A little respect… 42 years later, its still not that big of a deal

Recently I was following a post on one of my submarine Facebook pages. The original guy had posted about a lack of recognition. To be fair, he had a lot of supporters and frankly I can’t give him a hard time since I have seen some of this through the years myself. “Okay I have […]

The “Georgia Swamp Fox” that Fathered the Two Ocean Navy – Carl Vinson

This is a story published in the Port of Pittsburgh, Official Publication of the Navy League of the United States, Pittsburgh Council Jan-March 2014 Volume 18 No.1 edited by Katherine Kersten, written by Bob MacPherson (aka theleansubmariner) “The most expensive thing in the world is a cheap Army and Navy,” Congressman Carl Vinson On March […]

#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 […]