The sun sets on the American Cemetery in Manila, honoring soldiers and sailors alike, and reminding us that the pleasure of growing old with families and friends was not to be taken for granted in our chosen and unforgiving profession - Manila, Philippines - 1983
Congressman William H. Bates, namesake of our boat, revealed in correspondence in the SSN-680.org archives.
Seemingly endless tiles of marble, some familiar, others not, remind us of a future where all of us share the honor of Eternal Patrol. - Fair winds and following seas, Chief Postulka, 1999 - Rosecrans National Military Cemetery, San Diego, CA - 2009
Our shipmate has passed on before us.
Whether by enemy action, the remorseless sea, or the ravages of time and age,
we must accept that God has called you to where we cannot yet follow.
We commend your body to the deep, and your soul to God Almighty.
May God grant you fair winds and following seas.
Godspeed, shipmate.
We will miss you...
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another...
"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
John Donne