Jake/Vern

I just want to say that I have enjoyed the latest in E-mail exchanges and also to mention that my hat is off to you guys for the fine work you do on the HANCOCK and KAWISHIWI web sites.

You know, I served ship’s company in 5 ships (plus I re-toured in one of them) and was part of embarked staff in four more (one of which I later served in as ship’s company). I usually tell folks I served in seven ships because I think being on an embarked staff is like ½ a tour of duty even though I really served 9 ship-board tours of duty; or 10 if you count the re-tour. The number 7 has always been good to this guy who loved Mickey Mantle as a kid.

I never served in HANCOCK but I am beginning to almost feel like I did.

All of this was done over 11 deployments and 30 years in uniform. Not bad for a guy who went from a Navy Reserve Seaman Apprentice to Ensign during the Vietnam Era in the stroke of somebody’s pen. That signature made me a bona fide genius, I guess; but let me say something about what I really think about that in the following paragraphs.

First though, let me say how appreciate I am that web sites like the ones you guys develop as your labors of love are the enablers for guys like me to re-connect with old shipmates. That is something that has become increasingly important as time goes by to an old sailor like me. I have become active in many ship associations in recent years because of you guys and others; and I really enjoy the reunions, seeing old shipmates (and meeting new ones) and the swapping of sea stories that go on from dawn to dusk. The efforts that you guys put in to make all of this happen, is above and beyond the call of duty.

You are great Navy sailors. As years go by and we lose our shipmates, the associations become like candles slowing losing their glow. You guys keep the candles aflame with the dedication you throw into this through sickness and in health. Lots of people think back to where they served and think of the gray hulls. In fact, it was the crew with whom you served that constituted the command. When a ship is commissioned, as Vern experienced with KAWISHIWI, the life is breathed into it in a very real sense as the crew races aboard. As I experienced when I de-commissioned a couple of ships, the life is exhaled as the crew leaves and the colors are stricken forever. The associations breathe new life back in as the crew re-populates.

Recently, over 2004 Thanksgiving with my kids in Indiana, I visited an old shipmate of mine, BTC (ret) Jim Sattler at his home south of Indianapolis. This was a visit around which I could truly give thanks. I re-connected with Jim because of the KAWISHIWI site. It was a lot of fun to see him after all of these years. He said it was an honor for me to visit. I must say the honor was mine. Jim was a real Snipe, hard-working and unbelievably knowledgeable in the world below the main deck as well as in the Navy itself. I enjoyed his loyal support during my time in KAWISHIWI and I appreciate him more as time goes by. I learned from him greatly as I did from other great sailors over the years. His efforts enabled us in KAWISHIWI to lift ourselves up and become more engineering ready so we could do what fleet tankers are supposed to do – humping and pumping.

There was an old saying in KAWISHIWI that asked, “Do you know what the AO in AO-146 really means”? It stands for “Always Out.” Such was the case even more with us as we became more and more engineering ready. If you don’t believe that, just ask our wives who hardly ever saw us.

Many years ago in the Pentagon, I said at a ceremony where I was being promoted once again, a few words about Jim Sattler and guys like him; and what they mean to guys like me. You see, those of us who stayed in the US Navy for a career, and somehow managed to be successful, should pause for a moment to reflect why it was that happened. It isn’t all just blind luck.

When an officer is commissioned or a kid leaves boot camp, he is not filled with innate knowledge or superpowers far beyond those of mortal men. In fact, in most cases the contrary is the case. Like many others, I reported to my first ship as a boot Ensign. By “boot” I mean real green. We all start out that way. If we are lucky we land in a duty station where hands reach out to help and embrace us. Some times it is not that way but most times it is because that is human nature and that is the way the US Navy has been since its beginnings.

The guys who ultimately become successful in the Navy listen and they learn. If they are smart, they learn from their elders AND their juniors, as well as from their contemporaries. They learn from officers and enlisted alike; and if they are smart, they learn from their mistakes and apply those lessons as time goes by.

It is the nature of man to make mistakes. It is a sin to make the same mistake twice particularly in those situations when the lives of those you hold dear are at stake.

By his commission and the uniform he wears, an officer or senior enlisted man is entitled to DEMAND respect. He cannot however, COMMAND respect until he earns it. Once he has COMMANDED respect, he has passed the bar. He has become a leader.

It is unfortunate that some senior officers and enlisted never figure that out. Fortunately, in my experience, their numbers were few. The one thing that was taught to me early was to leave your duty station in better shape than when you arrived. That will improve upon the health of your command while you are there; and it will make the job of the next guy who takes over from you a lot easier.

So, as I said those words at the promotion ceremony, I then reached into my pocket and pulled out a handful of coins to show to those in attendance. These coins, I said, represent my wealth here today. They enable me to do things and to live my life better. But, I said, these coins represent a lot more. These coins also represent my life and my US Navy career. Along the way we learn things. We meet, we love, we work, we sweat and we have fun with people who all contribute in their own way to what it is that we are. We are the sum total of all of those we have met, hopefully even greater than the sum.

This first coin, I said, represents my wife and all she has sacrificed for and given to me over the years. The next one represents BMC Ray Stroup who taught this young ensign how to be a First Lieutenant on a destroyer. This one, I went on, was GMG3 Mark Briner who taught me the art of cumshaw and innovation while I was a Gunnery Officer in the shipyard at Hunter’s Point. This other one was CDR Curt Anderson, my second Commanding Officer who taught a very young Operations Officer how to skillfully maneuver a ship; while my first CO, CDR Frank Collins taught me a lot about life. In KAWISHIWI BTC Jim Sattler and CWO2 Dave Young (God rest his soul) taught me the fine points of engineering while HTC Stan Kozial taught me how to handle liquid cargo. A young ensign, Lary Harris taught me hard work and dedication to the job. I went on at length with the remaining coins I held there in my hand. Many coins have made me what I am.

Most people got it. If we do our jobs right and if we learn and pass these experiences along the way, we become an unbroken gray chain that is connected back to the very early days of men at sea. In every way, if I have learned, I represent all of those with whom I have served and all of those who came before, great teachers, great warriors and great men of the sea.

I love and am thankful for my shipmates, for their loyalty and their patience and for the collective experience that allowed this young boot to become a successful naval officer.

So too am I grateful to you guys. You are my new shipmates and your dedication to these web sites, your labors of love, allow guys like me to re-connect with our past, to swap these stories and re-live a bit of what it was like to serve in the greatest Navy in the world. Let me once again express my most sincere thanks.

Bravo Zulu mates and have a Prosperous New Year!

Captain Jim Barton, US Navy (ret)