A SEAMAN'S THOUGHTS

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.
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I like the vessels of the Navy - nervous darting destroyers, plodding Fleet
auxiliaries, sleek submarines and steady solid carriers. I like the proud
sonorous names of Navy capital 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.
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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 pier side.
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 mid-watches 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.
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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 work place to a weapon of war - ready for
anything. And I like the sight of space age equipment manned by youngsters
clad in dungarees and sound-powered 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
mess decks.
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. I was part of the Navy and the Navy will always be a part
of me."

Author unknown