Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Naval Submarine League at the Bangor Base to hear a presentation by Roger Bacon, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy (ret.). Roger is a parishioner at St. Antony's.
This was my first time to enter the Bangor Naval Submarine Base. Another parishioner who is a retired Navy captain offered me a ride to get me through the military checkpoint at the gates of the facility.
Admiral Bacon spoke about his experience in submarine warfare during the cold war, from 1960 to 1991. Although he couldn't offer many specifics, he gave an overview of how we used intelligence to contain the Soviet submarine threat. It was a fascinating presentation by an impressive authority on the subject.
I've heard it said that submariners are a tight-knit group, and I could see that yesterday. Most of the members of the Naval Submarine League are retired submariners, and it was obvious in their conversations that they feel a close bond that comes from many years of working together in the Navy. Their careers overlapped and crossed many times as they served in many parts of the world.
They also invited the commander of the sub Louisiana to receive an award for exemplary performance. About a dozen members of his crew were there, all of them chiseled, disciplined sailors under the age of forty. It was impressive to see the retired submariners interact with the active-duty sailors, and you could almost see the exchange of respect and honor that was going on.
I was honored to be part of this event.
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