The Berlin Wall “fell” 25 years ago. I was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal CV59, First In Defense or FID. I was serving with VAQ-142 with CVW-6. A month later, we escorted President H.W. Bush aboard USS Belknap CG-26 to the Malta Conference, marking the end of the Cold War. The weather was so rough we called it the Sea Sick Summit. The Russian leader Gorbachev was scheduled to arrive aboard a bad ass Soviet battlecruiser, the Kirov CGN Kirov, a ship we half-jokingly called the “Death Star.” Perhaps apropos, the Kirov suffered an engineering casualty (broken engine) and had to be towed away. The conference was held aboard a Russian love boat instead. We liked President Bush. Most of us were apolitical back then. Bush had been a carrier pilot during World War Two, and knew his way around the Navy. He visited us aboard the FID to give a speech and eat lunch with the crew, and enjoy an airshow. VIP’s usually just use us as props in their photo-op. We stand around for six hours in formation, cheer when we’re told, and are ignored until we’re dismissed. Bush was much more approachable, and seemed to be enjoying his visit. His Secret Service detail was another matter. They came barging into our space, and interrogated us as if we were mutineers ready to take down our Commander-in-Chief, and comported themselves as arrogant twits. They stormed away after the douche show, only to knock on our hatch 40 seconds later. Aircraft carriers are labyrinths of passageways, ladder wells, knee-knockers and void, and FID was no exception. “We’re lost” they whined. “Too bad” we shrugged as we slammed the hatch home and secured it. I think it was Lieutenant Commander Reddig who was supposed to chew us out, but he couldn’t stop laughing.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 13:57:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015