#earnednevergiven

For my brothers… April 11, 2014 Mister Mac

Miscellaneous… 1940

Miscellaneous… The Bluejackets Manual has been the mainstay for educating sailors since 1902. Prior to that time, the sailors were considered to be too illiterate to merit having a manual with instructions on how to be an American Bluejacket. For a hundred and twelve years, the manual has undergone a number of revisions to reflect […]

“Ever a Submariner” by Jody Durham, MM2/SS (A Gang)

I am obviously a sucker for a great submarine story. I spend much of my free time researching stories about a rare breed of men who chose voluntarily to sail on ships designed by their creators to sail beneath the oceans surface. I was recently introduced to Jody Durham, a fellow Cold War sailor (and […]

Christmas 1943 – The Tide Has Turned in the West

In the disastrous aftermath of Pearl Harbor December 1941, the United States and the remaining countries that were considered free faced enormous odds in their struggle against the Axis Powers. The war plans that had been poured over with such intensity for so many decades now laid in ruins as the ships and planes that […]

So you want to be a Submariner? (circa 1943)

Every American Bluejacket from the early 1900’s to today receives a copy of the Bluejacket’s Manual. The books were written to help supplement the knowledge of men who were being brought into the Navy. Many times, they lacked even a high school education although over the last century that has been less and less. Newer […]

True Colors

As previously predicted, Congress and the Administration are making something they describe as “Hard Choices” in regards to containing spending. There is just one problem with those hard choices: the people who cause this mess are bearing the least of the cost. That’s right, the elected officials that pushed us into the sub-prime mess, the […]

The Old Navy

This Post was from October 2011 Compared to some Navies around the world, I suppose the US navy is still in its infant stage. From my perspective, it has certainly seen its days of glory interspersed with rumors of demise. Those rumors of its premature death normally come with change. Sails to steam. Capital ships […]

Disrespected

Somewhere, Mrs. Stamps (my third grade teacher) is standing with her shoulders slightly slumped and shaking her head. She has just heard one of her students use a noun as a transitory verb for the hundredth time and feels like her mission of bringing proper English to the children of Mt. Vernon Elementary School has […]