Goodbye Iowa

The U.S.S. Iowa that is.  Looks like at one of the last veteran ships of WWII will be laid to rest.  There was a time when, as a budding student of history, first turned onto history by reading old war books my Dad bought, I looked at this and other battlewagons, and dreamt of joining the navy.  That was well into high school by the way.  I remember reading books on the Pacific war, learning where every ship was, studying the battles, researching the men who made things happen.  While others were watching the brand new MTV, or working on cars, or doing whatever it is teenagers do, I was holed up in my room, headphones on, reading book after book on the history of the US Navy. 

Ah, but then I realized I couldn't swim and so gave up notions of military service and refrains of Anchors Aweigh.  Still, these are good memories.  I always knew it was more than glamorous movies and flag waving.  Enough war veterans were in my family to remind me.  I appreciated the cost, and knew war was not a game.  Still, the courage, the resolve, the grit of that generation inspired me, and nothing exemplified it more than seeing photographs of the US fleet, filled with ships that stretched to the horizon.  All American made.  At the pinnacle of America's awareness of its role in the world.  Just like the USS Iowa, it will be missed.

Goodbye Iowa, and thank you