RETIREMENT CEREMONY
PHILIP EGGMAN JOCS, USN
The USS Utah Association is honored that
Senior Chief Journalist Philip Eggman chose our old ship's memorial as the place
for his retirement ceremony following 26 years of faithful Naval Service.
A longtime booster of the USS Utah
BB31/AG16, JOCS Eggman had been made a lifetime honorary member of our
association. It is quite possible that this Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer has done
more than any one individual to upgrade our ship from "The Unknown Ship at
Pearl Harbor" to "Barely Known" or if you prefer, "The Other Ship" at Pearl Harbor. Phil has been
relentless in making speeches and writing articles which have been published in
both navy and civilian publications,
informing the public of the "Other Ship" and Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
He has given generously of his personal time to escort Pearl Harbor visitors
to the wreckage of the USS Utah and it's memorial. He has visited our
reunions and has figuratively become one of us. It is with great pride and
most appropriate that
we publish his retirement ceremony on our web site
Senior Chief, these pages are in your
honor; this salute is from the USS Utah Association membership and all those
shipmates who have been transferred to the staff of the Supreme Commander to you:
This web page is divided into two sections;
i.e., Senior Chief Eggman's retirement speech, and, the story of his
retirement ceremony in photos:
I
JOCS(SW) Phil Eggman USN
Retirement
Speech
July 2,
2003
USS Utah
Memorial
Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii
I want to thank everyone
for coming. What an appropriate place for me to say my goodbyes to a great
group of folks. You are all my friends, my shipmates. You are all people who
I have enjoyed serving with these past five years. Thank you for being here
with me today.
I joined the Navy 26-plus
years ago (actually, December 2, 1976 would be 27 years). It’s hard to
believe I can still remember the name of my company commander. Then again,
he was one of those people in a lifetime that will always remain
unforgettable. For a beginner Sailor he was unforgettable to me because he
was my Chief and he scared the crap out of me. I think in those days
“Chiefs” were supposed to scare the crap out of their Sailors. Although
there have been a lot of changes in our Navy these past three decades, one
thing hasn’t changed and that is the important role Chief Petty Officers
play in the lives of their Sailors. This point leads me to want to share
with you what I believe have been the three most significant events in my
life in the Navy.
Number one was being
promoted to Chief Petty Officer. Yes, I have performed the duties of a Navy
journalist. I worked in broadcasting. I have written hundreds of news and
feature stories telling the Navy story. I have produced thousands of
photographs showing Navy life. Many of these stories and photos have been
published in one form or another, but who remembers them? For the record, I
did not leave my mark in the lives of Sailors by writing about them. No, my
true calling was serving in the role and capacity of a Chief because Chiefs
literally and truly sculpt and mold the lives, the very souls, of the
Sailors under their command.
Today’s Chief Petty
Officer has a direct impact on what a Sailor will accomplish tomorrow. The
day I put on the hat of the Chief Petty Officer I realized I had a very
important role to fill. You don’t become a chief over night, as all of us
who wear this uniform know. Serving in this kind of leadership role is a
tough business. It’s not easy. But nothing worthwhile is easy. Nothing worth
our time and energy comes without true effort. Being “The Chief” is a lot of
hard work.
Now, I am not taking away
from the hard work and dedication of my civilian public relations
counterparts put into their jobs, but really, for them, the job ends at the
end of the day. No doubt, for many, they will just go home when the work is
done and not think about the job until the next workday. What this means is
that I am going to go into the civilian world and I can count on not getting
a call at three in the morning because one of my co-workers got beat up at a
bar. My civilian boss will not expect me to go and pick this guy up at the
jail or from the hospital and take him home. That’s just not how the
civilian world works.
But an active duty Chief
Petty Officer does have to do that kind of stuff because Chiefs are
responsible for their people 24 hours a day, seven days a week. WE are
accountable for the people in our charge, always! Chiefs teach and mold and
mentor their people. Chiefs are responsible when their people stand tall.
Equally, Chiefs are responsible (and accountable) when their people fall on
their faces. More often than not, when a Sailor gets into trouble, the first
person he or she calls is their Chief because Chief Petty Officers have a
major impact on the lives of their Sailors.
Shipmates, this is good,
meaningful work for those of us who wear this uniform. I know that there are
some people out there who believe we “Chiefs” are a kind of mafia, an entity
to be feared. Well, fortunately, these folks are few. Personally, I believe
there are no bad Chiefs. There are some who look like Chiefs, but just hold
the pay-grade. I’ll give you that. But I have no doubt that behind every
great admiral, every successful captain or officer, and every squared-away
Sailor, you will always, ALWAYS, find a Chief Petty Officer and that’s a
fact.
The number two significant
achievement in my Navy career has to do with where we are right now, the
Utah Memorial here on Ford Island. It’s about giving something back,
shipmates. I am talking about the 2,400 folks who died for us beginning here
at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the millions more who were injured
or died throughout the remainder of World War II or any other war or police
action or battle that has followed since. These people were our fathers,
uncles, aunts, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, neighbors - any
and all Americans who have ever given their lives for us. A lot of sacrifice
was made and a lot of blood has been spilled throughout the history of our
country for the sake of the freedom we all have have today.
But I want to focus on
what happened right at this spot almost 63 years ago. Behind us is what is
left of USS Utah (AG 16), the first ship to die at Pearl Harbor on December
7, 1941. On that fateful morning as the crew raised the flag on the fantail,
a Japanese torpedo slammed into the ship’s port side followed by a second
torpedo minutes later in the same area. In less than 12 minutes, Utah
capsized and was lost. It is believed that 54 of her crew were trapped
inside her hull, while all told, 58 Utah Sailors lost their lives that day.
Sadly a lot of people have
never heard of Utah. I was one of those people. You see, like many
Americans, the loss of USS Arizona and most of her crew overshadowed any
other loss that day and there lies the problem in that every life lost in
the name of freedom, every drop of blood spilled on behalf of our country,
our flag, and our way of life, must never be forgotten.
So this is the “giving
back” part I was talking about a moment ago. Shipmates, we have to do our
part by remembering what happened and passing the word to everyone we know.
We have to keep telling the story so that the sacrifices of yesterday are
not forgotten tomorrow.
I was introduced to USS
Utah by talking to a distraught survivor on the phone and hearing his story.
His words and his tears genuinely moved me, but what could I do? I decided
to do whatever I could in my capacity as a public relations guy to tell the
Utah story to a hungry public who needed to know. Did the last five years of
getting the word out make a difference? Well, I can proudly report that with
the help of my shipmates, USS Utah, the forgotten ship, is less forgotten as
she was five years ago and as far as making a difference I know that the
survivors are very grateful because for the longest time they did not
believe anyone outside of their group really gave a damn.
Well, we have come a long
way and to illustrate my point, on the 60th anniversary
commemorating the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor, we
coordinated a special ceremony on behalf of the Utah survivors. I believe
seven survivors attended, along with their families, friends and loved ones.
For me to see their tears, to relive the memories through their words was
very moving and meaningful to everyone who was there because those moments
made a difference in their lives. This was our chance to give something back
for everything they gave to us. Let me just say that I am forever grateful
to anyone who played a part in giving me the personal freedoms I enjoy
today, especially the Utah.
Finally, my third greatest
achievement while serving in the Navy is more personal. You know, I have
been very successful as a Navy man, but I haven’t had much luck staying
married. Perhaps it has something to do with the many demands military life
puts on families, maybe my standards are too high, or perhaps I am just too
picky. Whatever the reasons were, I won’t go into them here. What I will
say is after all these years, I honestly believe I have finally found my
life partner – my beautiful wife, Gina. I honestly believe, had she started
this journey with me 26 years ago, she would still be here with me today.
She has the tenacity of a badger and I would do whatever she wanted me to do
with good grace. Now, we are going to go together to Seattle and make a life
for our children and ourselves. We will be good citizens. We will pay our
taxes and we won’t forget you who serve.
In closing, I want to say
that I have very much enjoyed my time on the staff of Commander Submarine
Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. I have been in a lot of different communities
during my 26-year tenure in the Navy. I served in aviation squadrons as an
ordnance man and a photographer. I have served onboard ships as a
photojournalist, and I have even enjoyed an outstanding tour with my other
favorite community, the Seabees, the Navy’s premier construction force. But
you submarine guys are amazing. I don’t know how you do it. You live and
work in the equivalent of a four-bedroom house with 130 other Sailors and
the job you perform is absolutely crucial to the success of our Navy. I
really respect you and admire you and it has been an honor being your
journalist these past two years.
To all of you who are
serving now and to those who are considering on staying in even longer – let
me tell you that what you do has a direct impact on the security and freedom
of our country and our world. Even though many people do not understand what
you do or appreciate your service, never forget that what you are doing is
honorable work. You make a difference. My first wife once told me that
people who serve in the military are losers. Well, all I can say to that is
she can KISS MY ----!! How’s that for politically correct? You cannot help but
be proud of this generation of our young people who are filling the ranks of
our armed forces. Their performance in Afghanistan and Iraq has been nothing
less than astounding! Let no one doubt that the United States military is
the greatest and most honorable military that has ever been in the history
of our planet.
God Bless us all!
Thank
you.
[Webmaster's note:
Mr. Philip Eggman, "Civilian Extraordinaire" can be reached via e-mail at:
<irishpoet2002@yahoo.com>
]
Click here to view
photos from Senior Chief Eggman's Retirement
Ceremony