#earnednevergiven

For my brothers… April 11, 2014 Mister Mac

AFDB-7 Los Alamos Holy Loch Scotland “IN THE BEGINNING…”

For the second time in the history of theleansubmariner, I am posting an article from a Shipmate that I have come to know via our common interests in history and events that shaped it. This article comes from Norman Rachels SWE4 (formerly of the United States Navy). Norm was one of the guys who arrived early […]

March 29 … Coming Home

Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. (Robert Frost) Can there be any better feeling than coming home after a journey? It’s always exciting for me to travel around the world and in the past forty two years I have been…

The Smoking Lamp is Out

From the Navy Department Library: The Smoking Lamp “Sea dogs who sailed the wooden ships endured hardships that sailors today never suffer. Cramped quarters, poor unpalatable food, bad lighting and boredom were hard facts of sea life. But perhaps a more frustrating problem was getting fire to kindle a cigar or pipe tobacco after a […]

Three Rivers flow on the banks of the Steel City

I spent a lot of time growing up travelling up and down the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh PA. But it was always a special treat about once a year when we would travel up to the Point in Pittsburgh to and tie up to the wharf for a few days. Pittsburgh has one of […]

Coming Home

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. (Robert Frost) Can there be any better feeling than coming home after a journey? It’s always exciting for me to travel around the world and in the past forty two years I have been blessed to see many […]

My Trusty Old .45

Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
As a kid growing up, one of my favorite shows was a realistic World War 2 action series called “Combat!”. Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) was my hero and his adventures with Kirby, Little John, Cage and Lieutenant Hanley and Doc. The series ran form 1962 to 1967 which is pretty remarkable…

Farewell Big George, you will be missed

One of my passions in life is listening to Celtic music. Probably the best Celtic music available today comes from a group called Celtic Thunder. The only time I ever bother to turn PBS on anymore is when I know they will be featured. Occasionally I will also watch Celtic Women as well. So it […]

The Measure of a Man

I have been infatuated with the United States Navy since I was a small boy. Wearing my Dad’s old Navy uniforms while pretending to be part of McHale’s Navy was a routine part of growing up. I think I read every book in the school’s library that was even remotely related to the Navy and […]

Bagpipes and Boomers and Beer, oh my!

Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
Holy Loch Scotland One of the saddest days of my life was the day we left Dunoon Scotland and the Holy Loch so many years ago. It was 1991, our tour was shortened by the end of the Cold War drawdown and I was headed to a tour as M Division…