The movie Men of Honor
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I watched the movie Men of Honor yesterday on Chn 5. it's a very inspirational and motivating movie of Carl Brashear, the first black deep sea diver and the first person in naval history to be restored to full active duty as an amputee.
teaches us that with determination, dreams can be fulfilled.
so anyway, i did a little research on him on the net which u all can read below. -
Carl Brashear was the sixth of nine children born to rural Kentucky sharecroppers, McDonald and Gonzella Brashear. Carl attended a small, segregated one-room schoolhouse and completed only seven grades, however, he later earned a GED and continued his education as an adult at the community college level. This ambition, determination, and "can do spirit" was brought on by a strong family background and it became the foundation upon which Carl was able to build two outstanding and successful careers.
Carl Brashear joined the United States Navy in 1948 at the age of 17. He amassed the distinction of being a pioneer in the Navy as the first black deep sea diver, the first black Master Diver, and the first person in naval history to be restored to full active duty as an amputee (the result of an injury he sustained during a salvage operation). Carl was the first amputee to be advanced to the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer.
Carl became the only amputee deep-sea diver to reach the status of Master Diver and he is the only black man to ever hold the position of Master Diver of the United States Navy (a position he held from 1975-1977). During his career, his appointments included non-diving positions such as serving on President Eisenhower's staff as Aquatic Escort and a variety of diving assignments on submarine rescue and salvage ships. He even served on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War.
Carl so distinguished himself as a sailor of polished appearance and professionalism he was given the title "Mister Navy" by his peers and consequently by the Navy. His most notable awards include one of the highest peacetime Naval awards--the Navy/Marine Corps Medal. In 1989 he was enshrined in naval history as a "Naval Tradition Maker" and his portrait, commissioned by the Department of the Navy, can be found in the Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Following a phenomenal naval career, which ended with his retirement in 1979,Carl continued to excel. He began a civil service employment career in 1982 as an Engineering Specialist and he retired in 1993 as an Environmental Protection Specialist. Carl's rapid advancement and accomplishments earned him the second highest Civil Service award - the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award.
Carl Brashear says his philosophy is, "love yourself, develop a positive attitude, set a goal and work toward it with all your might." He credits this as the key to his success. -
I watch it too ! Its a great movie.
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ermm off-topic...By e way does our naval divers have suites like the one in the movie as shown...( n the last part off the movie the capt said it weight 290 pounds )..
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i watched it too....Originally posted by crazy monkey:I watch it too ! Its a great movie. -
never watch, cuz i having wedding dinner at restuarant.
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watched the movie 5 yrs back in 2000. He had my respect both as a soldier and as a diver ( recreational scuba ) . Me ain't from NDU. The movie deserve a better comment from a reporter. That fat a** reporter commente in the sunday times, the day the moive was shown on channel 5, that this movie is painfully slow. Damn... What he expects? lots of explosion and blood? This movie is done in a very meaningful way. The plot is no doubt slow, but it reflect the determination from this man. He deserve my full respect.
As to the suit issue, thats meant for commercial diver for salvation diving , where they dived to deep sea. Sea level atmospheric pressure is 1 ATM, as u dive deeper, more pressure, the suit is design to prevent the diver from being crushed like a tin, among many other functions. Diving is divided into 3 category. Recreational, millitary and commercial.
Recreational is scuba diving and technical diving., ie for the enjoyment of diving, those who undertake this form of diving paid for it.
Commercial diving: the divers are highly trained to lay marine cables, pipes, salvation works, oil rigs works etc. They are being paid for the work done by diving to great depth.
Millitary diving . Need I say more ? apart for operational security aspects, our NDU dun think have the capability for salvation works. US navy yes.. -
As for deep salvage divers i highly doubt our NDU needs bother training people in it since there are already singaporeans with the skills. They can just be called back for reservist to to this sort of thing. The life span for this kind of diving is extremely short. Most retire by 40 i think. If i'm not mistaken our NDU can go pretty deep already. Around 100m? since they were they 1st down during the RSS courageous(sp?) accident. However in this region there are few people with the skills. The actual divers that went down and did the work for the RSN were foreigners, only 1 was a singaporean and he wasnt even stationed in singapore i think.Originally posted by pufferfish_79:watched the movie 5 yrs back in 2000. He had my respect both as a soldier and as a diver ( recreational scuba ) . Me ain't from NDU. The movie deserve a better comment from a reporter. That fat a** reporter commente in the sunday times, the day the moive was shown on channel 5, that this movie is painfully slow. Damn... What he expects? lots of explosion and blood? This movie is done in a very meaningful way. The plot is no doubt slow, but it reflect the determination from this man. He deserve my full respect.
As to the suit issue, thats meant for commercial diver for salvation diving , where they dived to deep sea. Sea level atmospheric pressure is 1 ATM, as u dive deeper, more pressure, the suit is design to prevent the diver from being crushed like a tin, among many other functions. Diving is divided into 3 category. Recreational, millitary and commercial.
Recreational is scuba diving and technical diving., ie for the enjoyment of diving, those who undertake this form of diving paid for it.
Commercial diving: the divers are highly trained to lay marine cables, pipes, salvation works, oil rigs works etc. They are being paid for the work done by diving to great depth.
Millitary diving . Need I say more ? apart for operational security aspects, our NDU dun think have the capability for salvation works. US navy yes..
Currently only Big navies have their own salvage crews to recover sensitive equipment. We on the other hand dont really need to spend the money on it -
for those familiar with US military ranks, is Master Chief a very high rank?
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Think along the line of "Master Chief" in HALO.
Anyways. There was this movie that I saw a few days ago... on Hallmark
Its called "Silent Night"
Its about these 2 groups of soldiers, 1 german and the other american, taking refuge in this german woman's home. IN this home, because it was christmas eve, they spent the night together under one roof, in truce. Amidst the suspicions of each other, they got to know each other not as enemies, but as fellow soldiers and fellow men. Its a very good movie, not just portraying 2 groups of different men in different uniforms as enemies, but as fellow human beings, and brothers in arms.
If u ask me, sometimes these hollywood films are too biased... seeing only 1 side of the story n not the other. -
Master Chief is an E-9 rank...The highest an enlisted personnel can reach..(Well, MCPO of the Navy is technically more of an appointment rather than a rank)Originally posted by Gordonator:for those familiar with US military ranks, is Master Chief a very high rank?
Given that WOs in the US have different career track from those in the SAF, a movement to WO/CWO ranks from enlisted is not exactly considered a 'promotion' as it is like in the SAF, but rather a form of 'ascension' to the Officer grade ranks.. Aiyah dunno how to explain also but their WO (at least for Army) can be directly recruited (e.g. Chopper pilots (Black Hawk Down 2001)