So....Im seeing a few quips about the Merecki incident. Make sure that you understand what transpired on that day. Few of you do or ever will. The last I checked Wikipedia wasnt necessarily an authoritative source for anything. Nor is a newspaper article, a verdict, or post on a blog. Unless you have first hand knowledge, your opinion is conjecture at best. Fact: a student tragically died that day. Fact: training changed in the Armed Services that day. Fact: many good men were wrongly accused and punished subsequent to that day. Fact: there were poor decisions made that exacerbated the situation. But, the inference to not being allowed to DOR, being smurfed, (whatever that meant) or the ruthlessness of sharks and daisies is not accurate. Quite the contrary. This is tough training on purpose. There was desire to help this student get beyond a psychological barrier. We all had those fears going through training. The situation was intense, like most of our experiences that appropriately occurred in that pool. It ended in a most unfortunate way that nobody took lightly. Conspiracy....no. Maliciousness....no. Targeted....no. It really doesnt matter what era you were trained in....you were prepared to answer the call regardless of the circumstance. The events of that day remain misunderstood by many, but not me ...the media painted it incorrectly then and it continues to obviously resonate to this day. Its rarely spoken of except by those that think they understand the entire story. Its a moment that tarnishes our long standing tradition of sacrificing ourselves for the well being of others. A largely mis-understood moment due, in large part, to biases in the media and society in general. Please tread lightly when offering opinions on the subject. Those were dark days for our community and it took many years to recover. Before you start flaming....Ill end by saying...yes I saw it with my own eyes and my statements are a matter of record. This incedent, extremely unfortunate, happened. It needs to serve as a reminder of the intensity of our field. It also needs to be looked at in the appropriate context. 26 years later and remains indelible mark to some. So Others May Live shipmates!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:42:26 +0000
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