The bodies of seven sailors of the 7th Fleet listed as missing in the U.S.S. Fitzgerald’s collision with a Philippine container ship were reported found early this morning, drown in a cut off flooded berthing compartment, done in by the sea they had undoubtedly marveled at in awe and wonder during their all too short Naval Careers.
Their Captain and four other shipmates had been medically evacuated by a Japanese Coast Guard Helicopter some hours earlier and are all in stable condition, for which we all are very grateful.
Having been a U.S. sailor many years ago, a 19 year old unbaptized landlubber from the dusty Midwest, I can attest that riding a pitching and yawing lookout deck out onto a jauntily white-capping nine foot Mediterranean Sea at night, the waves the color of Superman’s hair - with a soft baby blue phosphorous highlight -the wind chill and bracing through my Navy issued Pea-coat, Carl Sagan’s billions and billions spanning the night sky in a glorious progression my land bound eyes had never witnessed, was one of my formative experiences, one that I would not barter for all of Trump’s mbillions.
My most fervent wish today is that all seven of those lost souls from the ship Fitzgerald enjoyed such a exhilarating moment before King Neptune called them back into his embrace… before the watchman’s pipe called them home.
Their so called Commander in Chief had one of his aides (judging from the correct spelling and sentence formation) send out a perfunctory Tweet shortly after the wreck, yesterday morning…
...but this morning, when the first thing he should have been briefed on was their deaths, what was on his mind?
VoteVets noted:
Seven fine young men, under your negligent command, died a terrible, ghastly death and all you can think about is the phony approval numbers published by a shill poll, and how you can shout them out to your legion of equally uncaring followers to reinforce the idea that their ill informed votes might not yet prove to be the biggest disaster visited on our nation at least since 9-11?
Trump continues to defile his office every day.
President Obama would have never shamed us so, you cretin.
For the sailors lost:
Sea Fever
Fair skies and following seas, brave sailors of the 7th Fleet. May you find a Commander worthy of your honor in your next deployment.