Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2001 5:02 AM
Subject: Patriotic Germans
AN ENCOURAGING WORD
Below is an e-mail from a young ensign aboard the USS Winston
Churchill to his parents. (Churchill is an Arleigh Burke-class AEGIS
guided-missile destroyer, commissioned March 10, 2001, and is the
only active U.S. Navy warship named after a foreign national.)
"Dear Dad,
"We are still at sea. The remainder of our port visits have all been
cancelled. We have spent every day since the attacks going back
and forth within imaginary boxes drawn in the ocean, standing
high-security watches, and trying to make the best of it. We have
seen the articles and the photographs, and they are sickening. Being
isolated, I don't think we appreciate the full scope of what is
happening back home, but we are definitely feeling the effects.
"About two hours ago, we were hailed by a German Navy destroyer,
Lutjens, requesting permission to pass close by our port side. Strange,
since we're in the middle of an empty ocean, but the captain acquiesced
and we prepared to render them honors from our bridgewing. As they
were making their approach, our conning officer used binoculars and
announced that Lutjens was flying not the German, but the American flag.
As she came alongside us, we saw the American flag flying half-mast and
her entire crew topside standing at silent, rigid attention in their
dress uniforms. "They had made a sign that was displayed on her side that read,
"We Stand ByYou."
There was not a dry eye on the bridge as they stayed alongside us for
a few minutes and saluted. It was the most powerful thing I have seen
in my life. The German Navy did an incredible thing for this crew, and
it has truly been the highest point in the days since the attacks. It's
amazing to think that only half-century ago things were quite different.
"After Lutjens pulled away, the Officer of the Deck, who had been
planning to get out later this year, turned to me and said, 'I'm staying
Navy.' "I'll write you when I know more about when I'll be home, but
this is it for now.
"Love you guys."
And here's a picture of what that scene looked like:
http://www.wnd.com/images2/germanship.jpg
