Veterans Day

Of all the veterans in my extended family only a couple are from my generation.  One has been gone for a half-dozen years already and I would like to introduce him to you and a strange but true story.

If only the dead could talk they might just tell their stories.

Four years ago Jill and I traveled to San Diego for a business conference.  We added some vacation days to hang-out, see the sights and take-in what the southern California city had to offer.

Highlights of this short trip included time with my cousin Pete and his family along with a concert and terrific food. We also spent the better part of a day climbing all over the USS Midway.  The first of the Midway Class of carrier - CV-41 was commissioned at the close of WW II and decommissioned in 1992 following a deployment in Operation Desert Storm.


San Diego has so much to offer.  It is easy to hop on the city bus or the train to visit all sorts of other points of interest on terra firma.  If you were to take a bus to the end of the line - Point Loma affords the casual observer one of the most stunning panoramas of San Diego Bay.  It also happens to be home to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  One of the most beautiful of veteran cemeteries I think it rivals Arlington National Cemetery.

Unable to attend the funeral we took the opportunity to visit the resting place of my cousin Rob.

Rob was the third son and fourth child of my mom's older brother.  We were the closest in age of these four siblings.  As a member of the 'west coast family' my time with Rob was limited to his visits here or my visits there. 

One of my fondest memories of Rob was a beer-soaked Summerfest weekend in 1977.  What a pair of young Turks we were.  I was just out of college and working on my Masters Degree while Rob was embarking on a career in the US Navy.  On a short visit to Milwaukee we seized the opportunity to make up for lost time.

Back to the aircraft carrier.

When visiting a museum I like to avail myself of the audio tour.  With a headset the disembodied voice provides the details of the impressionist painting I am gazing-upon or some long dead pharaoh wrapped in crumbling linen.  The Midway Museum allows you to do the same with five dozen interpretive points throughout the ship and a couple of dozen restored aircraft.

While strolling-about the flight deck I approached an aircraft poised for launch.  Pressing the appropriate code the narrator had this to say –  Here is Lieutenant Commander Robert McNulty to explain the operation of the forward catapult.
 
In his own recorded voice - cousin Rob began detailing the preparation and launch routine for fixed wing carrier aircraft.  Including how the timing of the launch had to precisely match the momentum of a pitching ship at sea.

I suppose the dead really can speak to you...