Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
The crew of the ROBERTS knew they could win *before* they were tested. CDR Rinn’s prior focus on damage control skills, reinforced by deckplate leadership, made it happen.
Visualize the fight first, and everyone’s role in it–then prevail.
NL, thanks for the link to Curt’s kind and thoughtful review. Photos and video of Operation Praying Mantis are posted at Nohigherhonor.com, a companion site to “No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf.” Brad
[...] Neptunus Lex has a link to this post and has some comments on Operation Praying Mantis from his experiences. [...]
I am currently reading “Decisions at Sea” which examines several key US Naval battles from Lake Erie, Hampton Roads, and Operation Praying Mantis. My last book was “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailor”, concerning the Battle off Samar and TAFFY-3. “No Higher Honor” looks like another MUST READ!
I am also looking to replace my lost copy of “Storm Center” concerning USS Vincennes and Iran Air flight 655.
When USS Halsey transited the Hormuz Strait on Christmas day 1991, we met with and passed Port to Port about 200 yds from the Sabalan. it was the first up close and personal look we have had of the Sabalan since we put a bomb down her stack back in ’88.
Please dont forget the harpoon the Joseph Strauss put in it.
Great discussion guys. Let me sum it all up for you in a few short words. We did what needed to be done to bring our ship home. Simple as that.
Thomas Mowry
Operations Specialist 1st Class
USS Samuel B Roberts (Plankowner)
I was the petty officer in charge of the ships small arms force on board USS Joseph Strauss DDG 16 (I was awarded a N.A.M. for efforts)I believe the Strauss efforts are GROSSLY overlooked.