R.I.P. George H.W. Bush

George H. W. Bush in his Grumman TBF Avenger

The thought just came to me that he is the last President we had for which there was no polarization. Whether people voted for him or not, he was recognized as a good and decent man by the country.

One thing I want to add: While it is well known that he was the youngest US Naval aviator to enlist, and that he was shot down in the Pacific and rescued, it is not well known what would have been his fate had he been captured by the Japanese.

Something that stayed with me after years ago reading James Bradley’s book, Flyboys. This was his follow up book to Flags of our Fathers, the story of the Iwo Jima landing.

Chichi Jima is about 150 miles north of Iwo Jima, and was a hub for Japanese radio transmissions in the Pacific. Eight U.S. Navy Airmen were captured, with only Bush able to evade capture.

On the orders of the garrison commander, 5 of them were beaten, tortured and then beheaded. The Japanese then ate their livers.

The future of the country depended on a submarine commander seeing him in a raft on the Pacific.

Fair winds and following seas, Mr. President.

Just Finished

By lex, on February 1st, 2012

“Pacific Crucible,” by Ian Toll, who also happened to author the wonderful “Six Frigates” recommended to me a few months back. Covering the period just before the Pearl Harbor attack until just after the tide turned at Midway, “Crucible” covers familiar territory for the hobbyist naval historian, but does so in a compelling manner, with vivid prose that fleshes out sympathetic and informative portraits of flag officers and captains on both sides, highlighted by short sketches about sailors in the gun tubs and engine rooms.

Appropriate attention is paid to Joseph Rochefort and his dogged team of cryptanalysts who made the Midway victory possible, and who paid for it – Rochefort in particular – with outrageous treatment by his Washington “superiors“.

Highly recommended.

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*Blink*

By lex, on October 7th, 2010

Naval news trackers will learn from Live Science that the Spanish Armada is once again deployed:*

A Ship that is Tired

 

By lex, on September 28th, 2010

From occasional reader Phil, a photo essay of USS Constellation‘s 1980 visit to Singapore, with the signs of the sea showing plain.

Seven years later, I’d make my first deployment aboard that ship. Twenty-three years later I’d put her to bed after one more fight. She was if anything, more tired than photographed here, but the captain found a way to get the starboard side painted in Oz so that she could come home proud. On the pier side, anyway.

A’ was a good ship.

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Home is the Sailor

By lex, on November 1st, 2008

Home to the sea: **

When the submarine USS Ohio surfaced at sea and Machinist Mate 1st Class Jason Witty emerged from the hatch to look around, he saw calm, blue water under a peaceful sky — perfect for the solemn task he was about to perform.

On the map, the Ohio was afloat in just another indistinguishable expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As Witty stood on deck holding a silver pitcher, the vessel was alone.

Just like the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, 63 years earlier.

The pitcher contained the ashes of Witty’s grandfather, Boatswain Mate 2nd Class Eugene Morgan, who had survived the sinking of the Indianapolis — one of the worst tragedies for the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Morgan had died of a heart attack in June at age 87, just before Witty went to sea, and among his last wishes was the desire to be rejoined with his shipmates at roughly the same spot in the Pacific where the Indianapolis went down.

Brass

By lex, on March 28th, 2008

To go along with the “Green Water” vid

To go along with the “Green Water” vid below, SJ Bill sends along this pic from the past:

Here’s one of my old boat, the Essex, back in ’60. Note the brand spanking new C1A spotted aft for a deck run off the angle. I think the pilot was Horst Petrich, who pulled off this launch any number of times. During my day, LCDR Petrick was my asst CATCC officer.

During the next year or so, Essex snapped off her mast in a worse storm.

Something old, something new

By lex, on September 21st, 2007

Got an email from occasional reader Steve, who was apparently in town for the graduation of the last OCS class in Pensacola. Sent along a neat pic from the Aviation Museum of 50 prospective ensigns.