On the Shores of Corpus Christi... Pt 1

We've hit the road for Corpus Christi, and have fortunately missed the major portions of the hurricane/tropical storms that ran through the region.

The drive was uneventful until we hit Corpus Christi where there was major construction going on. As we were driving we thought we were going to go over one bridge, but it turned out we went over a different one.

BRIDGE WE WENT OVER

BRIDGE WE DID NOT GO OVER

When we were flyin' down the highway we could not tell that the bottom bridge was under construction. We were only at the beginning of our construction woes. Once we crossed over the bridge we were on, the off ramp we needed was closed during this construction, and had been for quite awhile. We did finally get to the route we needed to arrive at Naval Base Corpus Christi.

While we were driving I got a call from the campground folks... which I didn't answer because I was fighting the construction detour. When I got to the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) office, the lady asked me about one site, but offered the opportunity to change to another, which I did. When we got to the new site Carol saw one she preferred, so I called the office, and they let us move to yet another site.

GOOD CHOICE SHE MADE...YES

VIEW OF THE BAY

MY VIEW FROM THE PATIO

What was nice was the opportunity to enjoy the view and breeze in the afternoon. The temperatures stayed in the upper 80's to mid-90's.

It was just a short walk to the beach from our site:

ABOUT 200 YARDS FROM TRAILER TO SHORE

The bay was calm in those photos, it got a bit choppy when another storm was headed for the coast.

1ST SUNSET IN CORPUS CHRISTI

1ST SUNRISE IN CORPUS CHRISTI

We definitely have a variety of creatures around us.

THIRTEEN-LINED GROUND SQUIRREL

(THE LINES ARE DOWN HIS BACK)

WHIMBREL

GREAT BLUE HERRON

The trill of the Whimbrel sounds like a small jet engine starting up, then quickly shutting down.

There were several trees that had bad wind days, probably from previous hurricanes. This tree possibly died because of exposure to a sea water surge, but it was still neat to look at.

Anyway, we did go and find a couple of attractions to visit. 

Our first outing was an afternoon dolphin watching cruise off of Padre Island. But before we went on the cruise, we scoped out how to get there... easier than we thought, so we went for a drive on the island. 

Our first, first outing was to the Padre Island National Seashore, at Malaquite Beach.

The National Park Service has custody of the facility. The beach is open to the public once they pay their entrance fee. Being a senior, and veteran, we have a lifetime pass to all national parks, which gets us in free.

There was a small information center and gift shop at the top of the landing, so we hit the visitor information about the preserved shoreline.

The starting point here was to learn some about the island itself. Before Spaniards came to the island, it was used by the local indigenous tribes for hunting and fishing. It was after the Spaniards arrived that it was named Padre Island, because Padre José Nicholas Balli, who  built the first ranch on the island. Up to 1970 the island was an excellent place to graze cattle, however, in the later years the cattle were destroying the ecosystem through over grazing. Another area that changed the island was the discovery of natural gas, which drew the oil companies.

Here was a timeline of the devastation from over grazing to the slow healing of this portion of the island:

If you use the roads as your markers, you can see the gradual rejuvenation of the dunes and grasses. 

What's left of the old day Padre Island is the portion of seashore. The Forest Service does allow the public to use the beaches, whether by the information center, or at the campgrounds. They also have a beach set aside for windsurfers.

PART OF THE BEACH IN FRONT OF 

THE INFORMATION CENTER

The doors of the center were within our grasp, and grasp we did, more to get out of the heat and HUMIDITY.

One of the major reasons for preserving this area, it is part of the bird migration path. Some of the birds actually stop at the island for the winter, one example would be the Red-headed Duck, which is an endangered species.

MALE RED-HEADED DUCK

(Courtesy of Cornell Labs)

FEMALE RED-HEADED DUCK

(Courtesy of Cornell Labs)

It was amazing to learn more about this ecosystem. Sometimes we look at the dunes and don't see their importance, but they are vital to protecting the estuaries on the island, and act as a barrier for those nasty hurricanes/himmacanes (equality in disaster). One of the plants that helps to stabilize the dunes is a plant called the Railroad vine.

RAILROAD VINE

(a.k.a.: beach morning glory, bayhops, goat's foot, seaside yam, goat's foot-morning glory, goat's foot creeper)

(Courtesy of Florida Native Plants Nursery and Landscaping)

This plant reaches out to the shoreline during its progressive growth, which in turn stabilizes the dunes. Unfortunately the plant is a fragile plant that can be destroyed by storms, or vehicle traffic on the beach.

Another plant commonly seen at the dunes is sea oats.

SEA OATS

(Courtesy of James Lee)

This plant can usually be found toward the top of dunes. Again, this plant helps to stabilize dunes. The sea oat is a draught tolerant plant that handle salt water spray well, and an occasional brief inundation of salt water. Blowing sands are good for the plant, as it helps stimulate growth in the root system, which in turn helps the plant grow. Its happy in sunny locations. The one area that people need to be aware of is legal harvesting the seeds or the seed heads, which are sometimes used in floral arrangements. In some coastal states it is unlawful to harvest the seeds, or seed heads of the plant because some states consider them a protected species due to their value in stabilizing dunes.

It was amazing to see the creatures that live in this shoreline environment, and here are just a few: keeled earless lizard, the black skimmer, the lettered olive snail, coyotes, and the red-eared slider turtles.

BLACK SKIMMER

(Courtesy of Zammerman)

RED-EARED SLIDER TURTLE

(Courtesy of Greg Hume)

LETTERED OLIVE SNAIL

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

KEELED EARLESS LIZARD

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

After the information center we wandered over to the giftshop area to spend a few dollars, mainly for the lapel pins I like to collect from the places we visit.

With the gift shop out of the way we jumped, slowly, into the truck and headed to one of the beaches.

"BB" LOVES THE BEACH

OUR WELCOMING COMMITTEE

Next stop was the campground area. Being a National Park campground meant that it was probably going to be water and electric only, with a dump station... and we were right.

DRY CAMPING (NO SERVICES)

WATER AND ELECTRIC

BATHHOUSE

OUTDOOR THEATRE

As you can see, the beach is a short walk away. They were nice sites that can be reserved for two weeks at a time. If someone wanted to stay a month they would need to leave for a day. The month reservation would look like this:

1 Oct - 14 Oct and 16 Oct to 30 Oct.,; real simple.

On our way back from the national park we stopped at the state park a few miles away. At the park we signed up for their State Park pass that will allow us in Texas state parks free. We quickly toured the RV campground here too, and it was nice, similar to the national park.

From the state park we headed back to the pier where we would catch the dolphin watching cruise boat.

THE WELCOMING PARTY AT THE BAR & GRILL

Since we were there early we had an early dinner at the bar and grill there on the pier. The food was good, and after the food we walked down the dock to an ice cream shop for dessert. 

MULLET (the fish) AT THE DOCK

Finally it was time to board the boat in search of dolphins.

I was proud of Carol, she did not get seasick, thanks to a remedy a friend passed on to her... ginger. She had a couple of slices of pickled ginger with her and ate them just before the cruise.

As for the dolphins:

Yep, that was it, one dolphin that toyed with us the entire cruise. But hey, we saw dolphin on the cruise. By the time we arrived back at the dock it was dark, and time to go home.

Take a small smile break:

What do you call a teacher that won't fart in public?

A private tooter.

Our journey the next day took us to the USS Lexington, CV-16.

Info: https://usslexington.com. I have not been on the sight, so I don't much about it.

We made our way from parking to the brow to present our monetary appreciation gift (entrance fee).  Before we made our way to the brow we were entertained by an accidental comparison:

POST WWII ANTI-SUBMARINE MINE

I am referring to the green object with the marking MK-52... and yes the car was about the same size as the mine.

The planning board for this museum did a very nice job. The self-guided tours are broken into five separate tours in specific areas of the ship. The tours tell stories about the ship itself, and offer exhibits for other ships too.

CV-16 was not the first ship to be named for the battle of Lexington... in fact, it was the fifth. Its predecessor CV-2 was sunk during the battle of the Coral Sea, in 1942. CV-16 was originally to be named the Cabot, but the shipyard workers constructing the ship petitioned the Secretary of the Navy for the name change, and he granted their request.

As with most aircraft carriers, the tours usually start on the hanger bay with lots of airplanes and other exhibits to look at, but we decided to start on the flight deck because the day was going to be a hot one.

The early pilots that took off and landed on this ship did so from a wooden deck:

The piece of wood in the upper right was part of the original deck. In a later refit they changed the deck to steel, a lot having to do with the new aircraft we were flying.

The flight deck was a staging point for aircraft to be launched, so this deck had some planes on it, just not ready for launching.

TA-4J SKYHAWK

There were several versions of the T-4A, one version (EA-4F) was used for electronic counter measures, simulating enemy missiles (training purposes), the TA-4F, a fast forward air control version which was fully combat capable, and the TA-4J, which lacked weapon systems and had a down-rated engine. Later most of the 4Fs were converted to 4Js. These planes were used in "Top Gun" school to fly as adversaries against F-14s and F-18s. 

T-28B TROJAN

The Air Force and the Navy used the T-28, Air Force was the 28A, and the Navy was the 28B and C. The Navy's "C" version had shorter propeller blades and an added tailhook for carrier landing training. The last Navy training squadron of T-28's was flown in 1984 by the Corpus Christi based training squadron. In 1962 the Air Force began converting their 28A to 28D, as a tactical fighter-bomber for counter-insurgency warfare in Vietnam. The South Vietnam Air Force also used T-28's supplied by the US Air Force. In Vietnam the plane was used for covert missions, dropping napalm bombs, high-explosive rockets, and 50 caliber machine gun strafes.

F-4 PHANTOM II

This is the Bicentennial Phantom under restoration. The Phantom was first built in 1958 as a Navy carrier-borne, high-altitude interceptor. It quickly became a fighter, bomber, photo-reconnaissance platform, along with being an interceptor. During the Vietnam era the Navy, Marines, and Air Force all used this plane for close air support and air superiority missions. Final production of this aircraft was in 1981. Between 1958 and 1981, eight versions were made for the U.S. plus numerous versions for export to: the British, Germany, Australia, Iran, Israel, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, S. Korea, and Japan. The first ace of the Vietnam War, a Navy pilot and his REO flew a Phantom. The second ace was an Air Force pilot.

F/A-18 HORNET

The Blue Angels were conceived from an idea of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Nimitz, showcasing Naval aviation. The first demonstration was in 1946, flying the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat. With the Korean Conflict of 1950, the Blue Angel pilots were reassigned to carrier duty, and flew off the USS Princeton (CVA-37). A short carrier life saw the Blue Angels report to Corpus Christi in 1951, and stayed until 1954. During this period the team was flying Douglas A-4 Skyhawks. Because of several fatal mishaps between 1978 and 1985, the Skyhawk was replaced with the F/A-18 Hornet.

The Hornet is currently used by the Navy and Marines, and saw action in Operation Desert Storm. 

YA2F- (A-6E) INTRUDER

Manufactured in 1960, the A-6E Intruder was accepted by the Navy in 1963, carrying out missions of close air support, and tactical/strategic bombing runs. This plane was all business with electronic devices and its array of weapons. In its 35 years of service these planes conducted refueling missions, close air support, tactical/strategic bombing, electronic counter-measures, reconnaissance, and Surface-to-Air-Missile (SAM) suppression. The later upgraded versions performed well in all-weather condition, day or night. The most notable was during the Vietnam War, when a single A-6 Intruder left from the flight deck of the USS Constellation (CV-64). Initially the pilot climbed to 500 feet but had to drop down to 300 feet to avoid a locked on SAM. Continuing through more SAMs, the pilot dropped to 200 feet and let his bombardier do his job... dropping 18 500 bombs on Hanoi, North Vietnam. This incredible aircraft was retired in 1997.

A-7B CORSAIR II

The Corsair was designed during the Vietnam War to replace the A-4 Skyhawk. The Corsair had twice the payload capacity and better range performance. It first hit the Vietnam scene in 1967, launching off the USS Ranger (CV-61). Improved versions came out that had a more powerful engine and better electronics. The Air Force used the 7D version for the Tactical Air Command in the fighter attack role. There were export versions manufactured for Greece and Portugal. Over its 25 years of Naval service, it saw over 400,000 carrier landings. The final days for this distinguished aircraft happened in 1991.

A-4B SKYHAWK

This aircraft was designed for carrier use as an attack aircraft for the Navy and Marines. This aircraft was able to fly at a speed of 585 MPH, could support a variety of missiles, bombs, and munitions. It was also capable of carrying out a low altitude nuclear bomb delivery, using the "loft" delivery technique. It is believed that the Marines flying this plane, dropped the last American bombs on North Vietnam before the US pulled out.

KA-3B SKYWARRIOR

Originally designed to be a strategic bomber for the Navy in the mid-50s. This aircraft had the capability of carrying one nuclear free-falling bomb. These planes operated off the USS Lexington (CV-16) on three separate deployments during the Cold War. This plane was a heavy carrier-based aircraft, and lovingly nicknamed "The Whale". After the Cold War threat subsided around 1964, the plane found itself in a new role, many were converted to tankers for in-air refueling, others received countermeasure electronics. Around 1975 most of these planes were retrofitted to their original configurations. Alas, the time came for retirement, which occurred in 1991.

I had to stop and admire some of the equipment my guys were responsible for maintaining and other equipment my division was responsible for, so here we go.

LANDING SAFETY OFFICER (LSO) PLATFORM

LSO IN ACTION

This platform is where communications between the aircraft and flying bridge coordinated safe landings back on deck. If you remember the movie "Top Gun", and heard them talking about "the ball", with the acknowledgement of "roger ball", the pilot was talking to this person.

SIDE NOTE: the "ball" was not actually a ball, it was a glide slope device that displayed how the pilot was approaching in relation to the flight deck. If the pilot saw a "green" bar, he was in proper position for landing. If he saw an "amber" bar high or low of the "green" bar, he needed to reposition himself. If he saw a "red" bar high or low, the LSO would wave him off and he would have to make another approach.

The division I was in was responsible for safely launching and retrieving the aircraft. Part of that equipment was the arresting gear cable, or  "wire" that was strung across the flight deck.

FAIRLEAD SHEAVE

ARRESTING GEAR ENGINE

There are two sheaves on deck, one port, one starboard, for each of the four arresting gear cables. The cable from the engine to the flight deck is called the "purchase cable", and would be attached to the crossdeck pendant (arresting cable). The purchase cable allows for the arresting cable to pay out as the plane catches the cable. The goal of a pilot is to catch the third cable, which meant he was in the correct position for landing. Catching the first or second cable meant he was too low on his landing, cable four meant he was too high. The pilots were critiqued on each one of their landings.

The flight deck was full of planes, but it was getting hot on the flight deck so we headed inside for the next tour.

Carol headed to the hanger bay while I headed to the bridge.

RADAR REPEATER

I threw this in in memory of Carol's father, who worked on this type of equipment while he was in the Navy.

The captain of the ship had two residences on the ship, his sea cabin, near the bridge, and a stateroom located on the lower decks.

CAPTAIN'S SEA CABIN

Moving forward from the Quartermaster area, I hit the bridge. For those folks not familiar with the Navy, a quartermaster is not the same as the other services.   

In the Navy the quartermaster is responsible for keeping the ship on course through the use of charts, navigational aids such as radar, and the stars when needed.

THE HELM STATION

WATCHSTANDER'S AREA OF THE BRIDGE

VIEW FROM THE WATCHSTANDER'S STATION

The chairs on both sides of the bridge are for the CO and XO, XO and the left, CO on the right, which is standard for most ships, but the CO can choose what side he wants during special evolutions.

Most of the navigational, and communications equipment was part of my guys' responsibility, and what wasn't ours belonged to the electronic technicians. Every piece of equipment on the helm, with the exception of the helm wheel and magnetic compass was part of my responsibility. Brings back memories.

Above the navigation bridge was the flying bridge (closed off to the public). This bridge would have been similar to below, but used during flight ops. In the Air Ops bridge you would have found the Air Boss, Air wing Commanders, and enlisted, all doing what they do. The one major difference on the flying bridge... a table that had the location of every aircraft on deck, and its condition of readiness.

You may have noticed that added a camera too. The camera was a TV station quality camera that recorded all launches and recoveries. Besides that camera, there was one mounted in the flightdeck itself. Time to brag, this was the last equipment I and my guys were responsible for before I retired from the USS Constellation (CV-64).

Just aft of the bridge the Signalman's shack was located, near the flag bags.

It was important to know your flag alphabet and which lanyard to sent the message up on. Follow the directions in the picture and you will know what the message reads... BLUE GHOST CV16. You may also notice the words next to the letters, all sailors needed to know the words so that when they had to communicate a message by sound-powered phone, the message receiver would know what to write.

SIDE NOTE: You might be asking what the importance was in speaking the word vice just the letter, here is an example:

During a fire or flooding the phone talker would tell Damage Control Central that there was a fire in compartment "Bravo", dash, 06, dash, 01, dash "Charlie". The fire team would be called away to the closet repair locker to the fire. The second sign could cause confusion. The sign should be: "Charlie", dash, 02, dash, 17, dash, "Echo", vice "Charlie", dash, 0217, dash, "Echo". The confusion could cause a delay in getting to the emergency.

From the signal flag area I returned to the hanger bay to catch up with Carol. I didn't descend any ladders, I took the escalator.

The escalator was no longer functional. This escalator was an addition between 1953 and 1955. The purpose of the escalator was to get the flight crews quickly to the flight deck from the berthing spaces. The Constellation had two, one forward, one aft.

Carol was not up for the hike through the Focs'le. 

HISTORY LESSON: the term focs'le began in the early days of ships when the ships had three masts, and two castle-like structures, one at each end of the ship. One of those three masts would have rose vertically through the decks, and act as a horizontal reference point. The "castle at the front of the ship would have been the forecastle, pronounced fok sul (focs'le).

The first stop on the focs'le journey was an exhibit of the "Link" Aviation Trainer.

This trainer was designed to aid pilots in carrier landings. As WWII got going, more men were called to service, and in 1942, the Navy Reserves created the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES). As more men went to war, women filled the empty billets, one of which was Link Trainer Controller. So there.

In the next area of the focs'le were two officer staterooms.

STATEROOM IN 1943

STATEROOM IN 1975

In the same area was the "knot" room. The Boatswain Mate ("Bosun") rate is responsible for maintaining the ship' decks and skin, or outside of the ship, and needed to be knowledgeable in knots. The following is a display of knots many learned, some are for show, many have purpose.

SHEEPSHANK

This knot was used to shorten a line, or bypass a weak spot in a line. For this knot to be efficient, it needs to be kept under tension, if relaxed, it will fall apart.

FUN TRIVIA:

- Knots were used for record keeping in ancient China. The Chinese Book of Changes, which is almost 2,500 years old, associates knots with contracts and agreements.

- You can say knot in six languages:

English - knot

German - knoten

Dutch - knot

Swedish - knut

Spanish - nudo

French - noeud

- A "climbing rope" is a misnomer. Rope refers to the raw material, once a spool of accessory cord is cut to designated lengths and given a purpose, it now becomes a "line".

- The Inca's only "written" language was a system of knots tied into necklace-like "documents" called quipus, or "talking knots". Some scholars think that quipus' only recorded numbers, others believe they told stories, and encoded historical events.

Moving forward we found the breaking system for the catapults that launched the aircraft:

WATER BREAK

The function of the water break is to quickly slow down the piston which pushes the shuttle that launches the aircraft. The piston is driven by either 600 or 1200 pound steam systems. The piston hits the water break (water cylinder) which stops the piston from shooting through the bow (front) of the ship.

UPPER LEFT STOPS SHUTTLE FROM GOING 

INTO THE WATER

The focs'le was the area anchor chains and mooring lines were stored. It also contains the winches that lower and raise the anchors.

LINES AND ANCHOR CHAIN CONNECTORS

At the front portion of the focs'le is a memorial to all the lost sailors of the USS Arizona (BB-39).

Continuing on. You may wonder how personnel got from one space to another during general quarters:

That's right... they climbed down, or up in these trunks.

The next part of the tour took me by a memorial for the the first USS Lexington, CV-2. 

LEXINGTON CLASS BATTLE CRUISER

How does this apply to Lexington (CV-2). In 1916 this model was provided to Congress for the approval of construction of six battle cruisers. In 1921 construction began, but was stopped when The Treaty Limiting Naval Armament was signed. In the agreement, four of the six cruisers were scrapped, and only the two that had the most work accomplished were kept, the Lexington and Saratoga. The engineers quickly redesigned the platforms, making them aircraft carriers. The Lexington (CV-2) was the first launched in 1925, and commissioned in 1927.

The Lexington (CV-2) did some amazing stuff. She set a record from the shipyard to Hawaii, she supplied electricity to the city of Tacoma, helped look for Amelia Earhart and her plane, recorded the first pilot to become an "ace" in the beginning of WWII, her pilots participated in sinking a Japanese aircraft carrier, and her final act was the Battle of the Coral Sea. I say it was her final act because she was sunk after taking several torpedo hits.

Now it was time to pick up Carol and head  out on the third tour, which was below decks.

The first stop was a compartment I wasn't too familiar with:

OFFICER AND ENLISTED BARBER SHOPS

Now you understand why I am not too familiar with these spaces... I was balding by the time I got out of boot camp.

Only the best barber was chosen to do officer haircuts, from there the chiefs got second best, and the rest of the crew got what was leftover. There were certain requirements that had to be met as the officer barber: immaculately clean at all times, he was required to wash his hands with soap and hot water, he had to have a well pressed jacket, and his nails had to be clean and well-trimmed. These requirements didn't always run down to the other tiers of barbers.

Both CV-2 and CV-16 were known as the "Lady Lex", but CV-16 earned another name during WWII. Her new name came from Tokyo Rose, who called her the "Blue Ghost". The reason Tokyo Rose gave that name was because Lady Lex had been reported as sunk twice, but she would show up after each report. Another reason Tokyo Rose give her that name was because of the paint job she received in the shipyard during construction, it was a blueish-gray color. In 1944 she was not so lucky. One day in November a kamikaze plane hit her on port (left) side of the island structure, inflicting many casualties and damage to weapons, however, she remained on patrol until she got to Ulithi Atoll for repairs.

The next exhibit was ship and plane models.

USS LEXINGTON CV-2

USS LEXINGTON CV-16

VARIOUS AIRCRAFT FROM MULTIPLE ERAS

SOME OF OUR ENEMIES VESSELS

The museum did not discriminate regarding history. They had a section that talked about the Kamikaze pilots and how that attack force came to be. Believe it or not, the kamikaze pilots did not get much training in regards to what was asked of them. As misguided as I think they were, they did inflict a lot of pain on our fleets.

I wrote earlier about emergencies onboard ships, here is a little more information regarding damage control.

DAMAGE CONTROL REPAIR LOCKER

SHORING TO STOP OR REDUCE FLOODING

HYDRAULIC STATION FOR ISOLATING AREAS

OF THE SHIP

FITTING DESIGNATIONS 

ONE PAGE OF THE DAMAGE CONTROL MAP

OF THE SHIP

As a repair locker leader it was my responsibility to know the how, what, where, and who of a casualty. There were multiple locker leaders, because there were multiple lockers throughout the ship. One of my tasks was to mark out on the map where the casualty was, what it affected, and how to contain it. For example: a fire in a space. I would need to know where to secure electricity to the space, what spaces were around it top, bottom, side to side, that required special attention, like an ammo magazine possibly, what doors and hatches needed to be closed to isolate the fire, securing the ventilation, and the closest fire fighting stations to the fire. All this information went on that map board, including time we started and time we secured. A little on shoring. Besides stopping or reducing flooding, it was used to secure weak bulkheads (walls), minimizing buckling. A lot of the equipment you see is from the 1970's to present, although most of it hasn't changed over the last 80 years.

After a good fire fight it was time for an energy boost, and that generally came from the mess decks. If the Lexington was anything like the Constellation, it had two mess decks, one forward, one aft.

HAPPY TO SERVE YOU

CHOICE OF DESSERTS

PREP AREA

DON'T FORGET VEGGIES

(Notice the nutritional data card)

SCULLERY

(DISHWASHING PARADISE)

MESS DECK

(a.k.a. SOCIAL CENTER)

Some sailors like me had to worry about our weight, and if a sailor could not do it on his own, the Navy helped:

Before I venture further I want to ask a question, do you know the meaning of:

POW / MIA TABLE SETTING

The whole setup has significant meaning, and this is it:

- The round Table: shows our everlasting concern.

- White table cloth: symbolizes the purity of their motives when answering the call of duty.

- Single Red Rose: reminder of the lives of these men, their loved ones, and friends who keep the faith while seeking answers.

- Red Ribbon: symbolizes our continued determination to account for them.

- Lemon Slice: reminder of the bitter fate of those captured and missing on foreign land.

- Pinch of Salt: symbolizes the tears of our missing and their families, who long for answers after decades of uncertainty.

- The Bible: represent strength through faith in our country, founded as one nation under God, to sustain those lost from our midst.

- Inverted Glass: symbolizes the inability to share this evening's toast.

Hopefully this helps some of you to understand that it is not just a place setting of normal proportion.

I learned more about the Medal of Honor during this visit.

MEDAL OF HONOR FLAG

The concept for this flag came about in 2001, and was perfected in 2002. You probably noticed that it looks similar to the medal itself, the only difference being the yellow boarder. The first of these flags was given out to the Smith family in 2005, unfortunately it was a posthumous recognition, as their fallen soldier did not come home. The flag commemorates the sacrifice and blood shed for our freedoms, and gives emphases to the Medal of Honor being the highest award for valor by an individual serving in the Armed Forces.

Back in 1990, Congress declared March 25th, Medal of Honor Day. A tidbit of trivia: Medal of Honor recipients can fly free on any airline.

Off the mess deck was the Dental and Medical Departments... made me wonder what was in the food to have these two departments near the mess deck. The answer to that question is really simple, the mess deck was used as a triage area during emergency events.

DENTAL DEPARTMENT

A LITTLE HUMOR

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT

The folks threw a surprise in the tour. I certainly didn't know, but Texas has a naval force for 10 years, 1836 to 1846.

The small navy accomplished a lot protecting the Republic of Texas from attacks by Santa Anna's forces. Had it not protected the coast of Texas, Texas would have been in the possession of Mexico today. Their naval victories stemmed the reinforcing of Santa Anna' army by capturing one of the Mexican ships carrying supplies to Santa Anna. Instead of his troops getting the supplies the Texan militia received the supplies of food and ammunition. With Texas stopping Santa Anna, the United States added territory that is now Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Utah, and Wyoming.

For those that don't know, Texas is the only state that can legally separate from the US and become its own country, having up to five states within its borders.

The next stop on the tour was the engine room. The engine room.

The engine (turbine) is two stage, high and low pressure. When the two units are connected in parallel through the reduction gears, they can drive the shaft that is attached to a propeller; carriers have for main engines. The hologram you see in the lower right picture talked about a fatal night when the ship had a casualty and a sailor was lost at sea.

Ships have many liquid systems on them, and it is important to know what is what. This is done in two ways, stenciling the system name on the piping, and color coding the pipes.

 Red piping indicated firefighting water lines, blue indicated fresh water lines, gold indicated that the piping was sewage lines... you get the picture.

On this deck was an exhibit addressing desegregation in the Navy. It was in 1941 the President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 prohibiting discrimination in the armed forces. By January 1944, there were 100,000 blacks enlisted in the Navy, but none of them were officers.

THE GOLDEN THIRTEEN

In February of 1944 the Navy began an accelerated officer training course for 16 black enlisted men. These men showed excellent leadership abilities, and held the highest of standards, obtaining a combined 3,89 GPA for their class, which held the record.

As we headed out of the engine room we came to the aircraft carrier exhibit.

USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64)

Yes, there was a bias since it was my last ship. 

There is a big challenge to putting an aircraft down on a moving target, and this was how Chuck Yeager looked at it: "If you can walk away from a landing, its a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, its an outstanding landing."

WHICH WILL THIS BE?

OUTSTANDING LANDING

(Courtesy of Interesting Engineering)

GOOD LANDING

I wrote earlier about the proper cable to hook onto, that was the case for the outstanding landing picture. Fortunately, during my time on the Constellation, we never had a crash landing, we did have some poor ones though.

Moving on we had two more spaces to visit, the machine shop, and the post office.

MACHINE SHOP

The machine shop was a vital component on any ship, especially an aircraft carrier. These guys could make just about any part that was brought to them.

POST OFFICE

The post office had a vital role too... ship's morale. I always enjoyed receiving care packages from home, and I know the old timers did too. I remember getting packages from my mom. My mom would send stuff packed in stale popcorn, I would eat the popcorn and share the other spoils with my shipmates. Back in "old timer" days mail was the only communication they had with their loved ones, today there is the internet, and cell phones for communications. 

Back to the hanger bay for the final tour. On the hanger bay there is the following memorial hanging:

The "Tarawa to Tokyo" sign hangs at the frame of the ship where that Kamikaze plane hit the ship.

This sign indicates how successful the air wings were during WWII.

NORTH AMERICAN SNJ/T-6

(a.k.a. Texan or Harvard)

It was the Navy and Air Force's "advanced trainer" in the 1930's and 40's, and became the primary trainer in the 1950's.

During the Korean and Vietnam wars it was used as a Forward Control Aircraft, or F.A.C.. This plane in various configurations was used by over 60 nations.

This aircraft was loved by film producers because of it versatility. The Texan played the role of Japanese "Zeros" in the movies Tora! Tora! Tora! and The Final Countdown.

What I haven't told you is that this carrier in its later days, served as the training carrier for pilot to learn how to land properly.

That concludes our tours on the Lexington, and ends this post. Stay tuned for part 2 of On the Shores of Corpus Christi.