Thread: I was a Sailor
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Old 12-02-2008, 09:23 AM
sn-e3 sn-e3 is offline
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Location: montesano, washington
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Default I was a Sailor

**I was a Sailor on some of the greatest Navy ships afloat**
and let me share with you a glimpse of the life I so dearly loved . .

*I liked standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray
in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the
four quarters of the globe. I liked the sounds of the Navy - the
piercing trill of the boatswains pipe, the syncopated clangor of
the ship's bell on the quarterdeck, harsh, and the strong
language and laughter of sailors at work.


*I liked Navy vessels -- plodding fleet auxiliaries and amphibs,
sleek submarines and steady solid aircraft carriers. I liked the
proud names of Navy ships: Midway, Lexington , Saratoga , Coral
Sea, Antietam, Valley Forge - memorials of great battles won and
tribulations overcome.

*I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts,
mementos of heroes who went before us.


*And the others - - San Jose , San Diego , Los Angeles , St.Paul,
Chicago , Oklahoma City, named for our cities.

*I liked the tempo of a Navy band.

*I liked liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port.

*I even liked the never ending paperwork and all hands working
parties as my ship filled herself with the multitude of
supplies, and to cut ties to the land and carry out her
mission anywhere on the globe where there was water to float
her.


*I liked sailors, officers and enlisted men from all parts of
the land, farms of the Midwest, small towns of New England ,
from the big cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all
walks of life. I trusted and depended on them as they trusted
and depended on me -- for professional competence, for
comradeship, for strength and courage.


*In a word, they were all "shipmates"; then and forever. *

*I liked the surge of adventure in my heart, when the word was
passed: ''Now Hear This - Now set the special sea and anchor
detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port!" I truly
liked the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the
waving hands of welcoming family and friends waiting pier side.


*The work was hard and dangerous; the going rough at times; the
parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of
robust Navy laughter, the "all for one and one for all"
philosophy of the sea was ever present. I liked the fierce and
dangerous activity on the flight deck of aircraft carriers,
earlier named for battles won but sadly now named for
politicians: Enterprise , Independence , Boxer, Princeton and oh
so many more, some lost in battle, and sadly many scrapped.


*And so tearfully seeing our great ones being sunk to make a
reef, truly sad indeed - such a waste.

*I liked the names of the aircraft and helicopters; Skyraider,
Intruder, Sea King, Phantom, Skyhawk, Demon, Skywarrior,
Corsair, and many more that bring to mind offensive and
defensive orders of battle.

*I liked the excitement of an alongside replenishment as my ship
slid in alongside an oiler and the cry of "Standby to receive
shot lines" prefaced the hard work of rigging span wires
(high-lines) and fuel hoses echoed across the narrow gap of
water between the ships and welcomed the mail, fresh milk,
fruit and vegetables that sometimes accompanied the fuel.

*I liked the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's
work, as flying fish flitted across the wave tops and sunset
gave way to night, and the bosun's mate's after-supper call
over the speaker system: "Let's have a clean sweep down, fore
and aft, empty all trash over the transom. The smoking lamp
is now lighted".

*I liked the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead and
range lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern
light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they
cut through the dusk and joined with the mirror of stars
overhead.


*I liked drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large
and small that told me that my ship was alive and well, and
that my shipmates on watch would keep me safe.

*I liked quiet mid-watches with the aroma of strong coffee - the
lifeblood of the Navy permeating everywhere. I liked hectic
watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing
at flank speed kept all hands on a razor edge of alertness.

*I liked the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general
quarters, all hands man your battle stations," followed by the
hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the resounding
thump of watertight doors as the ship transformed herself in a

few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon

of war - ready for anything.

*I liked the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters
clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their
grandfathers would still recognize.*

*I liked the traditions of the Navy and the men and now women
who made them. I liked the proud names of Navy heroes:
Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones, Burke,
Osborn and Jenks.

*A sailor could find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms, pride
in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An
adolescent could find adulthood. In years to come, when sailors are home
from the sea, we will still remember with fondness and respect
the ocean in all its moods, the impossible shimmering mirror
calm and the storm-tossed dark blue water surging over the
bow.

*Then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a
faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright
bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of
hearty laughter in the wardroom and Chief's quarters and
mess decks.

*Once ashore for good we grow humble about our Navy days, when
the seas were a part of us and a new port of call was ever
over the horizon. *

*Remembering this, WE stand taller and say...


I WAS A SAILOR ONCE & THE
MEMORIES NEVER GO AWAY,

OLD SAILORS NEVER DIE -
THEY JUST FADE AWAY!"





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