Today is the two-hundred and thirty-third birthday of the United States Navy. Much has changed since the 13th of October in 1775 and much has remained the same. The Continental Congress authorized the outfitting of two naval vessels to search our shores and protect us from British warships supplying their troops. In the two centuries plus that have followed thousands of young men and women have chosen to serve this country as members of the United States Navy. Just yesterday at brunch while at Mt. Irenaeus I spoke with a physician who had served as a U.S. Navy Medical Officer for ten years. He was at the Mountain with his young family. He was a graduate of Siena College who spent time as a Franciscan Volunteer before going to medical school and after that the U.S. Navy. He left the Navy for private practice in Greencastle, PA. My own family has a record of naval service that spans three generations now.
There is within me a longing for the sea and the surf that has been in me all my life. Perhaps I’ll never know where it came from but it is there nonetheless. Whatever its source I salute the United States Navy today on its birthday.