Crossposted from PeteRepublic.org
I thoroughly enjoyed “Carrier“, the 10 Hour Documentary from Icon Productions that aired on PBS last week.
For disclosure, as if many of you didn’t already know, I served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) from 1985-1989. I am a Plankowner of that ship, which means I was one of the original crewmembers of that ship.
The first thing I took away from “Carrier”
is that it did a great job of showing that first and foremost, members
of the Navy are human beings. To be sure, they are held to a higher
standard as members of the military, but you saw that they are still
subject to the same emotions that civilians experience. Even with
these issues, these sailors find the courage and professionalism to
continue on and do their jobs, protecting our country.
There are exceptions to that, of course, and examples of that are
displayed in the documentary. Once such example is of the racist
crewmember who really doesn’t care if he is discharged, and the Navy
winds up accommodating him. But before that occurs, a rather engaging
display of guidance during the man’s final liberty call by a
African-American shipmate almost leads you to believe he might turn
around, although it was not to be. “Carrier” also does a great job
showing the viewer that it IS possible to get out of a bad situation at
home and turn your life around, get some training in a job or skill,
see the world, and get some discipline in your life.
You also get a great idea that not only are there a lot of young
kids (18 years or so) on board, they are in some of the most critical
positions, handling weapons, moving/directing aircraft, catapult
maintenance. These “kids” get their training right out of boot camp
and then gain immediate on-the-job experience in what they do right
away, becoming experts almost immediately.
Visually, the ENTIRE documentary series was stunning, but maybe I’m
biased. Every time I saw a wide shot of the ship, I found myself
longing for “home” and the sea. There is plenty of opportunity here to
witness flight operations, and in one hour, we get to witness gripping
drama as the Nimitz attempts to land its aircraft in rough seas in
pitched deck conditions. Aircraft after aircraft miss the wire until
night falls, and then finally luck starts on their side and they start
trapping. It was great drama.
We got to witness “teambuilding” exercises like becoming a
Shellback, a Navy tradition and title acquired when one crosses the
equator for the first time.
Military families are a special breed, and military spouses (to a larger extent, wives), are superheroes. While “Carrier”
didn’t go very deep into what these heroes go through, you do get a
sense of the pain and suffering and sacrifice that families go through
during a 6-month deployment. It happens, trust me. All the emotions
are there….guilt, anxiety, paranoia, loneliness, depression; but there
still is a job to do, and that is what saves you. That and your
friends and family in your shipmates. Spouses have resources in
“Ombudsmen” and support groups, and that was NOT covered at all by the
series, which I think probably should have been, at least on the
surface. “Carrier” followed several situations that were very heart tugging and I felt (and sympathized) for all of them.
The one thing I couldn’t identify with was coexisting with women on
an aircraft carrier. If memory serves women didn’t started coming on
board major surface combatants until 1994, almost 5 years after I had
departed the Theodore Roosevelt.
Overall, “Carrier”
was a good look into what Navy life is. There is a phrase that used to
get thrown around a lot when I was active duty, “The Navy is what you
make of it.” That statement holds true with this documentary as well.
For me, it was a great nostalgic look at a time in my life I miss
greatly. For others, they might take away new appreciation for what
our Navy does for us on a daily basis.
Crossposted from PeteRepublic.org
A BIG shoutout to Milwaukee’s own Yomarie Tejada…….she was picked as
the winner in the People’s Choice Awards/Crest Smile Bright In The
Spotlight contest that ran on the People’s Choice Awards website and
ended the end of November.
The announcement is up on the Crest Smile Spotlight website (skip the flash intro).
Yomarie now gets to travel out to Los Angeles as “Miss People’s
Choice”, and will be able to present the awards to the winners at the
34th Annual People’s Choice Awards on January 8th, 2008, which will be
broadcast on CBS at 9pm EST/8pm Central.
Congrats Yomarie!
Click here for OnMilwaukee.com's announcement of her win.....
My previous entries on the topic:
“Crest Smile Bright in the Spotlight Contest”
“Vote For The Home Town Girl“
You
may have heard about this before.....maybe not...but Milwaukee's own Yomarie Tejada is one of three finalists for the "Crest and Scope Smile In the Spotlight Contest" at this year's People's Choice Awards.
All you need to do is go to
http://www.pcavote.com and vote once a day! Click on the "Vote Now" button to get started....
If Yomarie wins, she will jet out to Los Angeles and attend the awards ceremony, and will be the presenter of the awards to the winners.
More on Yomarie can be found in
this OnMilwaukee.com article....
Voting ends November 30th for the Crest portion of PCA voting, so there is only three days left.....c'mon Milwaukee, let's get our representative up there!
