The Value of Shipmates

A while back, I was on Facebook and called someone a shipmate. Well, to me, the name shipmate is one of honor. But to the person who I was communicating with, it seemed to have had a less than positive meaning. Almost to the point where the name had become an insult. I’m not sure […]

“You’re gonna miss the ferry if you don’t get moving” : Tales From Ford Island

I was digging around some old files today and ran across an article in an old ALL HANDS magazine from 1954. Seventy years ago, the Navy was still recovering from its role in Korea. After the second World War, peace was supposed to be a thing but somehow the Communist Incursion in Korea pushed that […]

Reunion Redux – A Story from a friend

This morning’s email had a story about another reunion in Charleston a while back that had an interesting experience at another Charleston hotel. My friend served on the cruiser USS Toledo CA 133 and their association has had a number of reunions. They actually did more due diligence in preparation for their gathering, but from […]

A Great Reunion – Well, Mostly Great

The 2024 Gathering of the Saints is finally over. I have been absent from the keyboard for a while as we executed our latest reunion in Charleston SC. The planning for the reunion started at the end of 2023 and was non-stop until the very last day of the event. One thing about reunions is […]

April 11 2024 – Holland Club

I was honored to have my wife and my Submariner Brothers present last night at the USSVI Charleston Base to see my induction into the Holland Club. I actually wasn’t sure I would ever make it. A special thanks to RADM Mike Sharp and the men from the USS San Francisco SSN 711 that were […]

What’s that hissing sound?

Looking at the launch and commissioning of the Nautilus the last few days, it seemed odd to me that the sea trials were somehow out of whack with what I was used to. The experience of building a submarine in the eighties was that you had the launch, fitting out, sea trials, then commissioning. Looking […]

The First Time You Dive

You never forget your first There are few moments in any submariner’s life that equal the first time you submerge below the surface of the sea. For each generation or type of boat, the lead up to that dive is different. It might come at the end of a lengthy transit on the surface in […]

A lot has changed in 70 years

Seventy years doesn’t seem like such a long time ago now. Looking back over my life, I would have to say that I am amazed at how quickly those years have come and gone. Well not quite. I don’t actually turn seventy until May 20th. But I am reminded often that there has never been […]

Periscopes Off Our Coasts

Seventy years ago, the Korean War was coming to a stalemate and the Cold War was heating up all around the globe. America was weary from back-to-back military conflicts and facing a new future in the shadow of the nuclear bombs that were possessed by both sides of the Iron Curtain. The ability to openly […]

156 Years ago, still growing