All IS WELL

To my friends from the internet. As you know, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It is with a heavy heart that I received news that the President of the church has passed away. To my friends that are not LDS we revere him as a prophet of God and the leader of the Lords Jesus Christ's church. My heart is heavy and I feel a great lost. I know the Church will go on, the work can not be stopped by this. But we will pause and grief for a little bit.

Lee

Surprise

In my life, some strange things have happen to me. Two things that stand out in my memory are as follows.

My ship was entering San Juan, Purto Rico. As luck would have it I had the first in port watch. I was to be the messenger of the watch. I had to stand at the quarterdeck and when the OOD, Officer Of the Deck, need to get a message to someone I was the one to go find them and give them the message and report back. This was not always the easiest thing to do as the ship was large and the men were not always at their work station or quarters.

This day was like most other when we enter port, I was in my best whites and when the word was passed that the OOD was transfering his station to the quarterdeck I had the watch. (duty) The dock hands were still tying off lines and one was stringing a phone line over. Just as he finished with the phone, it rang. As messenger if was my duty to answer the phone so I did. "Quarterdeck, USS Canberra, Seaman Rivera". the party at the end of line then shocked the deck from under me. He said " I am looking for Lee Rivera, a crew member on your ship. Could you get him for me?" Now what are the odds that out of a crew of 1200 people, the one answering the only land line to the ship would be me? And the odds of my having the duty that day at that time? So I told him I was the one he was seeking. He acted if that is what he expected. No surprise in his voice just an invitation to join has family for dinner the next day. I had no idea who he was or how he got my name but I said OK, he said he would pick me up at the gate at 7PM next evening.

It turned out he was a preacher and he picked me up, took me to his home up in the hills. He had a great view of the ocean and he had a female member of his church to keep me company. We took a walk around and after eating we watched a little TV and later he took my back to the base. Never did find out how he got my name or why he called. I think now someone was watching out for me and didn't want me to get in trouble that day.

Another time, we had pulled into Tripoli, Libya. To tell the truth, i didn't like going ashore in Arab countries. To different from what I am use to. so I stayed aboard. I had been there before and couldn't recall anything I wanted to see or do again in Libya. I was up in on the 05 lever (fifth story of the ship) relaxing with my buddies, we were listening to records and drinking coffee. It was were we worked and was air conditioned. Navy didn't care if we were hot, but the computers had to be kept cool. So the phone rang and it was for me. I took the call and the office was telling me I had company waiting to see me. Well, I didn't know anyone in Libya so I thought they were putting me on, seeing if they could get me to walk down to the office. So I said, OK, I'll be right down. Well after a few mins they called again and said if I was not coming down the visitor was going to leave. Well, I went down, expected to be laughed at, and to my surprise, my brother in law was there. He had gotten hurt at his base in Turkey but they didn't have a hospital so they few him to Tripoli. He had read in the base paper that my ship was coming into port so he thought he would come see me. Well, I took him down to my compartment that I shared with 35 other sailors and changed into the liberty uniform. We then went back to the air base where he was and hung out there. Life has always had surprises for me.

History Lesson

1961, the United States has a new president. John F Kenndy.

President Kenndy inherited a plan for the invasion of Cuba at a place called the Bay Of Pigs. The CIA had recruited Cuban refuges from the U.S. and other central America countries and trained them for an invasion, giving then supplies and even some aircraft. The plan was that this force of free Cubans would land and setup a Free Cuban government. They would set up a radio and ask the people of Cuba to rally to them in the over throw of Castro and his government.

A big part of this plan was that once the free Cubans and set up their radio they would asked for help from the United States to help in their fight to free their country from the communist. The United States would recognize this new goverment as the new goverment of Cuba. At that point we would fly air support from carriers and provide gun fire from ships of the U.S Navy that were just over the horizon. There was also embarked Marines on ships able to hit the beach if needed.

I was on board one of those ships. The picture above is us, at that time. When the people of Cuba did not rally to the Free Cuban government President Kennedy chose not to give the order to launch the air strikes and for us not to close on the coast to give gun fire support. The invasion forces were left on the beach without support, supplies or hope. They were captured by the Castro forces and put in prisons.

The outcome of the failure of the Bay Of Pigs Invasion was seen, by the USSR as a sign of weakness. They believe that while we had the weapons to in pose a victory we did not have the will to do so. They came away believing that President Kennedy was a weak president and that they could push him around with out fear. It is one of the root causes of the later, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

After some thought, I wonder if they (The USSR) were right. I look back at Vietnam and now Iraq. We have the weapons, the forces but do we have the will? Or will the masses say, enough let them fight it out among their self. Will doing that lead to a strong Arab Union that armed with nukes can then control the region and leave the free countries of the world at a disadvantage? Will we then have to pay a higher cost at a later day? Not in dollars but in the blood of our youth.

In 1962, we showed we could impose our will. We forced the USSR to remove her nukes from Cuba. The world was worried that an atomic war was at hand. In fact, fingers were on the buttons but when push came to shove, we had the might, right, and will to do what is right.

Stepping off my soap box.

hope no one saw that.

Okay, a little bit of my faith is showing. I find myself asking myself this from time to time. Not much going on today, I feel cold and tired. Not use to this damp cold weather we are having. Well, cold for south Texas.

the music

The songs listed to the right of the page are songs I like. I will change them as the mood hits me. My favorites change from time to time. They are in no special order. I posted them as I came across them. Hope you enjoy them. Click on play twice to hear them. You may find I have a strange taste in music.

The day I left home.

I still recall the day I left for active duty in the navy. I had enlisted in the navy when I was a junior in high school. In the summer between that year and my senior year I went to Great Lakes, IL for basic training, then home then to Jacksonville, FL for seamanship training. It was a very interesting summer.

At the end of my high school life, when I had to put away the things of a child and start my life as an adult I went right off to the fleet. 1960 was a very interesting time in the United States. There were high tensions as the cold war threaten to heat up, the U2 shot down on a spy mission, Cuba becoming a thorn in our side. It was during this trouble times that I packed my seabag and left home.

The thing I remember most about leaving was my mother, standing on the porch as I climed in the car and as dad pulled out of the driveway, she was crying. I didn't understand why she was crying. Didn't she know that I would be back? That I was still a kid going off on an adventure. Well, she knew much more the I did. I really never understood why she was crying.

Then came the day my son went on his mission to Brazil and I understood. Who ever said, "you can't go home again" hit the nail right on the head. My life changed without my even noticeing. I was no longer a child. I grow up, started thinking of things I never even imagined. On my first leave I came home and before my leave was over I told my mom it was time for me to go back to my ship.

My childhood home was not my home, my ship was my home. It was there that I lived, ate, worked and slept. Please understand, I loved mom, apple pie and the old homestead but it was not my life. My mom knew that would happen, so she cried as her last child, her baby, took that first step down life's highway. Now my sons have taken that step. Yes, I cried but mostly inside. It took a couple of months before I could go into my son's room and put things away. I knew. I was happy when my other son married but I knew. He would soon have his own family and I would be "Grandpa" to his children. I knew and there was nothing I could do about it but say, I did the best I could.

The USS Canberra CAG 2. My home while I was in the navy. I grew up on this ship. Made friends and sailed the world. She was my shelter, my workplace and my college. Here I learned that one has to take responsibility for ones own actions.

My job was to find and track aircraft and if needed destroy them. Everyone on board had a job and each job was important. We were one in mission. Protect the United States and it's Allies when called upon. We also had lots of fun. Where else can a young kid of 18 shoot such big fires works? I was a Fire control tech and worked in Weapons control That is where the guns or missiles were assigned a target and where the button was pushed to fire them. We did not handle surface targets.

A Start

A start. Here I hope to tell my history, as I recall it. I'll tell of things i remember and felt at that time. I shall post pictures of the past and present. This will be life as I see it and at times, how I wish it was.