Originally printed in Clear Lake Courier — 29 July 1998

Lieutenant Yoshio Shiga of the Japanese Imperial Navy commanded one of the Zero fighter squadrons that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He is now 84 years old and the owner of a Tokyo company that makes security systems for military and law enforcement organizations.

When my boss and I visited him, Shiga told us the aircrews had trained for the Pearl Harbor mission without knowing their destination. His reaction at learning they would attack the United States was, “This is impossible. This is crazy.” When he flew over Hawaii, it was so pretty he hated to drop any bombs. (more…)

Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — October 2, 1996

The first day lasted 25 hours. We drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, early Tuesday morning. When I arrived in Japan and checked into my BOQ room at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Wednesday morning’s Today show was on television.

The Boeing 747 left Seattle Tuesday afternoon at 5:00 South Dakota time and landed at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo Wednesday afternoon at 4:40 Japan time–a ten hour flight with a 14 hour time change. (more…)

 

Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — August 7, 1996

He was the only person to go from the very bottom of the Navy to the very top, from seaman recruit to Chief of Naval Operations. He was also the first CNO who did not attend the Naval Academy.

In 1956 Jeremy “Mike” Boorda dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Navy. In 1994 he became the Navy’s military leader.

When someone came into my office May 16 to say the CNO had shot himself, I (like everyone else) refused to believe it.  Even listening to the announcement by the Secretary of the Navy on CNN, I thought he must have been assassinated. Word of a suicide note convinced me this had really happened. (more…)

Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — November 1, 1995

Did you serve in the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or wartime Merchant Marine, either in the reserves or on active duty? If so, you’re eligible to have your photograph displayed in the Navy Memorial Log at the U.S. Navy Memorial and Heritage Center in Washington D.C.

You would join the likes of LT John F. Kennedy, LTJG George Bush, Commodore John Paul Jones, Fleet Admirals Chester Nimitz and William Halsey, the five Sullivan brothers form Waterloo, Iowa, and the three Diekman women from Clear Lake, South Dakota. (more…)

Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — April 17, 1996

Sergeant Major Charles Black, assigned to the Army’s 7^th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was on temporary duty in El Salvador just before Christmas 1989. While coordinating in-country training for Special Forces teams, he stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in the capital city of San Salvador.

One team of eight Green Berets finished a two-week training period and checked into the Sheraton for the night.  They were scheduled to fly to Fort Bragg the next morning. Gunfire woke them at 3:00 a.m.  Communist guerrillas had killed the guards and were attempting to capture the hotel. (more…)

Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — March 27, 1996

Several years ago a 12-man U.S. Army team was sent to a remote village in northern Thailand.  As soon as the team arrived, they set up a medical clinic and started giving checkups and shots to the children. A local drug warlord, who didn’t like their presence on his turf, quietly circulated the rumor that they were infecting young children with HIV.  They barely got out with their lives.

Such is the routine of Special Forces soldiers, commonly known as Green Berets. Their main business is unconventional warfare, going into hostile areas to train, equip and lead partisans or guerrillas against the enemy.

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[Written to tell children about the POW/MIA issue]

Imagine being a pilot shot down behind enemy lines during a war. You would be missing in action (MIA) if our government did not know where you were. If you were a soldier captured by the enemy, you would be a prisoner of war (POW).

In either case, you would want to know the United States was trying to get you home. When a war ends, the two sides usually exchange their POWs. It has always been impossible to account for all missing service members or find the bodies of everyone killed in a war. (more…)

One perk of being in naval aviation maintenance is the occasional opportunity to fly in the backseat of a jet. While in the training command in 1979, I went through ejection seat training and water survival to do just that.

Following a lecture about the ejection seat, we took turns strapping into a seat mounted on a twenty-foot vertical rail. Pulling the D-ring at the base fired the seat, which shot up the rail to simulate an ejection. We also went into a pressure chamber to experience the feeling of being at a 25,000-foot altitude. Then we hung from parachute risers to practice releasing ourselves during land, water and tree landings.

Water survival included performing survival strokes the length of a swimming pool, treading water and swimming across the pool underwater. Although a poor swimmer, I practiced enough to pass the first part of the test. Getting across the pool underwater was another story, however. Being naturally buoyant, I always popped to the top. On my third monthly attempt I finally passed. We completed water survival by going out into Corpus Christi Bay where a helicopter hoisted us up in a practice rescue. (more…)

Speech at  commissioning ceremony for CWO2 Vincent “Red” Phipps, USN, at Naval Air Station Norfolk, 1 March 1988

By LCDR Diane Diekman, USN

Several months ago I read a letter in Naval Proceedings that I thought would be perfect to talk about today as Chief Phipps prepares to take the commissioning oath. It was written by retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel W. C. Gregson and talked about the commissioning oath and loyalty to the Constitution. It started with a comparison of the officer and enlisted oaths. Both oaths begin with the pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to that same Constitution.The enlisted oath goes on to talk about obeying orders and following regulations. The commissioning oath does not. It merely amplifies the promise to support and defend the Constitution: “I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or spirit of evasion…”

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Women’s History Month speech at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan — 21 March 1997

I’m awed to be standing in front of you today. I never thought I’d be senior enough or important enough to be a luncheon speaker.

When my boss and I were discussing whether we should do something for Women’s History Month, I sent an e-mail to the base executive officer asking if NAF had any plans. He responded with a note saying they were talking about a luncheon, with me as guest speaker. ME? A guest speaker? (more…)