This week, some 243 years ago (1775), the U.S. Navy came into being. Today,300,000+ men and women are active duty Navy service members.
I didn’t serve in the Navy, but my husband did. He served two tours as a submarine sailor, with a stint on land and in the air over Viet Nam installing and servicing the radios that broadcast to the Vietnamese people. That’s where he was exposed the Agent Orange that likely was the cause of his cancers and, later in life, the antibiotic-persistent lung disease that killed him.
The Navy gave him much that was positive, though. Lifelong shipmate-friends. Experience and training that led him to a career in electronics. Stories of near disaster on a nuclear sub. Long, lonely months at sea brightened by letters from home. The awesome vastness and power of the sea. Dolphins jumping over the bow of their ship, greeting them as they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. And, yes, a bar fight or two (this IS the Navy, after all!).
I salute all of you Navy personnel, and thank you for your service.
And to the U.S. Navy–happy birthday!
