Carl Brashear
| Carl Brashear | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 19, 1931 Tonieville, Kentucky, U.S.A. |
| Died | July 25, 2006 (aged 75) Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (Portsmouth, Virginia), Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.A. |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1948-1979 |
| Rank | Master Chief Petty Officer |
| Commands held | USS Hunley (AS-31) Master Diver USS Recovery (ARS-43) Command Master Chief / Master Diver |
| Awards | Navy and Marine Corps Medal Navy Commendation Medal Navy Achievement Medal |
Carl Maxie Brashear (January 19, 1931 – July 25, 2006) was the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver in 1970.
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[edit] Early life
Brashear was born on January 19, 1931, in Tonieville, Kentucky, the sixth of eight children to sharecroppers McDonald and Gonzella Brashear.[1][2] In 1935, the family settled on a farm in Sonora, Kentucky. Brashear attended Sonora Grade School from 1937 to 1946.
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Brashear enlisted in the United States Navy on February 25, 1948, shortly after the Navy had desegregated. He graduated from the U.S. Navy Diving & Salvage School in 1954, becoming the first African-American to attend and graduate from the Diving & Salvage School and the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver.[1] Brashear was also the first African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver and the first amputee diver to be certified or re-certified as a U.S. Navy diver.[3]
[edit] Leg amputation and recovery
In January 1966, in an accident now known as the Palomares incident, a B28 nuclear bomb was lost off the coast of Palomares, Spain after two United States Air Force aircraft of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), a B-52G Stratofortress bomber and a KC-135A Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, collided during aerial refueling. Brashear was serving aboard the USS Hoist (ARS-40) when it was called in to find and recover the missing bomb for the Air Force. The warhead was found after two and a half months of searching.[4] During recovery operations on March 23, 1966, a line used for towing broke loose, causing a pipe to strike Brashear's left leg below the knee, nearly shearing it off.[5] He was evacuated to Torrejon Air Base in Spain, then to the USAF Hospital at Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany; and finally to the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. Beset with persistent infection and necrosis, and faced with years of recovery and rehabilitation, Brashear convinced his doctors to amputate the lower portion of his leg.[4]
Brashear remained at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth from May 1966 until March 1967 recovering and rehabilitating from the amputation. From March 1967 to March 1968, Brashear was assigned to the Harbor Clearance Unit Two, Diving School, preparing for return to full active duty and diving.[6] In April 1968, after a long struggle, he became the first amputee to be certified as a diver. In 1970, he became the first African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver, and served ten more years beyond that, achieving the rank of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate in 1971.[1][7] Brashear was motivated by his beliefs that "It's not a sin to get knocked down; it's a sin to stay down" and "I ain't going to let nobody steal my dream".
[edit] Retirement
BMCM (MDV) Brashear retired from the U.S. Navy on April 1, 1979 as a Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) and Master Diver. He then served as a civilian employee for the government at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia and retired in 1993 with the grade of GS-11.[1]
[edit] Personal life
Brashear married and divorced three times:[2] Junetta Wilcoxson (1952–1978), Hattie R. Elam (1980–1983), and Jeanette A. Brundage (1985–1987). He had four children: Shazanta (1955–1996), DaWayne, Phillip, and Patrick.[1] Brashear's grand-nephew is former New York Rangers left wing Donald Brashear.[8]
Cuba Gooding, Jr. played the role of Brashear in Men of Honor, a movie inspired by the true story of Carl Brashear.
Brashear died of respiratory and heart failure at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia on July 25, 2006.[1] He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia.
[edit] Carl Brashear Foundation
After his death, his sons DaWayne and Phillip Brashear started the Carl Brashear Foundation in his honor.
[edit] Decorations and medals
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[edit] Honors
Brashear was honored with the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in October 2000 for 42 years of combined military and federal civilian service. The award was presented by Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
On October 24, 2007, the Newport News Fire Department dedicated a 33-foot (10 m) high-speed fireboat named Carl Brashear to be used by their Dive and Marine Incident Response Teams.[9]
The Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7) was christened in his honor in San Diego, California on September 18, 2008.[10][11][12] General Dynamics delivered the completed ship to the Navy on March 4, 2009.[13]
On February 21, 2009, Nauticus, a science and maritime museum in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, opened a new exhibit called "Dream to Dive: The Life of Master Diver Carl Brashear".[14] It is the first full-scale museum exhibit dedicated to Brashear.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f "Pioneering Navy diver Carl Brashear dies in Portsmouth". The Virginian-Pilot: p. A1. July 26, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20071102215001rn_1/content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=108110&ran=175615. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
- ^ a b U.S. Navy profile, NHC, 2001.
- ^ "First Black Navy Diver Dies". Military.com. July 26, 2006. http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,106968,00.html.
- ^ a b "Oral History of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl M. Brashear, USN (Ret.)". United States Naval Institute. 17 November 1989. Archived from the original on 2006-04-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20060414181810/http://www.usni.org/oralhistory/B/brashear_excerpt.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
- ^ Reel Faces.
- ^ "Transcript of Service". Naval Historical Center. United States Department of the Navy. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq105-1.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
- ^ Forster, Dave (2006-07-30). "Navy pioneer's life, career led by determination". The Virginian-Pilot: pp. A1, A10. http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=108380&ran=217257. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
- ^ Wise, Mike (May 2, 2009). "For Capitals' Brashear, Fighting's a Way of Life". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/01/AR2009050104147_5.html?sid=ST2009050104383. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
- ^ Newport News Fire Department: Fireboat-1 Carl Brashear
- ^ Wiltrout, Kate (2008-09-19). "Navy Ship Named For Diving Pioneer". The Virginian Pilot: pp. Hampton Roads 1–2.
- ^ "Navy Secretary Names Two New Auxiliary Dry Cargo Ships". Press release. Department of Defense. http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=35405. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ "Navy to christen ship today honoring diver Carl Brashear". Hampton Roads.com. 2008-09-15. http://hamptonroads.com/node/480401. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ General Dynamics NASSCO Delivers USNS Carl Brashear, General Dynamics Press Release, March 4, 2009, retrieved from http://www.generaldynamics.com/ on May 31, 2009
- ^ Nauticus: Changing Exhibit
[edit] References
- Stillwell, Paul. The Reminiscences of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Brashear. Annapolis, MD: United States Institute. 1998.
- "Carl Brashear — Men of Honor". Reel Faces. http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/menofhonor.php. Retrieved 2006-06-22. Facts & fiction — real life versus the movie.
- "Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, USN (Ret.)". Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq105-1.htm. Retrieved 2004-11-25. Brashear's NHC profile.
- "Inspiration for 'Men of Honor' dies, Carl Brashear was first black U.S. Navy diver". CNN. July 25, 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/25/brashear.obit.ap/index.html. Retrieved 2006-07-26.[dead link]
- Michael Felberbaum (July 26, 2006). "Kentuckian Carl Brashear, first black Navy diver, dies". Louisville Courier-Journal. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS0104/607260521/1008/NEWS01. Retrieved 2006-07-26.[dead link]
- Brashear has a Pedigree of Greatness
- Firehouse.com "Unit Bio -- Fireboat-1 Carl Brashear"
- Hampton Roads TV, October 24, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Pringle, Capt. Shuan (February 21, 2001). "Direction, Discipline, Determination: The Story of Carl Brashear". Air Force Space Command, United States Air Force. http://www.afspc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123041850. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- Story of Carl Brashear with rare photos from U.S. National Archives and the US Navy
- Carl Maxie Brashear at Find a Grave
