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Ric |
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Plankowner Posts: 9165 Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: Eternal Patrol Got this this morning from Kay Larson: ============================================= Hello everyone, This morning at 1:08 am Rick passed on to eternal life. He wanted Gordon and I to stay the night. He was scared and woulnd not close his eyes. He would get sleepy, but then in an instant would quickly reopen them in a frightened stare. We kept reasurring him that we were there. Later during the night his heart rate started dropping until it stopped completely. It was a peaceful exit. We figured that the fluid completely filled up his lungs finally cutting off his oxygen which caused him to stare off. When I spoke to him, he was not aware of me or anything. A few minutes later, his heart rate gradually dropped until it stopped. It was a quiet exit. At least he isn't suffering anymore. Cancer is certainly a cruel disease, but I am thankful it has only been 6 months rather than suffering for years. We have appreciated all your prayers, cards, e-mails and visits. Please continue to pray for us as we go through this grieving process. I will let you all know of the funeral arrangements as soon as we talk with the funeral home. God bless you all, Kay ============================================= =============================================== Ricks short autobiography: Rick Larson, MMCM (SS)(Retired) I joined the Navy in the spring of 1967 through the Delay Entry Program to allow time to finish some college courses. In August of 1967 I was sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Command. Having not paid much attention to the earlier lectures given by the instructors concerning the various job opportunities, because I wanted to ride Swift boats in the Mekong Delta as either an Engineman or Quartermaster I thought it would be a shoe in. When the counselor looked at my record and saw all the science and math classes I had taken in college he asked me why I had not signed up for the Nuclear Power Program? My reply was "What is that?" which got me in trouble for not paying attention during the previous training lectures. So having no idea about the program and getting some friendly (ha ha) persuasion from that Chief Petty Officer I enrolled into the program. The Nuclear Power Program had four job postings ET, EM, IC and MM and after some discussion the MM (Machinist Mate) rating seemed the most interesting. Still did not know much about submarines only that some of the graduates will go there and some will go to the nuclear surface fleet. From Boot Camp just had to pack my sea bag and walk across the street to "A" schools there at Great Lakes. This was the winter of 1967 and I learn a valuable lesson about swapping duty sections. One of the guys in my group wanted to go see his family in Chicago and asked if I would take his weekend duty. I said I would. Not having the Weather Channel back then, I did not know we were going to get hit by a big snow storm that started Friday and snowed through the weekend. In typical Navy fashion the Duty Officer decide he wanted the sidewalks and grinders shoveled so for the next two days the duty section not standing barracks watch was put to clearing the snow. It was the coldest longest weekend I had ever spent. After graduating from Machinist Mate A school they gave us two choices Bainbridge, Maryland or Mare Island, California. This was an easy answer yes warmer California over colder Maryland. So I attended the Mare Island Nuclear Power school for six months with plans of going to Nuclear Power prototype in either Boston Spa, New York or Windsor, Connecticut. The Navy decided I needed to go to Idaho Falls for the next six months of schooling. After an eight hour day we had the joy of riding a bus for one to one and half hours back to town. For some of us that was sometimes the only sleep we would get. From prototype I was selected to attend Engineering Laboratory Technician (ELT) school there in Idaho. Three months later I was ready to go to Submarine school in New London but the needs of the Navy overruled and I was kept as a staff pick-up instructor for two years. By this time I had re-enlisted for the big ship over bonus and an advance school on Air Conditioning. Some time between 1969 and 1971 the Navy stopped sending nuclear power sailors to submarine school and sent us straight to the fleet. I guess it was to save money because we had been in school for so long they wanted there money out of us. When I left Idaho I had orders to the USS Jack SSN 605 in New London after I attended Air Conditioning & Refrigeration School in San Diego, California. San Diego was great, spent many a liberty hour in Tijuana, Mexico. Upon graduation from AC&R school was getting ready to travel back East when I read my orders to report to the USS Halibut, SSN 587 out of Mare Island. Spent three years onboard and I can remember my very first day which happened to be my birthday. The duty chief welcome me aboard said happy birthday and you are in tonight's duty section report to Bruce VanFleet your section leader. USS Halibut After my three years onboard the Halibut, I can neither confirm nor deny any of the statements made about the Halibut in the book Blind Man's Bluff. While on Halibut I got married and wanted some duty station where I only spent eleven months out of 36 months in our home port. On my dream sheet I requested duty in Holy Lock, Scotland at Squadron 14 aboard the USS Canopus AS-34. Was assigned to the R-5 division (Radiological Repairs) spent eight months in Scotland when the Canopus was relieved by the USS Holland AS-32. I was suppose to cross deck to the Holland but my Commanding Officer had my orders changed because I was the only First Class Petty Officer left out of a group of nine. So I rode the Canopus through the yards in Charleston, S.C., and took her to Squadron 16 in Rota, Spain. After we relieved the USS Simon Lake AS-33 the navy transferred me back to Charleston and the USS Von Steuben SSBN 632 Gold crew for requalification as a nuclear power operator. Did three deterrent patrols while onboard two of them out of Holy Lock. But this time I was looking for shore duty and found it at the Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine Training Command in the Engineering section. During my three years as an instructor I made chief, won a Navy Achievement Medal for my work on the preventive maintenance program and received the Training Specialist Award. USS Nathan Hale Having to return to the fleet I was sent to the USS Nathan Hale SSBN 623 Gold out of Charleston. By then the Navy started homesteading the families just to save on moving cost so it was easier to get a boat in the area. King Bay, Georgia had opened in the late 70's so I had ample opportunity to get a boat close by. After reporting to the Nathan Hale I thought I had it made because there was a very senior chief (E-7) who I worked for three weeks before he was medically dis-qualified from submarines and I was given the Machinery Division. It was a fly by one's pants for the first couple of patrols. I had developed a great friendship with the A-gang chief because when things broke it was either him or me whom were pulled out of our beds to go and oversee the repairs to the equipment. The Blues Brothers movie was big then so everyone in the Goat Locker use to call us the Blue's Brothers because we had such bad luck on equipment breaking. During one of our patrols the boat lost the radar due to the gears breaking in the circuit box that controlled the drive motor. The Captain was not very happy sitting dead in the water in a heavy fog bag in Long Island Sound. He knew about the USS S-51 being rammed back in the 1920's and did not want the same mishap occurring to his ship. The Navigations chief asked me if we in the machinery division could make a new gear since there were none in stores department. I knew we did not have anything that could make this small gear so I told my fellow chief I could repair it and get the radar working but it would not be to specifications and not to tell anyone until we got into port so it could be repaired correctly. He agreed and we started working on the emergency repairs. I found two can lids in the galley that were slightly larger than the broken gear and drilled and tapped them so they covered the gear. Did the same for the other drive gear and then found an o-ring to fit. The unit started work and after some minor adjustments we had our radar working and we could see again. After that patrol I received a Letter of Commendation from the Squadron commander for innovated repairs to a critical navigation system. To this day I still which I could have seen the technician's face when he opened that box and found my makeshift repairs. During my time on the Nathan Hale I was prompted to Senior Chief and made the Engineering Department Senior Enlisted Advisor. Nearly 45% of the enlisted crew reported to the Chief of the Boat (COB) through me. This was fine until the COB found out that the engineering personnel would call me COBRA (Chief of the Boat Reactors Aft). The COB tried to stop it but the more he did the more the guys would continue to call me COBRA just to get at the COB. USS Frank Cable By 1986 the Nathan Hale was scheduled to go to Newport News shipyard for repairs and determination if she would be decommissioned due to the SALT II agreements. Not wanting to move to Norfolk, I transferred to the USS Frank Cable AS-40 at Squadron 4, Charleston, South Carolina. My orders were to the R-10 (Nuclear Repairs Division) but the day I stepped aboard the Captain had other ideas and assigned me to the R-5 Division (Radiological Controls). When I talked to him about my orders to R-10 division the only thing he said was Senior Chief this is my ship and I will use you where I need you. So a two and one-half year stint in R-5 was repeated. In July of 1986 the entire Squadron 4 was transferred to the Virgin Islands for a three week advance deployment trip to see if we could supply the submarine squadron away from our home base. By late 1987 I had learned I was making Master Chief which was a major accomplishment. The biggest advantage was being taken off the watch bill. Finally, after twenty years I did not have to stand any more duty sections. In 1988 we were deployed to the Mediterranean to La Maddeleine, Italy for eight months so I finally got a Med cruise in the easy way. Upon returning to Charleston that later that year our new Captain transferred me to R-10 Division due to the lack of available Warrant Officer to fill the assistant Division Officer billet. I finished out my career retiring in January 1990 with hope of working for the Charleston Naval Shipyard. With the cut backs the military was going through all hiring was was stopped so I found a job with Martin Marietta in Piketon, OH where we enriched uranium ore for processing nuclear reactor fuel. I have been with the company since July 1990 and presently hold a position the Plant Shift Superintendents Office overseeing the Operations for the General Manager. =============================================== Emails can be sent to rick@pigboats.com Rest in peace Rick! Hand Salute, two! Ric | ||
| PaulR |
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Master and Commander Posts: 1269 Location: Hopewell Junction NY | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol Ric, sorry for the loss of your friend. It looks like he had a great and rewarding career. Too bad his future was cut short. Sailor, Rest Your Oar. | ||
| crystal |
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Master and Commander Posts: 2191 Location: Port Ludlow, WA (the Olympic Penninsula) | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol Truely sorry to hear about Rick's passing! Rick was the very 1st sub vet to see the value of our newly produced war patrol reports when we introduced them on last year's cruise. He wrote up his order there and then and received them as soon as we got back from Alaska. Rick and I shared a great meal with a good bottle of wine one evening, nice way to remember a guy who passed through your life! Thanks for your contribution to the submarine force in the years that you have given us Master Chief, you will be remembered! | ||
| Ralph Luther |
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| COMSUBBBS Posts: 6180 Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol So very sad! We are at the present time experiencing a thunder storm. How fitting when a friend slips off on Eternal Patrol. Rick was surly one of the best. I'm glad I had a chance to work with him in the church. Sailor Rest Your Oars And Go With The Lord. Thank you, Rick, for your Service and Dedication. HAND SALUTE!! TWO!! | ||
| BlackBeard |
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Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 566 Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol An honorable life well spent and a passing I will remember. Thank you for sharing part of his story, I'm certain there is far more his family can be proud of. BB | ||
| Donald L. Johnson |
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Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 602 Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol First, let me extend my condolences to the Larson family. Though I don't think I ever met Rick, from his bio I see a Shipmate who very definitely got his money's worth out of life, and who I would have enjoyed working with. We do have a connection of sorts, other than our dolphins. When he reported to Halibut, Rick went to work for MM1(SS) Bruce D. Van Vleet. When Bruce left Halibut, he went to Recruiting Duty here in Visalia. Bruce was my next-door neighbor from 1972-1974, and in the summer of 1973 he enlisted me in the nuclear Navy. So our Shipmate Rick has departed on his Final Patrol, and we bid him a fond Aloha. By faith we know that he has reached that port of Safe Haven, where the weather is always fair, the fishing good, the beer cold, and there is no more pain or sorrow. Now he serves on the Staff of the Supreme Commander. We pray God's Grace to ease the pain of those left behind, and His Guiding Hand on our helm, that we, too, may someday reach that same final port, and be Shipmates together again. | ||
| RCK |
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| Master and Commander Posts: 1431 | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol It is my hope that he passed through the portals of this life without a hint of fear but instead with a sense of wonder of what awaits him in the after life. | ||
| miss lumpy bumps |
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COMSUBBBS Posts: 2540 Location: Wappingers Falls, NY | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol In Memory: With respect and honor, We salute you, Rick! Patti & John "Garry" Lynn (100_1600A.jpg) Attachments ----------------  100_1600A.jpg (41KB - 809 downloads) | ||
| DaveyJ576 |
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| Mess cooking Posts: 36 | Subject: RE: Eternal Patrol Rick, Ric, and I were partners on our Pigboats.com website. Although Rick and I never met in person, I know he was a great person and an outstanding submariner. His many contributions to the submarine community were deeply appreciated. My heart pours out for his family. Shipmate, you will be missed. Dave Johnston | ||
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