to have lead them in the future.

A Now for a Humor Break...or Maybe a Reality Break

These links will either make you laugh yourself silly (and wonder how you can get some of the posters to hang up), or make you cringe. Hence, this may be a humor break, or a reality break from your normal routine. Despair.Com. Check out the posters and stuff. I kinda liked this one. If that wasn't enough, take a peek here. I found the lead to this information via that submariner guy, Chapomatic, who is a real thinker and writer, in addition to a guy who spent lots of time sinking ships he was riding on. Chap, if you're reading this, a Spru Can sounds like a light rain squall when it's about to put a Mk 46 in the water near you..... Bonus link of the day: Ever get a little upset when someone parks so that they take up all the spots or block traffic? Get a pack of bumper stickers here to adorn their vehicle.

I’m Not Sure What to Believe Now...

Scientific American for May 2005 says on the cover “Do-It-Yourself Black Holes: Physics Gets Ready.” For the loyal blog readers here, you’ll recall that physicists decided a earlier this month that Black Holes didn’t exist. I guess the Scientific American writing staff and editors didn’t get the word. And, for those of you in the military, we know it’s not an excuse when you don’t know, you just get nailed for "Failure to get the word." I’ll admit it, I’m confused as to what’s the truth here. Ok, it looks like if you get out to the garage and dust off your particle accelerator (or head down the community center to use theirs), you know, the one you built as from a Heathkit project, a model of the accelerator at CERN near Geneva, you can possibly make microscopic Black Holes, so you can play in the quantum particle physics field. Don’t worry, these "small" Black Holes won’t rip stars apart (they didn’t mention what it will do to the Harley you also keep in the garage). Once you produce a hole, you should be able to make discoveries to enhance our understanding of the universe. Just make sure you keep your prized Craftsman tools, the golf clubs and your Harley at a safe distance (just in case), to make sure they aren’t taken to a parallel universe.

Looking for a Way to Donate Unused CPU Cycles?

The May, 2005 Scientific American (see page 30) says there are many projects out there that can make use of the time your computer is sitting there, making pretty designs with the screen saver. Using a "Distributed Computing" network, you can help in up to 60 programs. To see a list of these projects, try this place. Many people have heard about doing this for the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, but there’s many more to choose from.

Retirement Speech for a Navy Master Chief Petty Officer

At the end of a military career, it is customary to honor the one departing. Recently, Neptunus Rex, as he is known on his blog, had the honor of being the one asked to be the speaker when a shipmate retired. I for one, asked if he might be able to post the text of what he said, in order to share an example of what is said, when a sailor leaves active service. He has, and, like the rest of his writing, it is a powerful testimony of a man who trusted another man to keep he and his pilots alive. In civilian life, there are precious few relationships like this. Not only will you find a piece of history, and understand words such as these have been spoken for many, you will find many first person accounts of life in the Naval Aviation arena by an active duty Navy Captain, who has been around the block in peace and war. As a side note, you will find in Lex's speech, the same theme I have had in two of my posts (here and here) about Chief Petty Officers and their importance to the Naval serivice, in days gone by, and today.

Diversions....

Need a time waster that helps you comprehend external ballistics? Whack the Penguin My record is 316 "units" (ther is no indication for NASA Mars guys as to whether the distance is metric or english...) High angle whacks result in a very "pointed" landing, as the penguin's beak digs into the ice. Watch out for the low glancing, skipping shots, they cause too much friction on each skip. The sweet spot seems to be about a 35 degree angle, but my boss got it out to 322, for the lunch time record... Flash, it's a wonderful thing...

Free Muslims Against Terror

It's easy to point out that the "moderate" Muslims are still AWOL (or UA those those in the know), because they sure haven't been seeking a public forum of any significant size, if they do feel peace is the answer. I found this post about a demonstration for peace in the Middle East by Muslims over at Atlas Shrugs. Mark your calenders for May 14th, 2005. Maybe the spark of democracy has been fanned enough to let us see a little bit of a flame lapping up from the tinder. Lets hope the voice of reason gets a larger voice.

"PowerPoint Rangers"

I think I may have earned the patch...in fact, I may be eligible for the posthumous award. For all who have had the "pleasure" of using that wonderful weapon of administrative warfare, MS PowerPoint, you have to go here.... Be ready to laugh...