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Solace For Capt. Crozier
April 05, 2020
I spent 2 years as a naval officer serving on a Destroyer Escort in the Atlantic in the 60’s and I am well aware of the close proximity of the sailors on all US naval vessels. I loved the navy and comradery developed during long assignments some of which involved defending the US against Russian missiles being installed in Cuba. So, it is with great reluctance that I comment about the Navy’s treatment of Brett Crozier, Capt. of the naval carrier the USS Roosevelt. Crozier reached out to the Navy brass when over 100 sailors were stricken with COVID-19 to have them off loaded in Guam, where they were docked. When he received a negative response, he went up the chain of command and his letter was leaked (apparently by someone in the Secretary of Navy’s office) in the San Francisco Chronicle and picked up nationally. Capt. Crozier was fired for showing poor judgment. But the national uproar finally caused the Navy to approve offloading the COVID-19 victims in Guam.
The irony is Teddy Roosevelt, according to his grandson, for whom the carrier was named faced a similar situation when he led the rough riders in Cuba. He was rebuffed by the brass when he requested to relieve the soldiers suffering from malaria and yellow fever. Roosevelt wrote a letter to the press that caused the decision to be reversed, but his penance was the cancellation of his nomination for the medal of honor, which he subsequently received posthumously. Hopefully Capt. Crozier won’t have to wait as long for redemption.
April 05, 2020
I spent 2 years as a naval officer serving on a Destroyer Escort in the Atlantic in the 60’s and I am well aware of the close proximity of the sailors on all US naval vessels. I loved the navy and comradery developed during long assignments some of which involved defending the US against Russian missiles being installed in Cuba. So, it is with great reluctance that I comment about the Navy’s treatment of Brett Crozier, Capt. of the naval carrier the USS Roosevelt. Crozier reached out to the Navy brass when over 100 sailors were stricken with COVID-19 to have them off loaded in Guam, where they were docked. When he received a negative response, he went up the chain of command and his letter was leaked (apparently by someone in the Secretary of Navy’s office) in the San Francisco Chronicle and picked up nationally. Capt. Crozier was fired for showing poor judgment. But the national uproar finally caused the Navy to approve offloading the COVID-19 victims in Guam.
The irony is Teddy Roosevelt, according to his grandson, for whom the carrier was named faced a similar situation when he led the rough riders in Cuba. He was rebuffed by the brass when he requested to relieve the soldiers suffering from malaria and yellow fever. Roosevelt wrote a letter to the press that caused the decision to be reversed, but his penance was the cancellation of his nomination for the medal of honor, which he subsequently received posthumously. Hopefully Capt. Crozier won’t have to wait as long for redemption.
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