We should all live so long — and well
January 31st, 2012 | Amphibious operations Historical Marine Corps Navy Photos Seabees SEALs SURFLANT World War II | Posted by Bill McMichael
Reaching 100 years of age is remarkable enough. But the Navy made it extra special for a former Navy Seabee Dec. 2.
Retired Capt. James R. Mims, the nation’s oldest living Seabee, was made an honorary member of Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 by the unit’s top sailor, Command Master Chief (SCW) Johnny DeSarro, during Mims’ 100th birthday party, held at the Oaks Country Club in Richmond, Va.. Mims also received a U.S. flag flown over the Capitol building, a birthday greeting from President Obama and a very cool commemorative paddle.
Retired Capt. James R. Mims stands with Command Master Chief (SCW) Johnny DeSarro (left) and Senior Chief Builder John Woolston, PHIBCB 2 Operations Chief, at his 100th birthday party after receiving a commemorative paddle custom-designed by Woolston. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Pankau
Mims has experienced some remarkable moments in his life. In DeSarro’s words, Mims “served at Okinawa during World War II, swore in the first 25 frogmen, known today as Navy SEALs, and met and spoke with Adm. Ben Moreell” — the father of the Seabees.
DeSarro wanted to hear more about all that, so he returned to Richmond Dec. 19 to meet Mims at his hangout — a local restaurant called Joe’s Inn, where Mims goes every Friday for a meeting of the Bon Air Rotary Club — where he has a 56-year perfect attendance record.
Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 Command Master Chief (SCW) Johnny DeSarro and retired Navy Capt. James R. Mims sits down for breakfast at Joe's Inn, a local Richmond restaurant, during a Dec. 19 meeting discuss his history and experiences as the world's oldest Seabee. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Pankau
Naval Surface Force Atlantic released the Mims story on the day after the start of Bold Alligator, the largest Navy-Marine Corps amphibious exercise in a decade. The timing was splendid because Mims had some stories to tell about one of the biggest amphibious assaults in history.
Mims was a Civil Engineer Corps cargo officer during that mission and his task that day was to rendezvous with the main Seabee camp, according to the story, by SURFLANT Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Pankau.
“We rode on a (Landing Ship Tank) from Saipan to Okinawa in 1945 on an Easter Sunday morning,” Mims told Pankau. “There were 1,400 ships in that operation and we had some Marines in an Army DUKW (a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck used for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks) heading for the east side of the island,” said Mims.
Their mission was to trick the enemy by drawing fire to their location on the eastern coast of Okinawa and to delay Japanese reserve troops, according to Pankau. The main landing force assaulted the beach on the western coast that Easter Sunday, supported by the 2nd Marine Battalion’s effective decoy tactics.
“About halfway to the shore we started drawing fire so the LST driver turned around to lay down a smoke screen,” Mims told Pankau. “We repeated this several times to draw the fire away from the west. The Army guy driving the LST wouldn’t go all the way to the beach so we had to jump out and wade through the water while the enemy was laying down strafing fire by us.”
Exhaustion set in after two days of combat without sleep and Mims found an abandoned fox hole to take shelter in. As he looked up from his fox hole, a formation of Japanese fighter planes passed overhead.
“I don’t know whether they were kamikazes or what but they flew so low I could see the first pilot’s face. I’ll never forget the smile on his face,” Mims told Pankau.
Earlier, Mims had a brush with another seminal moment in naval history: The forming of the Navy SEALs.
Today’s SEALs trace their lineage to a group of volunteers selected from the Seabees in the spring of 1943, according to Naval Special Warfare Command. Mims was the enlisting officer for the first 25 frogmen, according to the story.
“I was at Camp Perry at the time and a lieutenant said to me ‘I want you to go out there and swear in those frogmen.’ And so, as a junior lieutenant, I went out there and swore them in and then I said, ‘What’s a frogman?’ Turns out they were the beginning of the SEALs.”
Mims had no idea that he swore in the original 25 frogmen until he saw a familiar name in an obituary in the Richmond paper naming one of the first frogmen. He later saw them in action and described the night operation he witnessed, where the frogmen pulled onto the beach in rubber rafts. They performed reconnaissance missions and set up targets for bombing and troop placements. Mims laughed, Pankau wrote, as he recalled the sign they left up for the Marines that said, “What kept you?”
DeSarro said that making a Mims an honorary member of the unit was special.
“We (Seabees) are fiercely proud of our heritage and we are very protective of anything that ties us to our history,” DeSarro said. “Making the paddle for him ties us back, in a big way, to our legacy and our heritage.
“Everything we do as Seabees, we do to live up to the expectations of our predecessors,” he said. “We bear the burden of carrying on the Seabee tradition that men like Capt. Mims laid out before us.”
Rudy’s one-liners
January 27th, 2012 | Don't ask Historical Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek - Fort Story Naval special warfare Navy Photos Retired Navy SEAL Team 2 SEALs Traditions | Posted by Bill McMichael
Retired Master Chief Rudy Boesch earned more than a few laughs Friday during his remarks at the East Coast SEALs’ celebration of the SEALs’ 50th anniversary (the West Coast SEALs marked it two weeks ago), both centered around his post-SEAL Team 2 days.
The 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act helped spark the 1987 formation of U.S. Special Operations Command. That same year, Boesch, coming up on 26 years as a member of SEAL Team 2, was one of three senior military enlisteds called to Coronado to interview with Gen. James Lindsay, the command’s first commander-in-chief — as the position was then known – to become the command’s first senior enlisted adviser.
Retired Master Chief Rudy Boesch at the East Coast SEALs' 50th anniversary celebration Jan. 27 at Joint Expeditionary Base - Little Creek. //U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Meranda Keller
“People were telling me that I would have to study ’cause I might get asked questions like, `Who was the president of Zimbabwe?’” He paused for effect and then added, offhandedly, “To this day, I don’t know who it is.” After the laughter subsided, he added, ”I wasn’t going to study to find out.”
When Boesch’s turn came to be interviewed, he said, “The general asked me how the hell I managed to stay in the military for so long. At that time, I had 42 years in it. Since I had a few more years in the service than he did, I told him that if he hired me, he would find out because he was going to have to do the paperwork to keep me in the service.”
After the laughter subsided, Boesch said, “He thumped me in the chest and hired me right on the spot.”
Boesch’s closing one-liner also drew laughs, but not for a joke the Navy would be pleased to hear expressed in a year following the reversal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays in the military.
“In 2000, I tried out for the first Survivor series on TV, and the rest is history,” Boesch told the crowd. “Some of the people in here have been asking me if I keep in touch with anybody in the Survivor [series].” He paused. “I don’t write to queers. ” He made it clear that he was talking about “homosexuals.”
Living la dolce vita on a former Soviet carrier
January 16th, 2012 | Carriers China Historical Photos Soviet Union | Posted by Bill McMichael
There’s something utterly incongruous about the setup, but a Chinese company is opening a luxury hotel on board a retired Kiev-class Soviet aircraft carrier.
That’s right. One of these:
Has bedrooms like these:
One of the hotel's three presidential suites, the largest of which is 400 square meters. // Photo courtesy Binhai Aircraft.
And lounges like these:
The lounge of another presidential suite. // Photo courtesy Binhai Aircraft.
Crazy, no? The country that starved or killed millions in the name of communist purity and military dominance collapses, sells a carrier (in 1996) to a company in China (a former enemy) that, in 2004, turns the carrier into a tourist attraction — a military theme park that features a hotel aimed at a “high-end clientele.”
This is begging for a Hollywood script.
The company developed the hotel concept in response to requests from visitors hoping to spend the night in a former officer’s or sailor’s room. There are 148 rooms, still being finished, in addition to three lavish presidential suites that look like something out of a Las Vegas penthouse.
So, no guests yet — it’s slated to open sometime this year. But visitors can now, by appointment, dine in “the world’s first Western restaurant on an aircraft carrier.”
The Kiev hotel's 30-seat restaurant. Dig that color scheme!// Photo courtesy of Binhai Aircraft.
Don’t go expecting French or Italian cuisine, however. It’s Russian food.
Here’s the story, courtesy of CNN International.
Celebrating the Wrights, and naval aviation’s 100th
December 8th, 2011 | Aviation Historical Naval aviation centennial Photos Wright Brothers | Posted by Bill McMichael
East Coast aviation buffs should mark their calendars for Saturday, Dec. 17, when the 108th Celebration of Powered Flight will be held at the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Well, it’s probably not exactly the 108th celebration … no one likely paid any attention to such things for a few decades. But this event does promise to be special.
It starts at 8:30 a.m. and, weather permitting, there’ll be a military aircraft flyover at exactly 10:35 a.m. — precisely when the Orville Wright “powered” off a 60-foot monorail guide and flew the brothers’ biplane a total of 120 feet.
Orville Wright's famous first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Dec. 17, 1903. The site is now the city of Kill Devil Hills, south of present-day Kitty Hawk. That's Wilbur Wright on the right.
No details yet on which aircraft will be involved. But given that the event’s also billed as marking the 100th anniversary of naval aviation — and given that Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and a veteran Navy jet pilot, will be giving the keynote address — here’s guessing there’ll be a Navy jet or two involved.
DEC. 15 UPDATE: The military flyover will be all Navy: F/A-18 Hornets from Carrier Air Wing 7, according to the First Flight Society.
In addition, the first Navy ace, Lt. David Ingalls, will be inducted into the First Flight Shrine.
Lt. David Ingalls, the Navy's first ace.
You can read about his World War I exploits here.
A separate flyover by civilian aircraft will take place later in the day. And descendants of those who witnessed the first flight will lay wreaths at the marker where the flight occurred.
Wright Brothers National Memorial Park entry fees are waived for the morning of December 17th, so attending the ceremony will be free of charge. For more information about his year’s event, visit the event page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FirstFlightCelebration.
It’ll be good day — weather permitting, of course.
Elves in orange vests
November 29th, 2011 | Coast Guard Entertainment Historical Traditions | Posted by Jenn Rafael
Crew members of the seagoing buoy tender Alder load pallets of Christmas trees Monday in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Alder will deliver the trees to needy families in Chicago. // PA3 George Degener/Coast Guard.
The seagoing buoy tender Alder has a new mission: spreading holiday cheer.
The cutter is carrying hundreds of trees to needy Chicago families as the city’s “Christmas ship.” On Monday, the cutter’s crew took on the holiday cargo in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Curt Barrett operates Alder's buoy deck crane to load pallets of trees Monday. // PA3 George Degener/Coast Guard.
The seagoing buoy tender/icebreaker Mackinaw normally does the honors. Its crew delivered more than 1,200 Christmas trees to Chicago families last year. But for this holiday season, Mackinaw is headed to a Wisconsin shipyard for repair of a leaking bow-thruster.
Alder’s mission is the continuation of a Chicago tradition. The original Christmas ship, the Rouse Simmons, brought fresh evergreens and wreaths to Chicago during holiday seasons in the early 1900s. The three-masted schooner entered port with a Christmas tree tied to its mast each year until it was lost in 1912.
Alder is due to arrive in Chicago on Friday morning; trees will be distributed Saturday.
Down Under, memories of another ‘Pearl Harbor’
November 25th, 2011 | Australia Historical Liberty Navy The Pacific | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
No doubt the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor stands out as a critical turning point in our nation’s history. Next month, we mark the 70th anniversary, and the nation will join countless veterans and service members in recalling the sacrifice from that day and the amazing generation that stepped up and answered the nation’s call.
Such pivotal moments are shared by U.S. allies including the Australians, who are strengthening their ties and military relationship with the United States that goes back 60 years to World War II with an alliance that’s remained solid – and popular among U.S. sailors and Marines who get to visit the remote island continent. Most recently, President Barack Obama announced a new rotation of Marines and Air Force units to Australian military training bases that will also see more U.S. ships visiting in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, and likely other liberty ports Down Under.
At the USS Peary memorial in Darwin, Australia, President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard pay respects to the 91 sailors who perished when the city was bombed in 1942. (AP photo)
Like our Pearl Harbor, the Aussies, too, had a pivotal moment during World War II when 260 Japanese fighters and dive bombers attacked Darwin, home to several key bases and communications stations, on Feb. 19, 1942. Although the Australian military was in the thick of the larger war, this was the first attack on Australian soil. Thick dark plumes of smoke rose over the city from oil storage tanks struck in the attack as soldiers and sailors manned anti-aircraft guns. Two Royal Australian Navy shipswere crippled in the harbor as the hulls exploded. The attack killed as many as 252 troops and local civilians and left hundreds wounded. The bombing of Darwin remains a dark day in that nation’s history. Australia recently announced a new national day of observance to mark the attack.
The enemy aircraft that day also struck the USS Peary as it sat in Darwin’s harbor, off the Timor Sea, killing 91 sailors. On his recent visit, Obama laid a wreath at a memorial dedicated to the Peary, a site anchored by one of the ship’s four-inch guns recovered after the attack. The president met Tony Duke, whose late father, Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Melvin Duke, had survived the attack, received the Purple Heart medal and later had his remains buried at the wreckage site. His son provides a poignant recollection of his father and how he learned what he went through on that fateful day.
The sub force’s first female trailblazers
November 22nd, 2011 | Historical Submarines Women in the Navy | Posted by Sam Fellman
Women attended nuclear power school in the early 1980s to qualify to stand engineering watches in the submarine force, an initiative that was later abandoned. // Jane Reoch
With female officers reporting for duty this month to the submarine force, news stories have hailed these trailblazers as the first female submariners. While that may be true, they’re not without forebears, one reader told Navy Times.
In the early 1980s, roughly 120 women were recruited into the nuclear Navy to join the submarine force, according to Jane Reoch, a former machinist’s mate first class who joined the Navy in 1979 as part of this effort.
“Our mission was to get qualified so that we could stand engineering watches at the various ports where submarines were stationed,” Reoch said, adding that the aim was to “augment ship’s force, so that they could spend more time with their families.”
Yet before female nukes ever stood engineering watches aboard subs, the Navy shelved the program — an outcome that Reoch believes can be traced to resistance from chiefs of the boat.
Instead, Reoch ended up working at a repair facility and later as an instructor at the nuclear prototype in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Now, she’s developed a website to reconnect with women in the program.
“I’ve even received emails from other men that served,” she added, “and they said, ‘Well, jeez. I wish you had been able to do that!’”
Haze gray in Charm City
November 16th, 2011 | Community relations Historical Navy Photos Ships Surface Force Atlantic War of 1812 | Posted by Bill McMichael
Next year marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and the Navy is helping the state of Maryland kick off its multi-year commemoration with a two-ship visit to Baltimore’s beautiful Inner Harbor. The war with Great Britain that gave us the Star-Spangled Banner and “Don’t give up the ship!” was declared on June 18, 1812, and lasted another 2 1/2 years.
Two patrol coastals, Hurricane and Monsoon, arrived at Baltimore's Inner Harbor Tuesday morning. The two ships are in town to take part in Maryland's Star-Spangled Bicentennial Launch, slated for Wednesday morning. // U.S. Navy photo
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will be marking the bicentennial through 2015 with week-long events, parades of sail, public visits and numerous other community relations activities in Baltimore, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Boston, and the Great Lakes ports of Milwaukee, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo, according to Naval Surface Force Atlantic.
The kickoff ceremony will be held Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in Baltimore’s Bicentennial Plaza.
A battleship of your very own
November 1st, 2011 | Battleships Historical Navy Photos World War II | Posted by Jenn Rafael
Pretend to be Adm. Bull Halsey with this 20-foot replica of the battleship New Jersey, up for auction for $80,000. // ebay.com
With the battleship Iowa being prepared for its debut next year as an interactive museum near Los Angeles, you might be thinking, where’s my battleship?
The car enthusiast website jalopnik.com has the scoop: For a mere $80,000, you can own your own replica of the battleship New Jersey.
The ebay auction description notes the ship is powered by a 120 HP Sea Doo jet drive. Also: “Two of the main guns are fully articulating and fire streams of high pressure water. The vessel also contains a 4000 watt generator, air compressor and high pressure stainless steel water pump.”
And since the listing notes that there’s room for a two-man crew, you and a shipmate can split the cost.
Navy officer and Doritos inventor dies
September 29th, 2011 | Historical Navy Veterans World War II | Posted by Sam Fellman
Arch West, 97-year-old former naval officer who invented Doritos, died on Sept. 20. // theimpulsivebuy via Flickr
The idea for Doritos tortilla chips, which brought about a sea change in snacking and became a top seller for Frito-Lay, came from the mind of former Navy man Arch West, who died of natural causes on Sept. 20. He was 97. West joined the Navy in 1943 and served as a gunnery officer onboard destroyer escort Holt in the Pacific during World War II, according to The Dallas Morning News.
A chance encounter on a family vacation inspired West to mass-market tortilla chips, according to The Washington Post:
“He was on a family vacation in Southern California in 1964 when he first bought a grease-smeared bag of toasted tortillas at a roadside shack.
As marketing vice president at Frito-Lay, Mr. West immediately sensed he had stumbled upon a snacking phenomenon.
When he returned to work, Mr. West pitched his idea: a crispy, triangle-shaped corn chip that would complement the company’s lighter Lay’s potato chip and the thicker, curly Frito.”
The Washington Post also published a photo of West from his Navy days.
Doritos are now the chips of choice for millions around the world. They come in 21 flavors, from old stand-bys like Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese to more extreme offerings like Blazin’ Jalapeno and All Nighter Cheeseburger. Global sales of Doritos were nearly $5 billion in 2010, a Frito-Lay spokeswoman told the Post.
Family members plan on tossing Doritos chips at his Oct. 1 burial so that West can face the ages with his addictive creation on-hand.