Nicholson DD442 - Reunion Oct 2005 Washington DC.

We put the destroyer Nicholson to sleep 60 years ago. Being asked to say just a few words today I began to think about that ship. The Nicholson like any ship has a life and spirit of its own. Those of us who served in her, for however short a time, became members of her family. Like any family, strong bonds of love develop among its members as well as for our ship. I would dare say that each of us when we read of the commissioning of a Navy destroyer like the new DDG Preble we are proud that that ship is now at sea in our Navy but we also look down through the performance specifications to see how it stacks up with the Nick. We take secret pride that our narrow beam and powerful engines probably gave her a higher flank speed than even this latest. We came into the Nick from very different parts of the country and from many different backgrounds but when we began to live our daily lives in her all those differences became unimportant next to what bound us together. None of us probably knew the names of everyone aboard. Some we knew only by a first or last name or a nickname, but we were shipmates, and that is what counted. As the years passed many began to pass on and our numbers here on the ground began to thin. When we die we live on in the memories of our loved ones and our family – and of course, in the memories of our shipmates. One way to keep these missing ones truly alive is to say their names – either silently or aloud. I would ask you now for a quiet moment while we say the names of those we specially remember who are not with us in the flesh.

 

 

 A Water color by Charles Geer, a shipmate, later an illustrator of note in New York.

Trooping the colors

 

 A few words by John M. Hood, Jr. at the Washington DC Navy Memorial - surviving members of the crew at the podium