Meaningful Memorial Day

This essay first appeared in the Orange County Register in 2012.

By ERIC SPITZ | Orange County Register

I just returned from an amazing experience aboard the USS Nimitz as part of the Navy’s Distinguished Visitor’s program. The Nimitz is one of the eleven aircraft carriers in the U.S. Naval fleet. The admiral on board greeted us in the welcome cabin just after we landed on the ship. His stated objective was for us “distinguished visitors” to collect sea stories for retelling after our visit. We had a pre-flight brief that detailed the size and significance of the Navy, and throughout my 24-plus hours aboard the Nimitz, the phrase that kept ringing my thoughts was: “A U.S. aircraft carrier is four and a half acres of sovereign U.S. soil wherever it is in the world.”

We geared up and returned to the flight deck to watch the careful choreography of a war machine. Multimillion dollar fighter jets descended from the sky every minute to make tailhook landings a few dozen feet from us. The noise and impact was truly awesome. Wow! If you want a display of raw power, head to your closest carrier.

We happened to get a glimpse of the Nimitz at the tail end of an intensive battle-ready certification process that takes the form of a war game. Everyone on board understands the stakes. It’s the exact opposite of a game. Throughout our visit, the leadership represented the confidence of knowing that top brass will be certifying the Nimitz to be the next Strike Force available at the president’s command. After a well-earned holiday season with their families, the carrier’s nearly 6,000 Navy personnel will begin their journey westward, awaiting their call to action – if they are not needed sooner. The deployment will last eight months.

A Strike Force consists of a carrier along with five other supporting warships that are led by a rear admiral.

To make admiral, one must excel for 30 years at feats of leadership. The sailors under his command come together to make war and to protect and to serve our citizens and those of the world. Some of them are warriors, many support the war-making, and the largest group operates and maintains the ship. All of them focus on their mission.

The Navy wanted to show us DVs our tax dollars at work. They are proud of their sailors and encouraged us to commune with as many as we could. Ask them where they’re from; how do they like doing what they do. Most of the enlisted people are startlingly young, and some of them have huge responsibility. They are all responsible to the mission. They are all proud of their roles in protecting America.

We had three proper meals on the ship: dinner in the officer’s ward, breakfast in the main mess hall, and lunch with the chief petty officers. Each of us had time for one-on-one conversations in every setting. My mealtime experiences left three big impressions: Lots of people come to the Navy because they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves; leadership is a full-time job that requires sacrifice, and; the chiefs run the Navy.

It turned out that one of our DV comrades is a friend of the admiral, so remarkably we saw him three times during our short visit, including directly before we catapulted off the ship. Each time he reminded us to tell our sea stories.

People who had been DVs before me told me I’d have a memorable experience. None of them told me how inspired I would be by the people I met. To me, Veterans Day was just another holiday like Martin Luther King Day and Independence Day. Henceforth, for me, Memorial Day is Inspiration Day. I urge every American to go out of your way to find a veteran; listen to his story and be inspired.