Every year, the date May 17 is tough for me. It is the anniversary of the attack on USS Stark.
My mentor, FCCS Bob Shippee and 36 of his shipmates were killed when 2 Exocet missiles fired by an Iraqi plane hit the ship.
I still use things Bob taught me just about every when he was my LPO in the late '70s. He was smart, disciplined, and universally respected by everyone.I worked for Bob for about 3 years, then I got out of the Navy. He continued to serve.......
The series of decisions leading up to the attack, and the decisions of the chain of command about the defensive posture of the ship while in a war zone have always made me think that this is one tragedy that didn't have to happen the way it did. Basically steaming around in a war zone while the ship is in peacetime condition has always angered me.
Every time I read a story on here from someone who lost buddies in combat I can certainly empathize, and while reading those stories I think of my friend and his shipmates. The explosion, deaths, wounds, fire, extensive damage control just to keep the ship from sinking.

I thank all of you who have had the additional horror of being there to have see your comrades die and suffer from wounds. If you have lost someone, honor them. If you learned from them treasure that knowledge.

Today is my memorial day.

Thank you for reading.

drums said:

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Thank you. It just baffles me how this happened. I know Bob was regarded as one of the best fire controlman ever to wear a uniform. I know how high his standards were. From the reason they were where they were, to the condition of the ship, and behavior of leadership resulted in a tragedy. CIWS at least should have been on auto.
Again, thanks for your reply.

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I did not know this. In that environment they had their Phalanx off?!? I guess I had assumed that ship wasn't equipped with a Phalanx system even though most ships by that time were equipped. What a huge goat ****.

I just remember after the Argentinians sunk the British frigate in 1982 with an Exocet that every ship would have their's active in even the most minor situations. I remember everyone freaked out after that Exocet strike and that General Dynamics held a demonstration for the Brits right after - the Brits then purchased a bunch from GD after it showed nothing gets through a Phalanx (except an overload - i.e., too many missiles at one time).