On 30 Dec I went to the Armed Forces Bowl in Ft Worth, with Bud Barnes, "Padre" Priestly, and their beautiful wives. The weather had warmed up, and by game time at 1045 hrs the sun was bright and high, the wind calm, and the temp in the high 50's. From high above the 50 yard line we had a great view of the game and all the great things that happen at a bowl game. At half time I got to watch and listen to Adm Mc Raven, who was in command of the operation which lead to the end of Osama Bin Ladin. After his address, Adm Mc Raven walked to the eastern end zone where there was a sideline to sideline formation of wounded warriors. The Admiral proceeded from one end to the other shaking hands with each one of them ....... but that wasn't all, he stopped and SPOKE to each one of them .... and took his sweet time doing it, schedules be damned.
As most of you know, Navy went on to win and thus make my first Bowl game a rousing success ......... but the evening before was a even more memorable on a personal level. I was invited to accompany Bud, "Padre" , and their wives, to a dinner in downtown Ft Worth with the Naval Academy class of '67 attendees. After crashing the Academy penthouse party, where an open bar and hors' overies (I spelled it my way) were taken advantage of, we proceeded back down to the 4th floor where the '67's were waiting. In attendance were about 15 graduates and their wives. The dinner was started by each of the 67's reintroducing themselves and giving a rundown, often humorously, of their lives since graduation, each graciously including their wives as part of that success (often more than one wife was part of that story) ..... As Bud took his turn to speak, he included me as his guest and eyes turned when he introduced me as a gunner of his in Nam ( a slight stretch since I arrived after Bud had left Det 1, but we did fly with many of the same men) . After finishing his story Bud returned to his seat, the remaining members told their story and all started their meals as the roll call ended. Stories were remembered and old times once again revisited and laughed about as if it were yesterday instead of 47 years years ago.
Somewhere into the evening one of the class members stood, and drew attention to me by saying " I think now, we should find out a bit more of the man in the green shirt who sits among us" . Bud again filled in a few blanks as I stood...... but I chose to talk of what I had become aware of as I sat among this group as they told their stories. I spoke (as usual, with more emotion than a 6 footer is supposed to show) of how as I had listened to each of them, I had become aware of how much their experience of being an Academy Graduates had affected my life. I had been tutored by leaders such as these, and their examples in combat had been truly life shaping every day in Vietnam. In many ways, pieces of their education had flowed to each of those of us who were enlisted and served under their leadership. HAL-3 was unique, but even though this was nearly all of the officers first trip into the fleet, and was a even closer association with enlisted than usual, these officers had treated us as equals --- often asking for input, relying on our judgement under extreme duress, helping us often with our jobs, and treated us as they would a special brother. I had, in a way, through them, been there in the class of 67 also. ........... I saw many times that my life had come close to these men , and I even had a slight smile on my face when I turned to Tony Principi (who was the 4th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs) and asked him if he had ever met a man named Jack Thompson while serving as head of the Vets Administration. Tony got a strange look on his face and told me that Jack definitely was known to him, and that he considered him a good friend. I asked him to tell Jack "Hi" for me, since Jack's sister had married my youngest brother. It is a small world, and continues to be so.
I thank the Class of 67, and in doing so, thank all the academy classes, and all the officers who came to HAL 3 by other routes. Each of us, in our own way, learned from you .
Mike Dobson (ROH)
Locked
