I honor, respect, and thank all veterans. But this is the one I love.
Proud Navy man. Loving husband and father. Overall good person.
I miss him but celebrate him today, on Veteran’s Day.
Tag Archive for Navy
Thank You & HB, Navy
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!
Thank You & HB, Navy
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!
Sailors Encouraged to Play with Xbox
Forget the legendary military absurd costs of $640 toilet seats, $660 ashtrays, $7,600 coffee-makers, and $74,000 ladders. They’re getting it right on this one: Xbox controllers to operate periscopes on attack submarines.
True, they’re less sturdy and may not last as long. But at about $30 each, the Navy can afford to keep a case of them on board every sub. They’ll replace the current Lockheed-Martin control, which costs $38,000 each, and do the job just as well. Besides, there’s little training required, compared to the current controller, because who hasn’t used an Xbox controller?
Makes dollars and cents to me.
Expendable Dolphins and Whales
My husband, who served two tours as a submarine sailor, fondly talks about his experiences with dolphins at sea: escorting the sub back into port and playfully doing jumps across the sub’s bow. We read stories about dolphins saving human lives, protecting them and leading people out of danger. I often wonder if these peaceful animals don’t have an ocean-full of lessons to teach us humans.
But we’re putting dolphins, whales, and fish in danger so we can easily search for new gas and oil deposits in the Atlantic. We blast areas with super-noisy air guns to get at deposits that are estimated to yield far less (some say nine times) than reserves off the coast of Alaska. These seismic blasts, 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine, can cause death and injury to those creatures. Meanwhile, the Navy’s use of sonar and explosives may, according to their own estimates, kill more than 200 marine mammals a year.
What the &%@#! are we doing?! Surely the great minds in government and science can find a better, non-harmful, less selfish way to co-exist on our planet.
