Life, Liberty, and Tears of Happiness
Inalienable rights of man: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — The United States Declaration of Independence
It’s been more than 72-hours since we landed at Hickam Airforce base in the C-2 Greyhound and I’m still feeling out my emotions — there are so many! My experience as a Distinguished Visitor of the U.S. Navy embark program via the U.S. Pacific Fleet onboard the USS Ronald Reagan can be summed up in one word — awesome. And, not the casual too often used sense of the word, but in it’s true defnition of a state of amazement and wonderment.
One of the obvious reason for my state of amazement and wonderment were the landing and take off on the USS Ronald Reagan. I was able to (barely) keep my balance as the aircrafts catapulted and snagged landings only steps away from my oh so fragile body! Below is a video montage of what I witnessed, except the first catapult that literally shook my body that I can only describe as the Holy Ghost himself entering my being!
Keeping me in the statement of amazement was our own landing and catapult — really words cannot express the experience, so I’ll just quote the certificate that was presented to me for surviving completing the embark mission:
“…this Honorary Naval Aviator experienced deceleration from 105 to 0 mph in two seconds and accelaration from 0 to 128 mph in three seconds,…”
But, the most awesome knowledge that I gained during my experience were through the conversations and interactions with the brave men and women deployed on the USS Ronald Reagan, the US Pacific Fleet and the entire US Pacific Command. Their dedication and commitment of serving in the United States Navy is admirable, and as I drove home at the end of my day all I could do was cry. Cry for their allegiance to the United States, cry for their families that miss them, cry for our country and the world, cry for my freedom, cry for my life, liberty and my blessed right to pursue happiness.
“…do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign, and domestic; that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” — The Oath of Enlistment
I’ve included a few pictures of my experience below, and have uploaded the rest to Flickr. My fellow embark buddy, Ryan Ozawa posted a video of our complete experience.
The U.S. Navy DV Embark Program is a once in a lifetime experience, and I have recommended the following individuals to the outreach program to share in the same experience:
