Watching the television and on-line reports of damage to Maui has been difficult. The loss of life and property damage is heart wrenching. My memories of that paradise are fading now with age but I can still see some images in my head.

The first time I went there was at the end of a Spec Op on the USS San Francisco. The wives and other family members had traveled to Maui from Oahu to participate in a family cruise. I had recently qualified as Chief of the Watch as a second class petty officer and was really looking forward to seeing my wife after too many missions away from home. Debbie flew to the Island and I got to take a small boat to shore to spend a few days with her. At least that was the plan.

To be honest, we were still kind of newlyweds. We met on an airplane in May of 1980, got married in August of that year and tried to settle into what amounted to a normal life for any service family. Within a year, that would include me helping to complete construction of the San Francisco then finding out that instead of joining the Atlantic fleet in Norfolk, surprise: Home Port change to Hawaii.

I think I was kind of irritated with the Navy for this sudden change of coasts. I had done my first actual tour of duty in Hawaii and had some not so great memories about living there. But it was my second enlistment and I had a lot of time left on it so we packed up and took different paths to get there. When we finally did get back together, it was a lovely reunion. But the reunion didn’t last long. Fast Attack submarines are pretty useless tied up next to a pier so it wasn’t long before we joined the ranks of the underway. SSN actually stands for Saturday Sunday and Nights which means you just never know when you are coming and going.

After a lot of shorter missions, we took off for a West Pac that ranged all over the Pacific and some other areas of concern. We’ll just leave it at that. In 1983, we had some shorter subsequent missions and one of them resulted in this stopover to Maui.

 

A true second honeymoon

To say I was happy to see my beautiful girl would be an understatement. I’m fairly certain I remember a flower in her delightful blonde hair. We checked in to the little hotel in Lahaina and went out for something to eat. It was still early but by mutual consent, we decided to go back to the hotel early. I’ll let you off the hook and not share any details.

But it was kind of a shock when we heard anxious knocking on the door later. The first thought was that we would just play hide and seek and to answer it. But the voice of one of the petty officers from the ship sounded pretty urgent and I answered.

Lost the anchor

It turns out that the boat had lost the anchor and was slowly steaming in circles off the coast. Since a large share of the crew had come ashore, more bodies would need to come back and man the watches. As the junior Chief of the Watch, guess who won the honors?

The small boat tool me back and Debbie had to fend for herself until morning when the families joined us for the return trip. The trip is detailed in another blog but let’s just say it was something to remember too.

Return to Maui

We would travel once more to Maui when I was a Chief on my last submarine. We stayed at a much nicer resort hotel on the beach and did all the touristy things you would expect on the island. The drive up the mountain was awesome in the red convertible with the top down. I really enjoyed that stay and have fond memories of us eating way too much food. The people of Maui were incredibly friendly and after the fast pace of living on Oahu, it was great to just slow down for a bit.

Our journey continued after that but the Island trips we took to Maui, the Big Island and Kauai will forever be some of my fondest memories. We’ve only been back once to Oahu and the Big Island but Maui will always be one of the best memories.

The Aloha Spirit

My heart breaks for the people of Lahaina and the islands. I am sure they were just beginning to recover from the effects of Covid so this will be a hard blow. Keep them in your prayers. I’m sure in the days to come the many charitable organizations that normally step up will mobilize. As in every disaster, please check out the ones to ensure they are legitimate and going to actually help the survivors.

Early in my career, I learned that the word Aloha means hello and goodbye. Aloha also is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is used to define a force that holds together existence.

From Chapter 5 of Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes:

The “Aloha Spirit” is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each person to the self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others. In the contemplation and presence of the life force, ” “Aloha”, the following unuhi laulā loa may be used:

“Akahai”, meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;

“Lōkahi”, meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;

“ʻOluʻolu” meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;

“Haʻahaʻa”, meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;

“Ahonui”, meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

I pray for all of those affected. I especially pray that they can embrace the Ahonui in the days weeks and months to come.

Aloha.

Mister Mac