A Sailor%27s Letter Home
This is an e-mail from a young ensign aboard USS Winston Churchill (DDG-81)
to his parents. (Churchill is an Arleigh Burke class AEGIS guided missile
destroyer, commissioned March 10, 2001, and is the only active US Navy
warship named after a foreign national.)
Dear Dad,
We are still at sea. The remainder of our port visits have all been
cancelled. We have spent every day since the attacks going back and forth
within imaginary boxes drawn in the ocean, standing high-security watches,
and trying to make the best of it. We have seen the articles and the
photographs, and they are sickening.
Being isolated, I don%27t think we appreciate the full scope of what is
happening back home, but we are definitely feeling the effects. About two
hours ago, we were hailed by a German Navy destroyer, Lutjens, requesting
permission to pass close by our port side. Strange, since we%27re in the
middle of an empty ocean, but the captain acquiesced and we prepared to
render them honors from our bridgewing.
As they were making their approach, our conning officer used binoculars and
announced that Lutjens was flying not the German, but the American flag. As
she came alongside us, we saw the American flag flying at half-mast and her
entire crew topside standing at silent, rigid attention in their dress
uniforms. They had made a sign that was displayed on her side that read, %27We
Stand By You.%27 There was not a dry eye on the bridge as they stayed longside
us for a few minutes and saluted. It was the most powerful thing I have seen
in my life.
The German Navy did an incredible thing for this crew, and it has truly
been the highest point in the days since the attacks. It%27s amazing to think
that only a half-century ago things were quite different. After Lutjens
pulled away, the Officer of the Deck, who had been planning to get out later
this year, turned to me and said, %27I%27m staying Navy.%27
I%27ll write you when I know more about when I%27ll be home, but this is it for
now.
Love you guys.
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Thema