My one-week vacation in 2003 had been wonderful, but now it was time to get back to work. Returning to my engineering job at Raytheon on Monday morning, I could visualize the dozens of emails awaiting my attention, having intentionally ignored them all during my absence.
As I worked my way down to the final messages, one jumped out at me. It announced that today was the last day to compete for a free, three-day trip for two to attend the christening of the LPD-17, the first hull of a new U.S. Navy ship class. For the last six years, I had been a member of the system integration design team for the new Amphibious Transport Dock ships that the Navy would use to carry Marines to conflicts throughout the world for the next 40 to 50 years. To win the tickets for this trip, all I had to do was submit an essay explaining why I should attend the christening of the LPD-17. The five winning essays would be chosen by a committee of program managers.
It suddenly struck me that attending this event with my father, Henry Aguirre, would be a perfect gift and tribute to a young World War II Marine who had been transported long ago on a troop carrier ship to fight in the South and Central Pacific for three years. I decided to spend my lunch hour describing what could be the almost ethereal connection from my father, World War II, and me to the LPD-17 and back to my father, if we were allowed to attend the christening. I was fortunate enough to win one of the coveted trips, and my father eagerly agreed to accompany me to New Orleans for the ceremony.
At the ceremony, I could see that my father was very proud, not only of me and my accomplishments in getting us to that event, but also of his own service in defense of our country more than 60 years before; once a Marine, always a Marine. As an added bonus for my father, this being a Marine troop carrier vessel, the principal address was given by the then-commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, who, before making his prepared remarks, took a few moments to honor any veterans in the audience. Working chronologically, he asked any World War I veterans to stand and be honored. There were none. Next was World War II, and my father proudly rose along with a handful of others as everyone applauded. I don’t know who felt more pride: my father for being called to attention by the commandant of the Marine Corps, or me for my father, but it was truly the thrill of a lifetime for both of us.
A few weeks after returning home, my mother told me that my father, upon returning home, had been “on cloud nine” for days while describing the entire trip. Although he passed away in 2014, I am happy to have been able to include him in my career and to honor him in a small way.
This short episode represented the culmination of the influence that my father had always had on me. Throughout my life, he never stopped encouraging, supporting, and pushing me to always do my best to take advantage of all the opportunities this great country offers. His greatest hope was that his children would have better lives than that which he had experienced.
It was my father’s influence that I tried to capture in my winning essay. Below is an excerpt from the essay I wrote:
‘Why I Should Attend The LPD-17 Christening Event’
Armand Aguirre – 3/10/03
My father had the dubious luck to be born in 1923. Like millions of other young American boys, he couldn’t have known that he would turn 18 at the brink of the world’s largest war. As a young man of Mexican heritage, his horizons had not extended much beyond picking crops in the farm fields and, after his family had moved to the city, surviving in the Barrio. World War II exposed the new Marine to a world that he had only heard and read about—a world where a man could advance out of the cycle of poverty by sheer determination and hard work. And even then, he could identify the key to it all: education. Having dropped out of high school to help support his family, he realized that not all of his dreams might be possible for himself, but if he ever had a son…
I had the good fortune to be that son who benefited from the wisdom of that young Marine; an insight gained in observing how men with an education had more opportunities and options in life. Such men commanded respect and confidence. Their lives were full of possibilities. This was the mantra that I grew up hearing and believing. How could I not believe? My father, after all, was my father and my hero!
It is ironic that the son has found himself playing a key role in the design of the LPD-17 networking infrastructure on the modern version of the transport that carried his father overseas to fight the Japanese in the South and Central Pacific so long ago. Allowing that father and son to watch the birth of this new fighting ship together would complete the circle that started more than 60 years ago, a circle that continues to spiral on with my own son and grandchildren, who could very well serve someday on an LPD-class ship.
Is there a family member who has positively impacted your life? American Essence invites you to share about your family roots and the lessons passed down from generation to generation. We welcome you to send your submission to: [email protected]
