On Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 3:09 PM, <> wrote:
> There's a scene in the retrospective, "last" Sailor episode, "Eight Years
> On," where Tom Wilkinson comes to see the last bits of Ark's lower hull
> drawn up in the mud at the scrap yard and bursts into tears. "The poor old
> booger didn't deserve that."
>
>
As a Sailor I can understand respect and love for a ship, but I also
understand that ships get used up. In the End Ships and those who serve on
them must be used, and far too frequently they used up with only memories
and widows left behind. A ship in the breakers yard is a sad thing, but
remember better all that steel go to making another than to slowly rot in
to nothing. Every bit saved and reused is a bit of her soul going forward
carrying the love and tradition forward into the next generation. Every
ship and boat I served aboard carried bits and pieces of those who went
before, a physical touchstone of those who served before, and I trust that
bits from my time in service will go on after I am gone.
When I was in the service we would sneak into the old storage boat yard and
replace bits and pieces of our boats with older boats, so that those old
girls would live on with us.... The Chief I learned this from told me about
how he learned of the practice from his 1st Chief who said he learned it
from his. It was one why of maintaining tradition and connection to
the origins of the service.
To circle around to the Navy question, when I say navy I generally mean the
USN, when I say sailor it every sailor that served at sea. In this while
nations have Navies it takes Sailors to man all those vessels, and up to
today just because a sailor serves in the Navy doesn't mean he is
a citizen of the Nation that owns it. Traditionally Sailors of
all nationalities served under officers of the state, even the USN when I
was serving had a large number of foreign nationals serving aboard, though
part of their terms of service was a path to US Citizenship. Due to the
nature of my service I often found myself in the company of Sailors in
service to other Navies, other than the native rivalries between two groups
of young men I found they where just like me doing the same jobs with the
same worries, the biggest problem I ever had was coming back to my
command/ship drunk and wearing significant portions of the wrong Navies
uniform.
--
Evyn
> There's a scene in the retrospective, "last" Sailor episode, "Eight Years
> On," where Tom Wilkinson comes to see the last bits of Ark's lower hull
> drawn up in the mud at the scrap yard and bursts into tears. "The poor old
> booger didn't deserve that."
>
>
As a Sailor I can understand respect and love for a ship, but I also
understand that ships get used up. In the End Ships and those who serve on
them must be used, and far too frequently they used up with only memories
and widows left behind. A ship in the breakers yard is a sad thing, but
remember better all that steel go to making another than to slowly rot in
to nothing. Every bit saved and reused is a bit of her soul going forward
carrying the love and tradition forward into the next generation. Every
ship and boat I served aboard carried bits and pieces of those who went
before, a physical touchstone of those who served before, and I trust that
bits from my time in service will go on after I am gone.
When I was in the service we would sneak into the old storage boat yard and
replace bits and pieces of our boats with older boats, so that those old
girls would live on with us.... The Chief I learned this from told me about
how he learned of the practice from his 1st Chief who said he learned it
from his. It was one why of maintaining tradition and connection to
the origins of the service.
To circle around to the Navy question, when I say navy I generally mean the
USN, when I say sailor it every sailor that served at sea. In this while
nations have Navies it takes Sailors to man all those vessels, and up to
today just because a sailor serves in the Navy doesn't mean he is
a citizen of the Nation that owns it. Traditionally Sailors of
all nationalities served under officers of the state, even the USN when I
was serving had a large number of foreign nationals serving aboard, though
part of their terms of service was a path to US Citizenship. Due to the
nature of my service I often found myself in the company of Sailors in
service to other Navies, other than the native rivalries between two groups
of young men I found they where just like me doing the same jobs with the
same worries, the biggest problem I ever had was coming back to my
command/ship drunk and wearing significant portions of the wrong Navies
uniform.
--
Evyn