Home Goes The Warrior by Jeff Noonan Read Free Book Online Page A

aft. He was astounded at what he found.
    It looked like every person aboard the ship was crowded onto the deck. A podium had been set up, and the captain was waiting behind it. When Lee arrived, the captain commented, “Here he is finally. Late as usual.” But his sally wasn’t heard by the assembly. The speaker system on the podium was drowned out by the cheering of the crowd.
    When the din died down, the captain launched into a little speech that mentioned the things the ship had done in the past two years and the role Lee had played in them. Then he presented Lee with a ship’s plaque, engraved with Lee’s name and his dates of service aboard the ship. All of this was standard fare; the type of ceremony that would usually have been held in the wardroom. Lee was prepared for this and, when the Captain finished, he moved to the podium. Standard protocol called for him to read the engraving on the plaque, then thank the captain, say goodbye to the assembly and leave. At the podium, he began reading from the plaque, “Lieutenant Lee Raines, Assistant Combat Systems Officer,” Then the unthinkable happened. He was interrupted by a first class petty officer named Hollowell, a man who had stood some watches with Lee in the Gulf of Tonkin. Hollowell called out, “Can we hold up for a minute, Lieutenant? The crew has elected me to say something before you sign out of here.”
    Startled, Lee answered him. “Sure.”
    Hollowell turned around, and another sailor handed him a long, thin box. He then came forward, opening the end of the box and speaking loudly as he approached the podium. “Lieutenant Raines, there’s not a lot of officers in this man’s Navy that live up to the true meaning of the words officer and gentleman. But you do that every day. You’ve held our feet to the fire when you needed to, and you always said thank youwhen it was warranted. We’ve seen you aboard ship, on the beach, and under pressure. You have given every one of us something to emulate. In return, we want to give you something so that you don’t forget us. The crew of this ship is very proud to present you with this token of our respect and admiration. Thank you for being our leader and our friend.”
    With that, Hollowell reached into the box and pulled out a sheathed naval officer’s sword. He moved forward and presented it, lying across his outstretched hands, to Lee.
    Lee was absolutely astounded. He glanced across at the captain and saw that his mouth was hanging open in astonishment. Lee gathered himself and reached out his hands and, almost in a reflex, accepted the sword from the young enlisted man. Hollowell was blushing red. Lee, not knowing what to do next, looked down at the sword and pulled it partially out of its sheath. As soon as he did, he saw that the long silver blade had been engraved.
    He started to read the engraving aloud. “To Lee Raines, an Officer and a Gentleman,” Lee read, his voice breaking a bit at the end. Tears began running down his cheeks as he stood silent, his gaze roving across the sea of faces in front of him.
    Finally he managed to speak. “Thanks, guys!” His voice was a croak and everyone there could see that he could say no more.
    At that point, one of the chief petty officers stepped in, raising his hat high in the air and singing in a loud voice, “For he’s a jolly good fellow, . . .” The crew took it up and Lee turned to leave, waving his goodbye to them. When he reached the passage leading forward, the last point from which he could see the crew, he stopped and turned. He snapped to attention and gave them his best salute, holding it for a moment. In a loud, clear voice, he said, “I will never forget this.” As his hand came down from the salute and he turned to leave, someone yelled out “Three cheers” and the crew cheered the departing lieutenant.
    The captain led the way to the wardroom, where Lee sat on a couch, just looking at the sword in his hands. Captain Neilsen was