When the pandemic hit our military and the White House ignored the plea for help from the Captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, every American should have been outraged and calling for an explanation. Yes, the brave Captain that was cheered by the sailors on board and are still awaiting results of the testing that finally arrive to help them.
But maybe it is just me, I have personal feelings about this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. You see, my husband was stationed on this illustrious ship when it was commissioned. I attended the commission of it and my oldest daughter boarded the ship on a military fam-trip with her uncle and her father and she can attest to the small quarters that house thousands of sailors. In addition, she also married a man that did a tour on the ship.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71 was commissioned in Newport News, VA, on October 25, 1986. Here are the statistics:
- Towers 20 stories above the waterline with a 4.5-acre flight deck.
- 1,092 feet long: nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall.
- Four bronze propellers, each 21 feet across and weighing more than 30 tons.
- Steering accomplished by two rudders, every 29 feet by 22 feet and weighing 50 tons.
- Four high-speed aircraft elevators, each more than 4,000 square feet, bring planes to the flight deck from the hangar below.
- Top speed exceeds 30 knots.
- Expected to operate as a Navy warship for about 50 years.
- Typical Nimitz-class ship carries 80-plus combat aircraft.
- Three two-inch diameter arresting wires on the deck bring an airplane going 150 miles per hour to a stop in less than 400 feet.
- Home to about 6,000 Navy personnel.
- Enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days: 18,150 meals served daily.
- Distillation plants providing 400,000 gallons of fresh water from seawater daily, enough for 2,000 homes.
- Nearly 30,000 light fixtures and 1,600 miles of cable and wiring.
- 1,400 telephones, 14,000 pillowcases and 28,000 sheets.
The ship basically is the size of the Mall of America and has the stores, dining halls, theaters, and cleaning facilities that service the men and women on board.
Once Captain Brett Crozier was removed from the ship testing began and of the 4,800 onboard 477 have tested positive and 3,155 of these men and women have been removed. One sailor has been hospitalized as of Friday, April 10, 2020. Moreover, news broke that Captain Crozier has tested positive for COVID-19.
When the press asked the President about the removal, he stated, "I thought it was terrible what he did, to write a letter. This isn't a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that's nuclear-powered," Trump said. "The letter was all over the place. That's not appropriate. I don't think that's appropriate." However, a Navy Seal that committed a war crime has his blessing. Why is that?
But it gets more bizarre and the acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly travels to Guam, boards the carrier, and on ship communication, insults the servicemen and women by telling them the reason their captain was removed because his actions were considered "too naïve or too stupid." Of course, this prompted Modly's resignation.
So how did the carrier become infected with COVID-19? The State Department and Naval officials allowed the Roosevelt to dock for five days in Danang, Vietnam. The country had reported the pandemic had hit prior to their arrival, though it was only a dozen cases, the pandemic doubled in those five days. According to many articles, the mission for this and other naval vessels in the Pacific is to show American presence because of China's recent influences. However, the military show of force will lose its luster if they are all crippled by the pandemic.
Is the current administration responsible for this? Yes, in more ways than one can imagine. These men and women volunteered to serve our country and are willing to go into harm's way to protect us. However, not one of them should be victims of an authority that does not have their safety and health above anything else.
As we all sit in our homes social distancing concerned about a parent, spouse, child, or sibling that might be a victim of COVID-19, take a few minutes and write your congressperson, insist they start an investigation into the handling of our military during this horrific time.
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