Shipmates Forever

    When walk down the gangway of a ship of the US Navy for the last time, your thoughts are not about farewells but are more like, "See you later." At least that was the way it was when I departed my ship, the USS O'Bannon back in 1943. Usually, it's off you go for a thirty day leave with orders to report aboard another ship when your leave is over. Years later, it comes to you that maybe it would have been nice to give each shipmate a good hug or, at least, a warm handshake as you departed their company for the very last time.  What you didn't realize at the time was that each of these shipmates, from the captain on down, were the reason you were able to leave the ship alive and not be part of the debris left on the ocean floor.

    It's after many years before you realize what each of these shipmates meant to you and, I imagine, it's the same for those in the Army or Marine Corp. You become a band of brothers. Unfortunately, this realization comes to late to make up for what was missed. Occasionally though, some are able to hold onto one another over the years, such is the case with shipmates Robert Morganthau and Albert Macklin, shipmates of the USS Lansdale. Some sixty-six years later, Albert Macklin will be present at the retirement party of Robert Morganthau the last week of October 2009 in New York City. An auspicious occasion under any circumstance but even more so when old shipmates can be together again if only for a moment.

    Mr. Morganthau over the years had become quite famous and renowned as the District Attorney of New York County while Mr. Macklin had also been quite successful but not so famous. No matter, shipmates are shipmates forever.