[DDG18] Reflections of a Blackshoe

[ThomasBoyce]

> Subject: Reflections of a Blackshoe
> 
> 
> 
> Reflections of a Blackshoe
> by VADM Harold Koenig, USN (Ret).
> 
> I like the Navy. I like standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with
> salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the
> four quarters of the globe - the ship beneath me feeling like a living
> thing as her engines drive her through the sea.
> 
> I like the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of the boatswains
> pipe, the syncopated clangor of the ship's bell on the quarterdeck,
> the harsh squawk of the 1MC and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work.
> 
> I like Navy vessels - nervous darting destroyers, plodding fleet
> auxiliaries, sleek submarines and steady solid carriers. I like the
> proud names of Navy ships: Midway, Lexington, Saratoga, Coral Sea -
> memorials of great battles won. I like the lean angular names of
> Navy 'tin-cans': Barney, Dahlgren, Mullinix, McCloy - mementos of heroes
> who went before us.
> 
> I like the tempo of a Navy band blaring through the topside speakers
> as we pull away from the oiler after refueling at sea. I like
> liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port. I even like all hands
> working parties as my ship fills herself with the multitude of
> supplies both mundane and exotic which she needs to cut her ties to
> the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there
> is water to float her.
> 
> I like sailors, men from all parts of the land, farms of the
> Midwest, small towns of New England, from the cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all walks of life. I trust and depend on them as they trust and depend on me - for professional competence, for comradeship, for courage. In a word, they are "shipmates."
> 
> I like the surge of adventure in my heart when the word is passed "Now
> station the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for
> leaving port", and I like the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pierside.
> 
> The work is hard and dangerous, the going rough at times, the
> parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy
> laughter, the 'all for one and one for all' philosophy of the sea is ever present.
> 
> I like the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as
> flying fish flit across the wave tops and sunset gives way to night.
> 
> I like the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead lights, the
> red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating
> phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and
> join with the mirror of stars overhead. And I like drifting off to
> sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that tell me that
> my ship is alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch will keep me safe.
> 
> I like quiet midwatches with the aroma of strong coffee - the
> lifeblood of the Navy - permeating everywhere. And I like hectic
> watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank
> speed keeps all hands on a razor edge of alertness. I like the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations", followed by the hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the
> resounding thump of watertight doors as the ship transforms herself
> in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war -
> ready for anything. And I like the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and soundpowered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize.
> 
> I like the traditions of the Navy and the men and women who made
> them. I like the proud names of Navy heroes: Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones. A sailor can find much in the Navy, comrades-in-arms, pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent can find adulthood.
> 
> In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, they will still
> remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the
> impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water
> surging over the bow. And then there will come again a faint whiff of
> stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the
> bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of
> hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and messdecks.
> Gone ashore for good they will grow wistful about their Navy days,
> when the seas belonged to them and a new port of call was ever over
> the horizon. Remembering this, they will stand taller and say,
> 
> "I WAS A SAILOR ONCE.
> I WAS PART OF THE NAVY;
> THE NAVY WILL ALWAYS BE PART OF ME."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> =

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