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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: Submariners are above all others
I have a dear friend who was a veternarian with a nationally known reputation. When teaching a new vaccination technique at the University of Delaware, he was going to innoculate a large bull. The bull was behind him out of view while he described the technique involved. The bull got loose from the two men holding its' tethers and it ran and hit Bill in the spine. At thirty-two he became (his words) "a hopeless cripple". The doctors told his then 27 year old bride that over the years his condition would deteriorate culminating in eventual near helplessness. Ten years ago he lost all control of his elimination functions and now has extremely limited mobility. I met him thirty years ago at a party I attended with my wife. At that time he could move about fairly normally thanks to medication and non-visable support devices. He was a six foot four, very loud happy-go-lucky, Chivas Regal drinking red bearded bastard, with a wit like Dartangons blade. We became friends and have remained so over the years. Over the years, his friends and there was a wide circle of them...drifted away. I have called him three times a week for years and years and continue to do so. Over the years I would ask,"Whaddya hear from so-in-so?" "Haven't heard from him in years." Over the years his circle of "close friends" melted away. One told me,"I get depressed listening to him talk about pooping in his diapers and being in pain all the time....so I quit calling him. I always felt depressed when I hung up." What in the hell did she expect? He wasn't riding in rodeos...he wasn't going to the circus....knitting classes...or runninjg marathons. He was running out the tag end of what life he has left, spending most of his time flat on his back peeing and pooping in a bloody diaper, and watching soap operas crafted to turn your intellect into mush. Freinds are not fun folks for the good times...they should be there to be a shoulder to lean on in the bad times. In truth you don't need fairweather friends...you can find a boxcar load of those bastards in any bar or ginmill on the planet....You need friends who will pick you up when you're beaten and bloody, reseat you on your horse, hand you back your sword and shield and point you out the way to get back into the battle. True friends link arms with you to battle demons, ease your pain with laughter and depending on who goes first...to stand by the hole in the dirt when they lower you down. Today, I talked to the old bastard in a hospital somewhere in Delaware...He's in really bad shape. At one point, a nurse came in to give him his medication and do what nurses do and he told me he had to hang up...and he said,"THANK YOU for being my friend." and I said,"Bill, I learned that from my fellow submariners." Folks, You want a friend, get yourself a submariner for a shipmate. Those bastards have wear in them like a Firestone tractor tire...you can't wear them out. They'll never leave you drunk and passed out in an alley....without cab fare....If you have five dollars, ten guys off your boat have fifty cents...(check the math, I'm from Tennessee). Over the years, bonds formed in dead air, foul smells, shared sleeping arrangements, bi-weekly showers, second hand smoke and sweat soaked dungaree shirts are the strongest that can be forged in life. Submariners got me past the pain of losing my bride...not all of it yet, but most of it....that includes John Wynn putting his not so gentle boot in my butt from time to time. I don't know what it is with the steel thread submariners souls are stitched together with, but the damn stuff holds up for a lifetime. In every barfight you will face in life from the moment the skipper pins silver fish above the pocket of your sopping wet dungaree shirt, the shoulder blades up against your, protecting you 180 will be one of your shipmates...you can betcher ass on that. I've made a lot of stupid mistakes in my life...a helluvalot more than most, but volunteering for sub duty wasn't one of them. Thanks to all you sonuvabitches who were there when I was bleeding in my socks. DEX |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
That is very true. When you get right on down to it the people you can really call true friends are few and far between. I'm talkin about a person that will be there for you no matter what the problem. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 877
| Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
Ralph Luther - 2008-04-15 7:58 AM
That is very true. When you get right on down to it the people you can really call true friends are few and far between. I'm talkin about a person that will be there for you no matter what the problem.
I can count my true friends on one hand... |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1431
| Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
I always thought we were below all others.....some fish excluded!!! |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 606
Location: Citrus County FL | Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
I spent an hour and a half on the phone with an old friend (terminally ill) last Sunday. We kept yakking and yakking -- telling some of the same old stories. He suddenly realized that he hadn't been out of bed (or awake) that long in a while. He said he had to hang up, because he now felt pretty good and wanted to spend some time with his wife. That made me feel pretty good. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
Whalen, Great post...When all the cards have been dealt and the chips cashed in...that's what it is all about, making folks feel good when you both hang up....letting them know that they're being thought about and there is a heart somewhere that they have a small apatment in. The worst thing is being parked on the shelf of life to gather dust and be forgotten. In USSVI you get to swap horsemanure with your contemporaries, snorkel in the suds, ogle lovely ladies.....exchange verbal recitations on "long forgotten" or "never happened" naval history....talk about the old days....compare boats served on. You do this up to the time, the Goddess of the Main Induction cuts you orders to the HOLLAND CLUB...Then you sit around with a bunch of old ancient coots and talk about erectile disfunction, bowel irregularity, scaley skin, prostate problems, old gals in support stockings and dietary fiber. DEX |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1107
Location: Tucson AZ | Subject: Good Lord! Is Dex's avatar Whalen's grandpa?
Seeing the two of your posts lone above the other, and comparing the two pictures, is it my imagination or is Whalen descended from Dex's avatar?
Sure seems to be a family resemblance - right down to the scruffy beard and the stogie jutting out at a jaunty angle!
Edited by Flapper 2008-04-15 3:52 PM
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 877
| Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
Flapper...are they related??? Um...methinks some things should just remain a mystery... |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 606
Location: Citrus County FL | Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
Yar, that could be why I likes canned spinach! (And I alster likes to go swimmin' wit bow-legged wimmin...er, bald-headed wimmin... or was it bare-naked wimmin?) |
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Admin
Posts: 2297
Location: Renton, WA | Subject: RE: Submariners are above all others
I believe it goes, "I love to go swimmin' with bow-legged wimmin'... and dive between their legs...(toot tooooot)" Great story Dex and nice followup Bill ! |
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Submariners are above all others
