I am an old seadog these days. In my youth I would rarely miss work, school or a duty day for something as irritating as a cold or flu. For centuries, if a Sailor went to Sick Call and was placed on the “binnacle list”, the leading Seaman or later, the Chief Petty Officer would let it be known that Sailor had better be suffering Scarlet Fever or a severed artery. Shirkers normally found themselves on duty rosters during port calls. These days I have accepted that I no longer can bicycle fifteen miles to my duty station and immediately run ( and pass) the PRT fitness test – I was then still under 30 years old; I probably would not be able to hoist a sixty or seventy Damage Control bag over my shoulder while wearing an OBA * and hustle up or down the ladder during one of the shipboard training sessions – the General Quarters Drill ( I was not quite 36 then). My older body has stopped writing the checks my ego really can’t cash. (For those who may never have seen a check, this idiom was once a popular expression.)
There once was a time in America when self-reliance, mental and physical toughness were characteristics of mature males – college educated or working class. So when an acquaintance talked about his Army veteran dad only recently talking with a Veterans Administration representative about medical issues he has had for the last thirty years, and getting a disability rating as a result, I listened.
More than twenty years ago, I was hospitalized after weeks-long exposure to toxic fumes; However, the service and my young invincibility complex made little of it. In hindsight, a ruptured appendix that year and 20 years of hospital visits for gastric issues might be connected. And for good measure, Gulf War inoculations, and radiation might be worth a good look. Even if the Government declines, I will gain experience that I can pass on to my son in the Army. He’s definitely got physical issues that were aggravated by his service. But he too, is a tough, self-reliant type. I don’t want him to wait 20 years.
With the hot, dry weather of summer in San Diego upon us, and following a very wet Spring generating a lot of brush and grasses, fires can start and grow like mad. Today, one such fire was apparently sparked by a vehicle traveling on the highway where grasses were very close to the roadbed. What became four hundred acres ablaze were tackled by firemen, trucks, fire-retardant dropping aircraft and water-dispersing helicopters from afternoon into the evening. Now it is bad enough that reporters and cameras were present to chronicle this fire, but these reporters stated, in the same breath, a MANDATORY EVACUATION for nearby residents AND some remaining behind to defend their homes with garden hoses. “Mandatory” had some meaning once upon a time. But today, there is an overall lack of trust in authority of any sort.
He went on to offer several additional scriptures on faith and perseverance, as tools. As a former Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer, I understood that any young Sailor – or young (spiritually) disciple of Jesus, life is embracing that you do not know what you do not know but then learning the doctrine, spending time with a mentor and persevering through conflicting desires and priorities. Perhaps it is safe to say that “duty” is the first concept I embraced. As a Sailor matures, the life that each voluntarily accepted on the NAVY’s terms has certain obligations and responsibilities. So to as a student of Jesus, voluntarily but without a ‘contract. Some skills are beneficial as they will potentially save you or a shipmate in times of peril. Mastering your calling and seeking to help others grow stronger – for a greater good – will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your naval career.
Rest in Peace, Adam West
(Persian Gulf).
