Remembering Shipmates

Well gang, it will be several weeks before we saddle up again for more traveling.  We have a couple of trips on the drawing board and one of the first will be another R&R trip to our beautiful South Carolina coast.  We look forward to that and we will do some 'fun' things down there; so be ready for more coastal adventures.  While we are getting ready for that trip, though, I wanted to take some time to look back at a couple of things.  One recent and one quite a while back.  Those of you who have hung around us for a while might recall that I served in the U. S. Navy years ago.  Sometimes, when we are down at the coast, I find myself gazing out to sea in pensive reflection of those times, those people and what they meant to the person I became.  Just recently we visited the "Fishermen's Memorial" in Seattle and spent some time in solemn reflection of the folks who have given their lives while pursuing  a career at sea.  That visit called to mind a trip we took several years ago when we visited a similar memorial in our wonderful Georgetown, South Carolina.  First - I think we've made it pretty clear how much the SCTravelersX3 love the ocean and all the things that are touched by its powerful influence  And - you might recall my proud recollections of the time I spent in the United States Navy.   Although it was at a difficult time in our nation's history, I was extraordinarily fortunate to serve with some of the finest human beings who ever put to sea to protect our nation and our people.  I was also privileged to serve aboard some of the finest vessels ever to fly the flag of our country and they

USS Monrovia (APA-31)

USS Everglades (AD-24)

USS Proteus and USS Betelgeuse

all distinguished themselves during their service in ways that will probably never be adequately recounted.  So - I just wanted to take a moment or two to look back at ships - whose silhouettes have long been gone from the distant nautical horizon but whose spirits live on in the men and women who served aboard them and the deeds they performed.  One of the earliest I sailed aboard was the USS Monrovia (APA-31) whose fiery red-haired captain could have been a prototype for anyone seeking to type-cast a naval ship commander.  Then, after weathering the missile crisis in Cuba, I returned to Charleston, S. C. and reported to the destroyer tender, USS Everglades.  From there it was a brief stint on the USS Betelgeuse (AKA-260) - the last of its kind in our navy - which delivered me to the USS Proteus (AS-19) in Holy

USS Proteus (AS-19)

Loch, Scotland.  I was privileged to serve with my brother on the Proteus but when the ship set sail for Guam I respectfully requested that I not serve on another 'distant island' and was transferred to the last of my sea-going homes, the USS Tattnall (DDG-19).   Other than a simple objection to more "island life" (after having served for more than a year on Cuba) there was another factor that came into play, big-time!!!  I had just gotten married !!!!! 

USS Tattnall (DDG-19)

So, opting to spend time with my new bride rather than my brother, I wound up in Charleston aboard my newly commissioned ship.  The Tattnall was a superb duty station and

Tattnall transiting the Suez Canal

the men with whom I served earned my respect and admiration every day I was aboard.  I won't spend a lot of time in nostalgic reflections here but, knowing the bond that is formed when people face adversity at sea, our visit to the birth of a new sailing vessel in Seattle brought memories rushing back.  And - visiting the memorials for those who didn't return from their voyages - and knowing that so many of the folks with whom I sailed the watery surfaces of our planet will never again smell that unique, intoxicating fragrance of the sea - I had to tell them - I remember, I will never forget, we will never forget.