Companions,
Thanksgiving greetings for each of you and your families. I pray that the family traditions for Thanksgiving are renewed this year as you celebrate the gifts we have in this Land of Freedom; a freedom each of you had a role in sustaining. May I offer my Thanks for all that each of you do for our Order. I want to say again how grateful I am for the opportunity to serve the Order as we do the many things to honor and respect the Naval Heritage that you and our predecessors have put in place. Each of you, along with your families, own a piece of that Heritage. Each of the deployments you were a part of, decisions you made, crew members you trained, and families you raised all had effects on lives you may have not seen or realized. Your actions, professional and personal, influenced others and should be remembered (yes even the liberty stories). As we enter this season of Thanks and Grace, please take the time to relate to those you love a story or two about the legacy you have created….one they haven’t heard before. If possible, record it or write it down and start the oral remembrance for them and you. Think about those we've lost and how they affected YOU. You may not remember it all perfectly or anything like others remember it, but that’s part of the joy of remembering. Break out the pictures and cruise books and recall the names and faces; point ‘em out, write ‘em down! You are part of Naval History and we want to make sure that your story gets written…..start writing it!
For the Good of the Order,
Bob Whitkop, CAPT, USN (Ret.)
Commander General