The White Falcon - 13.10.1978, Blaðsíða 4

Page 4
White Falcon
October 13, 1978
Happy Birthday Navy greetings extended
Continued from page 1
Happy birthday to all our
Navy people in the Atlantic
Fleet. The professionalism,
enthusiasm, perseverance and
dedication embodied in every one
of you are still, as they were
in 1775s America's first line
of defense.
On this anniversary celebra-
tion, in a spirit of unity and
camaraderie, join with me in re-
newing our personal commitment
to the number one Navy—yours and
mine. (signed) Admiral Harry D.
Train II, Commander in Chief At-
lantic Fleet
CFC urges
participation
"The days grow short as you
reach September" according to the
lyrics of an old popular song.
Time is fleeting, too, for persons
to participate in the 1979 Combined
Federal Campaign Overseas Area.
Why give? The slogan for this
year's campaign contains the answer.
"Reach out—nake the world a better
place through your CFC."
More specifically, the CFC cam-
paign offers us the opportunity to
help individuals in home communi-
ties, in the United States and over
seas. Through the 17 National
Health Agencies, the American Red
Cross and the 13 International Ser-
vice Agencies, we can serve the
sick, the handicapped, families in
need, the disaster-stricken, the
hungry, the disadvantaged, the re-
fugees—if we provide the resources
to help these agencies carry out
their important work.
By participating in this year's
appeal, and giving generously, we
will be continuing the tradition of
responsible citizenship of Depart-
ment of Defense personnel overseas.
While cash gifts are welcome,
the payroll allotment plan is con-
venient and allows you to be as
generous as you would like to be,
without putting a big dent in your
budget all at one time.
Welcome your key person, who is
devoting extraordinary effort and
personal time in helping others.
Individuals in need are depend-
ing on us.
from: Sec Nav
As we celebrate our Navy's 203rd
Birthday I would like to extend my
heartful greetings and appreciation
to each member of the Department of
the Navy and to the host of friends
of the Navy. Whether you are a
sailor, Marine, or civilian employee,
and whether serving at sea or on
shore duty, each of you is making a
valuable contribution to our
nation's ability to use the seas,
as are those in the civilian sector
who support our service.
Never before in more than 200
years of our history has the ability
to use the seas been more important
than today. In spite of its con-
tinental size, America is really an
island nation. Millions of jobs
depend on imports and exports. A-
bout half our energy, and scores of
materials vital to our peacetime
economy or weapons production ef-
fort must be imported. More than
40 of our allies and hundreds of
thousands of our forward deployed
Naval terms
spruce up
English
Any bright school child can tell
you it was Captain James Lawrence
who said, "Don't give up the ship!"
shortly before he died. But it
takes a very old salt or an avid
history buff to tell that the ship
Captain Lawrence didn't want to
given up was the Chesapeake or
that, in fact, his men did give it
up to the British who fixed her up
and sent her back to the line as a
British warship.
Here—just for fun—are some
more naval odds and ends for old
salts, history buffs and school
kids.
According to Webster, "fathom"
originally meant the two arms out-
stretched to embrace or measure.
Parliament defined it as "the
length of a swain's arms around
the object of his affections."
On the average, that comes to
about six feet.
forces can be supported only if we
can use the seas. The thousands of
merchant ships sailing each day in
the world's oceans represent the
life- giving bloodstream of the
free world. We must never allow
any potential aggressor to believe
he can choke off these vital ar-
teries by denying us the use of the
seas.
Thanks to your professionalism
and dedication we have a Navy -
Marine Corps team that contributes
very significantly to strategic de-
terrence of aggression; that can
control the seas in those areas
where necessary to ensure safe pas-
sage of friendly shipping-, that
can project power ashore, and that
can show the flag overseas to
hearten our friends and discourage
potential aggressors. So far our
strength has been great enough, and
visible enough, to keep the peace.
You deserve the credit for this.
You are doing an important job and
doing it well. Keep up the good
work. (Signed) W. Graham Claytor,
Secretary of the Navy.
Stephen Decatur, the man who led
the suiqide squad that destroyed
the captured Philadelphia during
the Barbary Wars, was killed in a
duel. He met his fate at the hands
of a fellow officer.
Ever wonder where the words like
"tar," "gob" and "leatherneck" came
from? In olden times, sailors used
to keep their queues, or pigtails,
in place with a heavy black oil.
Landfolk just called it tar.
Marines used the same stuff on
their hair but wore leather liners
in their collars to prevent the
stuff from soiling their clothes,
hence, leatherneck.
As far as "gob" goes, it's
spelled much like the Chinese word
for sailor sounds.