Merry Christmas, !
This Christmas season reminds us, both of the birth of Christ which many of us celebrate, and the joy of family and friends. Many of you I've come to call friend, and all of you I consider as family - our shared experiences at 'greater than 200 feet' have earned us the right!
Those of us who wear the dolphins know what sacrifice means, especially when it came to celebrating holidays submerged, away from family and friends on the pointed end of the spear.
Those who fed us made extra effort to make the holiday meal special, and sometimes we were able to convince a few of the musically inclined to belt out some well-known Christmas carols. But there were times when carols took second place to 'ultra-quiet' and the best we could do for Christmas decorations was Control 'rigged for red'.
You know. You've been there, done that. It was a price that had to be paid, and while that in itself was no reward, there was a reason, and for most of us, that reason, family and friends, makes this season of remembering even more special.
I am reminded of a Christmas 40 some-odd years ago on the SSN 680. Underway, underwater, underpaid, under-acknowledged, under just about everything. After watch, a brief stop by Radio to see what's up revealed a single strip of flimsy taped to the door:
FM: COMMANDER, SUBMARINE FORCE, PACIFIC FLEET
On this day forty years ago every submarine in the Pacific Fleet was at sea, their crews fighting for their lives and those of their countrymen. Many of those who sacrificed that Christmas away from their family and loved ones made the supreme sacrifice and never returned from the sea.
As you serve this Christmas with honor, reflect on the sacrifice of those who have gone before you, and take heart that your effort will not be forgotten by those whose peace you defend.
Sacrifice. We sacrified very little compared to many of our shipmates that served before us, but we sacrificed. We felt it. We knew what it meant to give up one thing for the sake of another, much like the Christmas story itself.
This Christmas, in those quiet moments in the midst of the holiday chaos, take a minute to find joy in your family, friends, shipmates, and, dare I say, the memory of that shared experience that so defines who we are today.
You have earned it.
~ Brad Williamson
