ESTESBOG

by Peter Walker

Growing up in a very rural area of Maine, having other kids to play with was the exception, not the rule. My social skills were slow to develop. Rural grade school was okay; but high school in the city was absolutely painful. Scholastically I was placed in the same classes with the A-list kids. But being an outsider and the son of a plumber, they were never going to cut me any slack socially. To make matters worse, I had the physical coordination and athletic ability of a top-heavy rock. I couldn’t make the B-list either.

By my junior year in high school I reached my full height of an even 6 feet. My legs were so short I wore pants with a 29-inch leg. My torso was so long I could not wear a hat while sitting in a car. I was a giant penguin!

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THEY CALL HER “DOUBLE UGLY”

Peter Walker

What would you get if you put wings on a combine? The result couldn’t be much uglier than the funny-looking twin-engine airplane that spent a great deal of time at the Fort Morgan Airport Saturday morning practicing landings and takeoffs.

The unmarked grayish aircraft, it turns out, is a recent acquisition of the United States Air Force. Four young pilots from the 318^th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico have been assigned to familiarize themselves with the special plane. Read more…

What do the three ships in the photo have in common? They are all fully commissioned warships in the United States Navy. From left to right they are USS Constitution (42-gun frigate), USS Halyburton (FFG-40 – guided missile frigate), and USS Ramage (DDG-61 – guided missile destroyer).

F-18 Hornets of the Blue Angels fly escort overhead as the grand old lady of the U.S. fleet made her way under her own sails in June, 1997 for the first time in 116 years.

Constructed in Boston from 7′ thick live oak and copper fittings and plating forged by Paul Revere, Constitution was first commissioned in 1797. Her unique internal bracing made her sides nearly impregnable to solid cannonballs of the day.

Superior design coupled with equally superior crew training humbled the Royal Navy repeatedly during the War of 1812. “Old Ironsides’” most famous battle was a one-on-one shoot-out with the comparable HMS Guerriere off the East Coast in 1812. Constitution deflected British shot meant to stave in her sides while her own gunners expertly sheered off the British frigate’s masts in one pass. Guerriere surrendered in just half an hour!

Constitution served as a training ship in the Civil War and a floating barracks until her 100th birthday. Public sentiment saved her from destruction and led to her recommissioning in 1925. She now resides on public display at Boston Navy Yard.

The 1997 voyage from Boston to Marblehead and return marked her 200th birthday and demonstrated her complete restoration to battle fitness. She now makes two scheduled “turn around” voyages each year.

A HERO’S STORY

By Peter Walker

One morning in 2003 I heard on KUNC that the hospital ship USS Comfort had embarked from the East Coast for the Persian Gulf. I am a student of history. This was by no means the first time a USS Comfort has set sail to offer care and shelter for American service personnel in time of war.

The present USS Comfort  (hull number TAH-20) is the third such ship to bear the proud name. She was converted to a hospital ship from an oil tanker in 1987 and might still be in reserve had she not been activated for the first conflict with Iraq in 1990.

The first Comfort (AH-3) was converted from a liner in 1906 and brought wounded soldiers home from the Western Front during World War I.

In 1943 USS Comfort (II) was built from the keel up as a military hospital ship. At just under 10,000 tons displacement, she was a large ship for her time. Resembling an ocean liner, Comfort (AH-6) was painted white with large red crosses and carried no armament of any kind.

During World War II, USS Comfort was jointly operated with a U.S. Navy crew and Army medical personnel.

I am going to leave the USS Comfort for a few moments to explain why this seemingly benign auxiliary ship means something to me. Read more…