The passing of Navy shipmates and the reexamination of one's life FRI 4 APR 2014
This week has been an interesting one for me as I lost a good friend from cancer. Lou Rell was a close friend whom I served with over forty years ago and while we were not in touch except at squadron reunions, his passing caused me to remember the good times together and our mutual friends. In this era of the Internet, staying in touch is easier but not as personal as getting together.
Lou was a pilot in the squadron, VAW-12 which is an aircraft carried based unit which provides airborne surveillance of ships and aircraft. This was before the wide use of satellites and GPS based navigation systems. Lou served in the 1960s and followed up his time in the Navy with a career with TWA, the now defunct international airline where he retired as a captain. He frequented a bachelor pad known as the Red Feather Inn just around the corner from my apartment on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, VA across the bay from our squadron home. His web site and a funeral home connection from the Internet provided a treasure trove of pictures and remembrances from Lou's life and from other members from the squadron. It was a link to the past that brought up many a pleasant memory of our time flying and relaxing together. Our aircraft the E1B "Willy Fudd" included the two pilots up front and the two air controllers in the two back seats. VAW-12 was based at the Norfolk Naval Air Station and aboard about a half a dozen aircraft carriers in the 1960s which deployed to the North Atlantic, other East Coast ports and counties on the Mediterranean Sea.
Using the Internet and email I contacted many of our shipmates. Lee Edmonston was a close friend who lives in Virginia Beach (I live in Columbia, MD). Lee and I came through training in the 60s as Naval Flight Officers and Lee and I stay in close touch. Lou and Lee frequently flew together and were on liberty (what we called off duty time) when the ship was in port.
Jodi Rell, Lou's wife had been Governor of Connecticut. While it had been years after I was the Connecticut State Health Commissioner, Jodi and I knew many of the politicians and enjoyed sharing stories when we got together at squadron reunions.
Then about two days ago I read a front page article in the Washington Post of the death of a prominent Alabama citizen, Senator (1981 to 1987) and retired Read Admiral Jeremiah Denton. He is famously remember for his eight years as a prisoner of war (1965 to 1973) and subsequent release in the 80s. His jet had been shot in 1965 in Vietnam and several propaganda films of him were shown in the U.S as a POW. In one clip he blinked his eyes in Morse Code the word "torture," missed by his captors but picked up by the CIA and military men. Again I went to the Internet and sure enough he had served as a pilot in our squadron in 1954.
I was discussing this flood of memories with a psychologist a few days ago and I told him that, due to my serious illness last year, I wondered if I was also reevaluating my life. He remarked that it was common to spend time think about one's life in the senior years, especially in the 70s and 80s.
I know the brain does not store many events of the past in everyday conscious memory. Long ago events may be triggered into consciousness by association with other memories and sensory input. This is why you may remember events of your childhood when smelling a baking apple pie.
For me, the Internet offered me a rich panoply of names, dates, events, and even feelings. I am getting interested in Facebook and that has provided me with another avenue of associations, but had also provided with thoughts on privacy and the unreliable factor of Internet postings. Lately I have thought about the use but limitations of the Internet and our current technology.
This will be the a future topic for my blog. For now this is enough.
