Navy2

Most material courtesy of Larry on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt, via Jennie, who comes up with the better captions and much more - making her official assistant editor - oh boy, now she can retire on that pay. Larry is not the best about IDs - if anyone knows our "cover girl" - please let her know she is internationally famous now and it would be nice to add her name.

From Larry: Sit down for this one! As you know we have been out to sea well over 123 days. I want you all to know why we are still out here floating despite us finishing up kicking some big time ASS!

I sometimes get word about things that even I shiver and get chills up the back of my spine about. One of my "hook-ups" told me a story how the intelligence on the beach got word from captured Taliban/AL Quada soldiers that the USS "TR" was a high topic of conversation amongst the terrorist organizations. It turns out that we have been in the news so much that the "bad guys" want to blow us up so bad, that they have been planning this from day one.

We were in the news, of course, one week after the blasts. Our ship was the great white knight sent out to destroy the enemy, and we did! We were supposed to have had a liberty port a long time ago but word got down through the CIA and other SEC OPS in the field that "TR" was to be hit by multiple suicide bombers at one time. It seems my ship is the focal point of every remaining terrorist in the world. As he explained this to me I always felt we were a target, but some of the words he was reading in the message traffic indicated that this threat was credible.

Now my former Chief will tell you I can exaggerate a lot of stuff for my amusement, same with my sister. But this kind of shook me up a bit. It made me think that I would rather be out here e-mailing you guys alive, than ,say, getting a beer on the beach and watch my ship get blown up, or worse me be on it as it gets bombed by suicide terrorist! I would much rather be "safe" out here with planes watching my head and subs watching my ass and destroyers watching my sides than to be out there in harms way. So after this, I will not ever be whining about being at sea so long. I will not be doing any countdown with days because the USS J.F.K. can not get underway anyhow.

I may have missed all the major holidays once out here, but I will have the next four years to catch up due to upcoming shore duty. Besides there are thousands of families who will never ever again celebrate the holidays with the people they care about the most. That is why I am here. I told my department head at an awards ceremony that this is what I get paid to do. I have waited my whole Navy career to be where I am at now! I will eventually get home, but right now this is where I belong! "On the tip of the spear" - serving my country where I am needed and going where my country asks me to go. I need to save some money anyway LOL. I am very proud to be serving my country with pride and honor!

It is kind of a neat coincidence to be "in touch" with this particular ship - I based my Whispering Activist identity/series title choice based partially on the speak-softy, carry-big-stick thing long before Jennie contacted me about using Larry's material.

Jennie has been a tremendous help sorting through Larry's sends. You will never be short of mail if you'd like to be added to his list: cmarld@roosevelt.navy.mil - subject line: Martha and Jennie referred. Besides Larry's very newsy communiqués, there are loads of great pix I'll never even come close to being able to use here.

Note: Please bookmark this page before going to the first page: http://www.therealmartha.com/Navymisc/index.htm. This link is not there. The original Squid Times is permanently consigned to Davey's Locker as far as editing goes. I kept losing the "theme" (courtesy of Front Page publisher, which is, without a doubt, possessed ... I'm not kidding). The correct graphics magically reappeared, they seem to be sticking, I ain't takin' any chances messin' around. I have no idea what this page might look like at any given time. There's a whole new irritating battle going on, although it looks, right now, like I did capture the wavy line dividers. No such luck on the background (maybe).

Update: The record-setting cruise ended late March. Unfortunately I haven't heard from Larry since. As soon as I know anything new, so will you. In the meantime, enjoy these additions to Larry's "How to Simulate Life in the Navy" (on first page) from Jim Carroll, ETC (SS), USN (Ret.)

1. Re-route the bathroom exhaust to dump directly onto the dinner table, and turn all of the fans in the house to high speed. Open no windows or doors for three months.

2. Store all of your groceries under your mattress.

3. Occasionally pull the main fuse breaker, and yell "Reactor SCRAM, Reactor SCRAM" in an ominous voice while powering the house from a car battery.

Swiped the above from a Reader's Digest ad for discount subscriptions going to military addresses. The offer may only be available to current subscribers, it's not listed on the rd.com site. Try 1-800-491-7504, listed for ordering questions/problems - ya never know.

Actually subs may not be such a great idea, considering how often movement can be (I'm thinking ground troops here, also end of ship duty), except that others would still always be around to read. Doubtful magazines are forwarded. However, could always send your own back issues.

Many, like messages in a decorated jar to pass around, are perfect projects for classes or any group. This one is brand new from http://nycityangels.com/ - Donna wants to get this printable angel into every fire house and police department in New York City, and beyond, including military. Find larger version on site and e-mail link to request addresses.

Hear my voice America! Though I speak through the mist of 200 years, my shout for freedom will echo through liberty's halls for many centuries to come. Hear me speak, for my words are of truth and justice, and the rights of man. For those ideals I have spilled my blood upon the world's troubled waters. Listen well, for my time is eternal ... yours is but a moment. I am the spirit of heroes past and future.

I am the American Sailor. I was born upon the icy shores at Plymouth, rocked upon the waves of the Atlantic, and nursed in the wilderness of Virginia. I cut my teeth on New England codfish, and I was clothed in Southern cotton. I built muscle at the halyards of New Bedford whalers, and I gained my sea legs high atop the mizzen's of Yankee Clipper Ships.

Yes, I am the American sailor, one of the greatest seamen the world has ever known. The sea is my home and my words are tempered by the sound of paddle wheels on the Mississippi and the song of whales off Greenland's barren shore. My eyes have grown dim from the glare of sunshine on blue water, and my heart is full of star-strewn nights under the Southern Cross. My hands are raw from winter storms while sailing down around the Horn, and they are blistered from the heat of cannon broadsides while defending our nation. I am the American sailor, and I have seen the sunset of a thousand distant, lonely lands.

I am the American sailor. It was I who stood tall beside John Paul Jones as he shouted, "I have not yet begun to fight!" I fought upon Lake Erie with Perry, and I rode with Stephen Decatur into Tripoli Harbor to burn the Philadelphia. I met Guerrriere aboard Constitution, and I was lashed to the mast with Admiral Farragut at Mobile Bay. I have heard the clang of Confederate shot against the sides of the Monitor. I have suffered the cold with Perry at the North Pole, and I responded when Dewey said, "You may fire when ready, Gridley," at Manila Bay. It was I who transported supplies through submarine infested waters when our soldier's were called "over there." I was there as Admiral Byrd crossed the South Pole. It was I who went down with the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, who supported our troops at Inchon, and patrolled dark deadly waters on the Mekong Delta.

I am the American sailor, and I wear many faces. I am a pilot soaring across God's blue canopy and I am a Seabee atop a dusty bulldozer in the South Pacific. I am a Corpsman nursing the wounded in the jungle, and I am the torpedoman in the nautilus deep beneath the North Pole. I am hard and I am strong. But it was my eyes that filled with tears when my brother went down with the Thresher, and it my heart that rejoiced when Commander Shepherd rocketed into orbit above the Earth. It was I who languished in a Viet Cong prison camp, and it was I who walked upon the moon. It was I who saved the USS Stark and the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the mine infested waters of the Persian Gulf. It was I who pulled my brothers from the smoke filled compartments of the USS Bonefish and wept when my shipmates died on the USS Iowa and USS White Plains. When called again, I was there, on the tip of the spear for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

I am the American Sailor. I am woman, I am man, I am white and black, yellow, red and brown. I am Jew, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist. I am Irish, Filipino, African, French, Chinese and Indian. And my standard is the outstretched hand of liberty. Today, I serve around the world; on land, in the air, on and under the seas. I serve proudly, at peace once again. But I was called again right after September 11, 2001, a different war this time, against fanatical terrorists who attacked out beloved country, killing several thousand innocent civilians. But, fear not, for I have spread the mantle of my nation over the oceans of the world, and I will guard her forever.

The Red Shirt

Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the waves, a captain and his crew were in danger of being boarded by a pirate ship. As the crew became frantic, the captain bellowed to his first mate, "Bring me my red shirt!" The first mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, which the captain put on and lead the crew to battle the pirate boarding party. Although some casualties occurred among the crew, the pirates were repelled.

Later that day, the lookout screamed that there were two pirate vessels sending boarding parties. The crew cowered in fear, but the captain calm as ever bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt!" The battle was on, and once again the captain and his crew repelled both boarding parties, although this time more casualties occurred.

Weary from the battles, the men sat around on deck that night recounting the day's occurrences when an ensign looked to the captain and asked, "Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before the battle?"

The captain, giving the ensign a look that only a captain can give, exhorted, "If I am wounded in battle, the red shirt does not show the wound and thus, you men will continue to fight unafraid." The men sat in silence marveling at the courage of such a man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout screamed that there were pirate ships, 10 of them, all with boarding parties on their way. The men became silent and looked to their captain for his usual command.

The captain, calm as ever, bellowed, "Bring me my brown pants!"

Larry sent this graphic so I naturally assumed it was Navy, also due to the comparison to the Puff "ships." OOOOps ... I have been corrected by Bubba Flyboy, "The AC-130 gunship is an airborne destroyer too big to be handled on a flight deck. Puff was a modified C-47, the military version of the Douglas DC-3."

I'll be happy to start a separate Air Force section when I have sufficient material. Same goes for Marines - for now y'all will just have to be nice and share. Do not miss the equal-op enlistment oath bash on previous page.

I'm also planning a "brag" page for announcing promotions/awards. Not sure what the qualifications will be yet, will start with of-the-month/year-awards/citations. Can be text info and/or pix. Please see e-mail submission particulars below. Suggestion: check with your local newspaper. If it doesn't already have a "social" column or the like, talk to the editor. Smaller neighborhood publications will probably be more willing to cooperate but you never know until you ask.

I don't have the whole story why/how the helmet and flag (flying on board below) arrived on board. There is another flag-signing effort - organizations and classes sending flags to be signed by crew - to be carried into NY harbor and returned to senders - I think. Mail was bouncing back and not forth for a while, I'll add details as soon as possible. Or, write to Larry. Hopefully the delivery problem to ship is cleared by now.

Larry does enjoy his mail, "To all of you thanks for the best morale booster you guys can give - the time you give to e-mail a 'old crusty sea salt' like me." Incidentally, he does does not have access to pages. Questions/comments about anything here will need to be specific. cmarld@roosevelt.navy.mil

Wow!! We just had the visit from the highest ranking officer in the U.S.Navy, out here to see us. He brought along the Master Chief of the Navy and the two-star Admiral Chief of the Chaplains - very inspirational visit! It was an honor and pleasure to have him come aboard and talk to our crew. Highly motivating to us sailors to let us know that America is behind us. Reminded us that we work for you guys, the American tax-paying public!

Larry also mentioned recent visits from senators and such, I think that's great. It wouldn't hurt anyone to write your own congress people to encourage more - to all the troops.

We finally broke the record! our ship is now, the only ship in the fleet, to be at sea this long since 1980! even in WWII the carriers were out for years but they had to pull into port frequently, due to them not being nukes. They had to pull in for fuel, supplies,etc.- now days we can stay out indefinitely.

"My sentiments (below), exactly. I guess this is why I came back in, I missed this!" MS2 Cmar

Reflections of a Blackshoe by VAdm Harold Koenig, USN (Ret)

I like the Navy.

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.

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. 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 pierside.
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 midwatches 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. 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 workplace 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 messdecks. 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 once. I was part of the Navy and the Navy will always be part of me."

I am proud to report that the USS Theodore Roosevelt received the prestigious Battle "E" award for excellence in all departments on this ship. Very high honor indeed. I have only been on one other ship that got that award. Not too shabby!

We got word today that besides our ship winning the Battle "E"' award, we also won the "NEY" award - best at sea afloat mess and mess decks. A very high honor to have for this ship, last time they won it was back when this ship was just commissioned. It will look good on my E-Vals that is for sure. I will now have a chest full of ribbons when I leave here. All I need for my carrier to be set, is the coveted ESWS pin - Enlisted Surface Warfare pin. Then I will have more decorations than the CNO!

That'll have to do for now, more's on the way. Check back soon, and please send your suggestions and contributions - just about anything that will give a better "feel" for what's going on out there.

Please use a clearly defined subject line. Mail ID details/problems I do not need are at the end of page - thanks!

I'm getting the best, and most feedback/circulation on these and my K9 unit's pages. I intend to continue the whole WAR series - working on a why and who "bio" now. As President Bush said, we all need to be doing something. This is my best shot (covering a lot of areas) and it's extremely rewarding. However, I'm about to be snagged in a catch-22.

I have the time, what I don't have is endless resources. Pix take up a lot of room on existing paid-for space. Also, there's a cap on traffic. After a point, I'll have to pay to arrange to allow that extra, or pages under this domain will simply cease to show up. The techy which, how and when is confusing and I actually don't have a clue as to the time and/or numbers cut off. Bottom line is I'd like to avoid the inevitable mess by securing space ahead of need.

All of the above means I would certainly appreciate any financial contributions (address below). Freebie servers are not an option. You may have noticed those precious little overload messages that are appearing on even not-so-popular pages on the bigger once-upon-a-time gratis deals. Nooooo, can't be happy with their irritating ads being shoved on more people - that would make sense you see - they have to screw people who don't want to see their hard work flushed.

Oh, do I sound a little cranky? It was only a matter of time, which is why I never went that way in the first place. But to add insult ... I can't even tap my unused Aol space right now, ridiculously optionless as it is. That's a different can of worms. Basically the powers that be are idiots advertising for new subscribers when they can't take care of reliable uploading or display, should one be fool enough to try even a modest personal page.

Side note: If you happen to be thinking about getting into building pages for whatever reason, you don't have to go to the expense of a domain name or host right away. Compare options available on any of the regular mail servers that offer creative space. It's never a lot, but enough to tell you if you'd like to continue/expand (into the realm of compulsive/obsessive*).

Whispering Activist Record - Opinions and ideas, mine and from others, that everyone can use to get involved, make a difference and lighten the load. Find hoax busters, media hype alerts, timely info, controversy, common sense, commiseration, empathy, household tips, easy recipes, critter stuff, variety links, and a little humor along the way.

Any support you feel appropriate will be most welcome. Please make check or money order payable to Martha Jones, 11469 Olive Blvd. #236, St. Louis, MO, 63141 (Tax deductible is a possibility ad-wise, maybe even just by linking - your know your accountant better than I do.)

The old-fashioned way will have to suffice here, although I realize it's not convenient. I don't have a credit card option or any of the new donation options because I can't trust outside service reliability in general and have been burned by a stolen number that still isn't straightened out.

"Hey there, hi, this is great ... " subject lines do not cut it, spammers do that. Due to at least 10 tons of junk to sort every day - when I don't recognize sender name and subject line is not clearly defined, I delete. Downloads, from anyone, even you my friend, also have to be automatic deletions. Most people don't realize scanners can't catch the latest virus/worms.

Embedded images or copies of doc. files are welcome. Typing in all caps is not. It's extremely irritating and should never be used unless you mean to be screaming, which is even more irritating. I will not read, no matter the subject.If you have a great article or essay you haven't seen everywhere, go ahead and send the first few lines. I will ask you to retype the whole thing if I don't already have it in proper form. BTW, double spaces between sentences, broken lines or any sloppy spacing are also major editing pains. Don't even think about forwarding with << >> marks. If you do not know about copy and paste into a new mail and blind copy courtesy, check http://www.rrudder.com/safe/bcc.html.

Please attach your credit on personal submissions - full name, initials or however you're comfortable. Also let me know if you'd like e-mail addy published for direct contact. Pen names OK too, I'm the only one who needs to know who are if for any reason your own name would cause difficulty.

I do try to answer all mail within 24 hours. If you do not hear from me in two or three days, it's likely the mail was lost - please try again. If you check and find your mail deleted, it could be because you saved me the trouble of opening one of many duplicates by using a clear subject line - thanks.