November 21, 2008
1062 - November 5, 2008
November 5, 2008
Past Reunions
PHOTOS
By Location
By Decade
October 15, 2008
November 11, 2008
October 26, 2008
September 9, 2008
August 29, 2008
September 9, 2008
August 28, 2007
November 13, 2008
The
Submariner
by
Dr. Joyce Brothers
The
tragic loss of the submarine Thresher
the
nation .....a special kind of sadness, mixed with universal admiration for the
men
who
choose this type of work. One could not mention the Thresher without observing,
in
the
same breath how utterly final and alone the end is when a ship dies at the
bottom of
the
sea..... and what a remarkable specimen of man it must be who accepts such a
risk.
Most
of us might be moved to conclude, too, that a tragedy of this kind would have a
damaging
effect on the morale of the other men in the submarine service and tend to
discourage
future enlistment. Actually, there is not evidence that this is so. What is it
then,
that lures men to careers in which they spend so much of their time in cramped
quarters,
under great psychological stress, with danger lurking all about them?
Bond
Among Them
Togetherness
is an overworked term, but in no other branch of our military service is it
given
such full meaning as in the so called "silent service". In an undersea
craft, each
man
is totally dependent upon the skill of every other man in the crew, not only for
top
performance
but for actual survival. Each knows that his very life depends on the
others
and because this is so, there is a bond among them that both challenges and
comforts
them. All of this gives the submariner a special feeling of pride,
because
he is indeed a member of an elite corps. The risks, then, are an inspiration
rather
than a deterrent. The challenge of masculinity is another factor which attracts
men
to serve on submarines. It certainly is a test of a man's prowess and power to
know
he
can qualify for this highly selective service. However, it should be emphasized
that this desire to prove masculinity is not pathological, as it might be in certain daredevil pursuits,
such
as driving a motorcycle through a flaming hoop.
Emotionally
Healthy
There
is nothing daredevilish about motivations of the man who decides to
dedicate
his life to the submarine service. He does, indeed, take pride in demonstrating
that
he is quite a man, but he does not do so to practice a form of foolhardy
brinkmanship,
to see how close he can get to failure and still snatch victory from the jaws
of
defeat. On
the contrary, the aim in the submarine service is to battle the danger, to
minimize
the risk, to take every measure to make certain that safety rather danger, is
maintained at all times.
Are
the men in the submarine service braver than those in other pursuits where the
possibility
of sudden tragedy is constant? The glib answer would be to say they are. It
is
more accurate, from a psychological point of view, to say they are not
necessarily
braver,
but that they are men who have a little more insight into themselves and their
capabilities.
They know
themselves a little better than the next man. This has to be so with
men
who have a healthy reason to volunteer for a risk. They are generally a cut
healthier
emotionally
than others of the similar age and background because of their willingness
to
push themselves a little bit farther and not settle for an easier kind of
existence.
We
all have tremendous capabilities but are rarely straining at the upper level of
what we can do, these man are. The country can be proud and grateful that so many
of
its sound, young, eager men care enough about their own stature in life and the
welfare of their
country to pool their skills and match them collectively against the power of the sea.