To all concerned Shipmates,

The Navy has been blessed in my opinion with good souls, mediocre souls and a few bad souls. And that is the way that most things in life turn out to be. I would like to personally thank you for being one of the good souls and I appreciate your comments about my work “Once I Was A Navyman”. There is a thing or two that I would like to clear up for anyone interested. I spent the first 10 years of my Navy career on Destroyers, Cruisers and Battleships and I have seen the commissioning pennant flown from Navy vessels that extended for many yards and welcome home pennants too. I have also had to pick flying fish from a teak wood main deck of a Navy Cruiser in the South China Seas, and have observed these creatures flitting and gliding on those same mirror smooth seas. I have been in typhoons in the Straits of Formosa and other areas of the Great Pacific Ocean. I rode Tin Cans in the Atlantic, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and the Caribbean Islands and was a member of a Destroyer crew off Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crises of 62. I have actually touched a dolphin while over the side underway, I have viewed more bow waves than one might imagine in my time at sea, I have seen more Oscar Flags broken than most Navymen have seen sunsets in the their Navy time. I carry the designator (SS) because that is what the Navy wanted me to be but I will never forget my time on surface craft, that is what made me a Navyman.

By the way I spelled Navyman with one word and even though your dictionary forces it to be two words my poetic license says it is still one word.

Fair winds and following seas to all Shipmates

E A Hughes, FTCM (SS)
USN (Retired)