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NCIS

SHALL NOT PERISH

Posted on 2010.06.29 at 06:45
Current Location: 75409
Current Music: Horner - The Karate Kid

USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, CVN-72



The Abraham Lincoln wasn't my first aircraft carrier, but it was certainly my favorite. I can't describe to you the feeling of approaching something as massive as an entire floating city much taller than anything you'd expect even when told what to expect. It seemingly defied the very laws of physics.

It was in the tales Tom Clancy wove with mystery and intrigue, and just like any other branch of the military, there was coffee - but coffee unlike anything I'd had before, and exactly like Mr. Tom Clancy described it would be.

FIRST IN FLIGHT
Speaking of coffee, I remember the Season 2 episode of NCIS when Gibbs explains to Kate about "The Big Stick" and "Shall Not Perish."
KATE: When he found the first Jane Doe while jogging, Petty Officer Goetz was in port on a carrier, the Teddy Roosevelt.
GIBBS: Agent Dawes interrogated him a number of times on the Big Stick and here.
KATE: Big Stick?
GIBBS: Teddy Roosevelt. “Talk softly, carry a…”
KATE: Carry a big stick. Cute. Goetz stayed in the Navy, is a Chief and arrived in Norfolk on the same carrier as the seamen who found our Jane Doe. The… Honest Abe.
GIBBS: “Shall not Perish.”
KATE: What?
GIBBS: Lincoln’s not Honest Abe. It’s “Shall Not Perish.”
KATE: What kind of a nickname is “Shall Not Perish?”
GIBBS: Ask Chief Goetz when you pull him in for questioning.

SPIRIT OF FREEDOM
I've been carting these coffee cups around with me since I bought them from the ship's store to use during my 16-hour days of HP/UX installs while she was in port. Decided to take a couple to work. Show my colors, so to speak.

I think the coffee tastes better in these, and even if it doesn't...it reminds me of more exciting times.

JOHNNY REB





I've spoken previously of my time onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
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Comments:

Quicksilvermad
quicksilvermad at 2010-06-29 12:33 (UTC) (Link)
My dad collected those coins that end up displayed in crystal paper weights. And every time he went on TDY he brought back a spoon for my sister and a thimble for me.

He also took to carving the insignia patches in wood with a pocket knife and chisel. He even designed one early on in his military career. IT got used, but some ass took the credit for it. I'll have to go through them all to find which one it was.

I think he's carved the SAC one three times... But he always tells me he's not artistic. Despite carving M-16s and (once) his dad's Akita. I have got to find photos of all this stuff to do a post on it.
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ehowton
ehowton at 2010-06-29 12:40 (UTC) (Link)
See, that would make a good post. Usually the most respected coin was the one given to you by the highest ranking officer - but my personal favorite was the 607th Air Intelligence Squadron at Osan Air Base in Korea - THE TIGER NEVER SLEEPS! We had to keep that one on us at all times lest we were called upon to display it - the bearers of which never had to buy the round of drink, unless you called it and everyone had theirs.

There was um...a lot of drinking in Korea.

But absolutely you should post those - I'd love to see the carvings!

*The marathon of NCIS this past weekend had nothing whatsoever to do with this post. Nope, not at all.
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Lelf Treperra
ubet_cha at 2010-06-29 14:35 (UTC) (Link)
I have a few of these from the ships I was on. The Kitty Hawk CV-63, The Avenger MCM-1 and The Virginia CGN-38. Really wish I had bought them when I was on the foreign ships. Good thinking.

This may sound off, but its never occured to me to actually drink out of these cups.
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ehowton
ehowton at 2010-06-29 15:11 (UTC) (Link)
Not off at all! Outside my time onboard, neither did I. It was an epiphany of sorts inspired by my wife's comments concerning their placement on the office floor - you see, we had two older cats who have both since passed away. We now have two younger cats. So the mugs which were here:



Now litter the floor. Simultaneously, my office at work looks like someone pulled the pin on a shit grenade to ignite a multiple-rocket launcher who's rails are spinning like a 4th of July ground blossom flower.

I decided to relocate some of the mugs to the office, which I am knee-deep in cleaning today. Were photographs allowed in the facility, I would surely take a before & after.

The two not photographed was the USS Boxer and the USS Coronado.
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ehowton
ehowton at 2010-06-30 01:45 (UTC) (Link)
Speaking of, what's with the dueling emblems? Why do I have two? I was there before & after the refit in '97 does that have anything to do with it? If there's a story there, I've forgotten it.
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Lelf Treperra
ubet_cha at 2010-06-30 16:22 (UTC) (Link)
Until this post I had never seen the emblem you have in front, having always seen the ones to the right & back. The last time I was on the Kitty Hawk was April 1988. Maybe they tried to jazz it up as time went on?
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ehowton
ehowton at 2010-07-01 02:15 (UTC) (Link)
Dunno, I can't find any info on it.

Weird.
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Samantha
thesweetestnote at 2010-06-29 21:20 (UTC) (Link)

Show and Tell! \o/

While working in T.V. and with ad agencies, I had acquired a lot of schwag (and no - not low grade marijuana...I smoke the good s***). Posters, cups, caps, pins and stuff I label MISC. I have given tons of it away. I escaped my marriage with my most prized piece of schwag... My coffee cup from the CBS affiliate I was at for some time (which I drank nothing but tea or Diet Coke out of):



I was hoping to be there for the 60th anniversary but the station never revived after 9/11 and is now owned by the NBC affiliate.

I earned this cup the way I see it. It commemorated local history and my first real job. And actually, the logo is a CBS corporate no no. Nothing is suppose to cover the CBS eye. I also love that it's rebellious in that sense.

I should have made my own post...but it would have been a small tug boat next to your carrier of a fantastic post! So here I throw my tiny vessel in ;)
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ehowton
ehowton at 2010-06-30 01:46 (UTC) (Link)

Re: Show and Tell! \o/

Oh hells yes. AND a pic :D

SHALL NOT PERISH!!!
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Tanya
panacea42 at 2010-07-01 04:34 (UTC) (Link)
She is no match in size vs. the USS Abraham Lincoln, but this post did remind me of my amazement at visiting the USS New York last year (pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36313168@N08/sets/72157622849419806/).
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ehowton
ehowton at 2010-07-01 05:13 (UTC) (Link)
A freaking CH-53 - Wow! I had one of those "buzz" me in Korea. YIKES!

That's a pretty good sized ship. The smallest ship I've ever toured was also in New York, the USS Slater in Albany.

What fun!
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