05/25/2026
From my friend and brother-in-arms, Gene Barfield, USN:
When I think back over the number of people in my own extended family who served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America I'm a bit blown away by how very many of us there were and are. Those I'm aware of, including my late Aunt Jean, for whom I was named and who served in WWII, comprise a good number of sailors and soldiers. What surprises me is that of all those I know of, they all came home. We lost no one in combat, even though many of them, my late brother Bruce coming immediately to mind, survived combat without physical wounds.
The places in which they - we - served literally circle the globe. I'll wager that if thought of, very many other American families can say of their members the same I say of mine. Bruce fought in Vietnam. Dad saw service aboard ships in the Pacific fleet during WWII, likely an enormously significant experience for a kid from South Carolina. Uncle Johnny and Uncle Buddy fought their ways into and across Europe and the Med. I was the only one of us nuts enough to volunteer to serve aboard a ship specifically designed to sink, an experience perhaps unimaginable to others. Uncle Johnny also served in the Army Air Corps. My cousin Donnie flew with the Air Force. Land, sea and air. None of us have been to space. Yet.
I can't recall any Marines in the family. But I've sometimes thought that if I were young enough again to do it all over, I might have tried to become a Marine. A USMC colonel I served with once told me that he'd support my effort if I ever wanted to lateral from the Navy to the Marines. I was and still am blown away to be so honored by his confidence in me.
Since I was a very young kid my thoughts turned often enough to the Navy that it was, for anyone who might have noticed, a pretty sure bet that at one time or another I'd be wearing the crackerjack uniform. I did, and I loved being a sailor. Still do. We didn't know a lot about my maternal grandfather's family - he immigrated from Greece over a century ago. The only pictures we have of his family in the old country clearly show many of the men were seafarers, not surprising in that they hailed from a small Aegean island.
While Dad's siblings chose to serve in the Army Dad went to sea. His pride in his Navy service was evident when in later years he told and retold stories about serving aboard an aircraft carrier that later was responsible for the post-flight pickup of a Mercury astronaut.
We Navy people spend a lot of time bragging about the ships we served aboard. Whichever it was, it was invariably the best of its kind.
For Dad's 75th birthday I did the work necessary to obtain for him the surprisingly many decorations he had earned during WWII, along with a flag flown aboard USS Constitution in his honor. I'd like to hope others in the family might have done similarly for their honored elders.
I without hesitation or reservation honor all who served equally and with full heart and voice. Coasties, soldiers, Marines, airpeople, along with my much loved and revered fellow sailors, not a one of us got through our time without huge sacrifice and a great deal of hard work. We all know of those among us who gave the Final Great Measure. Every soul who rests beneath those rows upon rows of stones at cemeteries around the world, those lost at sea, and those whose remains were never found command, deserve and has our deepest gratitude and respect. We all know that freedom isn't free, and most of us who have served saw how long the receipt is from the register that continues to tally up the costs.
We vets are not inherently some sort of better people than any other group. There are countless ways to serve freedom, and most people who never wore a military uniform serve as honorably in their callings as we hope we have in ours.
There are as many and varied a series of 'sailor' sayings as there are for members of all the other services. I love our traditions, and I love theirs as well. While each such saying will hold special personal meaning because it comes from the deep roots of our particular community, we never mutter our sayings meaning to exclude our sisters and brothers from the other branches. So when I say that my wish for all my companions-at-arms past, present and future that they each and all have fair winds and following seas, it's with the fervent intent that everyone is included. Everyone means everyone.
With a decent respect for the technicalities and specifics I am duty bound to remind us all that the intent of Memorial Day is to honor those who died in the service of our country. I do so without reservation and with profound regard and gratitude for them. Some might say that a remembrance such as this might be more appropriate for Veterans Day. Believe me, there is enough honor due to them all to cover more than two separate days.
And then there's this:
In my own thoughts I think of so many military people I know who never stopped serving our cause and its purposes after the day they reverently hung their uniform away for the last time. Off hand I can hardly think of a single veteran I've ever met who didn't keep serving, as a civilian in new ways outside the Armed Forces. Many of them got old, worn, grey and enfeebled with age, but still giving to their community to the last breath. They all died still serving.
It is an unparalleled honor to get old with their memories and faces in my mind.
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." Psalm 107:23 KJV
Now my eyes are watering.
