Veteran’s Day Thanks to the USS Greeneville Crew
Posted on November 12, 2007
Filed Under Personal, Worldview |
Right now, somewhere beneath the polar ice cap, a young submarine crew is diligently at work in their role as watchmen and guardian. They are packed into unbelievably tight quarters, working long shifts that are broken only by the necessities of food, respite and sleep. Their average age is somewhere around 22 and they are often deployed six months at sea away from family and friends. But for the submariner, they are more than just Sailors “at sea”, they are “in the sea”. This time, they will be underwater, under the ice, for three long months.
I am talking about the nearly 130 men aboard the USS Greeneville and I would like, through them, to issue a Veteran’s Day “thank you” to all of our men and women who have served or are serving throughout the world.
Last month, when I was in Hawaii, I met one of these submariners, CWO Jeff Brewster, now a good friend who was attending the Truth Project training conference. Knowing my military background, he asked if I would like to board a U.S. Navy submarine. My smile was my answer. “Are you kidding?” I said.
He wasn’t.
And so, my wife and I had the privilege of being invited aboard the USS Greeneville, by its Commanding Officer, CDR Alan Dorrbecker. We were then given a thorough and very professional tour of this amazing, nuclear-powered vessel by STS3 Eric Cornelius. Both Eric and Jeff, who accompanied us, were gracious to patiently answer the thousands of questions I had.
We saw everything that was permissible to see. We walked along her deck. We climbed up and down her ladders. We saw the small dining room and the bunks with not much more than a foot of space to lie in. We squeezed through passageways from one vital part of the ship to another. We saw the torpedo room and the “magazine”, the mechanisms for burning off the carbon in the CO2, how you make water, how you store food, how you handle the trash.
I was mesmerized by the control room, by the two “cockpits”, by the fact that you still use physical maps and how you navigate by sonar reflections off the bottom of the ocean. I was fascinated as we sensed the criticality of each Sailor and the deep responsibility that our teenage youth have—responsibilities upon which rest the lives of fellow Sailors and even a nation.
It was a thrill and privilege to climb into your foxhole.
So, to the crew of the USS Greeneville, on behalf of all our veterans, we are proud of you and thank you for your sacrifices for us. There is no greater sacrifice than the ones that involve giving up relationships with the ones you love. We know you are often far from home. We know you often miss the birth of your children or their first steps or their birthdays or soccer games. We know you would rather wake up in the arms of your wife or hug your kids before they go to bed. We know that moments of being homesick wash over you, when the long hours of duty have made you bone-weary and you are finally in the rack needing sleep, but thoughts of family compel you to shine a flashlight one more time on a dog-eared photo of those you love and long to be with.
You, however, are not forgotten.
You are not forgotten even though you are crammed into the hull of a 300-foot steel cigar, lying in bunks so tightly stacked that you cannot sleep on your side. I was stunned when I saw them and embarrassed to say that I felt a tinge of claustrophobia just sensing what it would be like to have to climb into them for a few minutes, let alone hours.
You are not forgotten even though you must go weeks and months at unimaginable depths, in the frigid, inky blackness, cut off from any communication with loved ones and the world.
You are not forgotten even when it seems the world ignores you, or even discourages you.
You are a special class.
We are proud of you.
But it doesn’t stop with you, or the other submariners. And it doesn’t stop with the rest of the Navy or Army or Air Force or Marines. Quite frankly, this day extends even beyond our country. One week ago, I was in Toronto for another TP training conference. We had the privilege of joining our dear Canadian friends in wearing a red poppy—a reminder of those in Canada who had given their lives and sacrifices to bring about the end of World War II. Our thanks today goes out to them as well and to many beyond Canada.
One final special thanks goes to my Dad, who spent the entire war in the hotbed of the South Pacific islands, hopping from one island to the other—persevering, one day at a time—bringing peace to a world at war.
You represent a special generation for whom we all hold an incalculable debt.
Thank you.
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6 Responses to “Veteran’s Day Thanks to the USS Greeneville Crew”
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Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project--a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
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Del, in addition, THANK YOU for your service. You modestly don’t go into details in your bio, beyond USAF during the Vietnam War era, but you heeded the call, and since you stepped up to answer THE CALL of your Lord.
Blessings, sir.
A special THANK YOU to all of our Veterans, including my dad, First Lieutenant Arthur E. Swanson who flew a P-36 for the U.S. Army Air Corps in the South Pacific. Art was able to return home to St. Cloud, MN after the war, but many did not. I pray that we will see them again in God’s Kingdom.
Thank you Del, as well, for your service and commitment to our freedom. You fought so diligently for our physical freedom and now you are on the front lines fighting for our spiritual freedom. For your years of service: THANK YOU! Not one moment has gone unnoticed by the Lord…
Del,
I echo what others have commented already. Thank You! Thank you for your service; it is not to be forgotten either. Thank you for giving words to what many of us feel in our hearts and souls toward our service members. And thank you for sharing with us, challenging us and engaging us in The Truth Project and with this particular platform of communication!
Blessings,
Brandi Jo
Thanks, Del, for the tribute you’ve given to our military. My father was a WWII veteran of the South Pacific - 11th Airborne Division. The war officially ended in 1945, but for my dad it wasn’t until the Lord took him home in February of this year - vivid memories remained with him all his life. I can sit here today typing this because of heros like him and countless others, including you, who heeded the call of their nation. THANK YOU!
My son is abroad this sub. We are so VERY proud of him. Unfortunately we haven’t seen him for 3 Christmas but will be able to spend New Years this year. We are LOOKING forward to it.