On April 2, 2020, I heard that the Captain of the aircraft carrier USS Teddy Roosevelt was fired for trying to help his men and women who had come down with or been exposed to the coronavirus. As a former tin can sailor who ran with some of the big carriers of my time, I applaud his courage for doing what needed to be done to save the lives of the sailors under his command. In closing, I'll leave you with an excerpt of a speech by Teddy Roosevelt called The Man in The Arena:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Note: On April 13, 2020 it was reported that one of the sailors assigned to the TR had passed due to coronavirus, and that 584 members of the crew have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Submitted by Mike Rush Belville 2 Precinct
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