Posted on 05/30/2005 11:25:13 AM PDT by Ramonan
Navy Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, who has accepted responsibility for a fatal submarine crash in January, received a standing ovation at a Memorial Day celebration in San Francisco . "I appreciate it. But I don't feel like I deserve it," Mooney told the crowd of about 200 -- most of them gray-haired veterans dressed in neatly pressed uniforms pinned with polished medals.
The Navy reprimanded Mooney and relieved him of duty after the crash, which injured nearly 100 sailors, one fatally. A Navy investigation concluded this month that its own key charts didn't show the undersea mountain the submarine San Francisco struck.
Mooney was the guest of honor at an annual memorial at Lands End that celebrates both the World War II-era cruiser San Francisco and the modern nuclear submarine San Francisco.
Standing in his white uniform with a full color guard at the salvaged bridge of the cruiser that was heavily damaged at the Battle of Guadalcanal in November of 1942, Mooney said: "I am humbled to stand on this hallowed ground. There is no greater honor than to say that I am a USS San Francisco sailor."
"I think it's a disgrace the way the military has put all the blame on him," Johnson said. "They gave him a map, told him when, how and where to go and then he followed their orders. So how can that be his fault?"
Mooney paid tribute with a three-bell salute to Petty Officer Joseph Ashley. Ashley died of injuries he sustained when he was flung about 20 feet head-first into a pump. The veterans in attendance Sunday afternoon rallied around Mooney.
"You are to be commended for saving the sub," retired Capt. Stanley E. Ellexson Jr. told Mooney before introducing him as the guest of honor.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I'm sure that all angles are being investigated. I'm not up on laser light either.
"There is an @ 40 MPH/35 knot wind blowing directly into your face and conversely, blowing into the back of your friend's head.
You scream just as loudly as you can.
Is your friend going to hear you scream? "
No, because you keep shouting me down at 100 mph.
In other words, I have finally proved my point with you, huh?
Don't take it so hard. I've been wrong before and took it like a man. Why can't you do the same thing?
You may also want to lighten up a little bit and take a sec to read my tagline. You are much too serious.
Well said and right, you are.
These guys hate to use active sonar. They will only use it to find something to shoot.
Silence is their greatest weapon.
So obviously they need to put a windshield on the subs. DUH!
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