Re: Ed Brown

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Dear Navy Mom,

First of all, you are a great writer! Secondly, I know how
proud you must be of your Navy son, for I have one myself.
My son graduated from Annapolis in Mechanical Engineering,
and he is a great guy! Before long he will be the "Fire
Chief" on the Aircraft Carrier the U.S.S. TEDDY ROOSEVELT.
At age twenty-four, as a Lt. Jr. Grade, he was the Navigator
of a guided missile destroyer. Following that he was the
Chief Engineer of another large destroyer; and followignthat
he was the Executive Officer of a Minesweeper plying the
waters of the Pesian Gulf. I got to take a trip on a ship
with him one time for a "father-son" cruise, and I was
extremely proud; not only of him, but of every man on that
ship. I did not hear a one gripe nor complaint, like I used
to hear when I was in the Army National Guard. Again, you
are one of the best writers that I have ever seen on an
internet web-site. Keep up the good work! Congratulations on
having rearing such a fine son and credit to our nation. I
am an old Army man myself and was always kind of anti-Navy;
but when my son got appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy,
that all changed. Now I am all "Go Navy!" Again, keep up
the good work!

Sincerely,

Lt. Hardy Parkerson, Atty.
Lake Charles, LA

P.S.: My son outranks me, for he is now a Lt. Commander,
the same as a Major in the Army.

On 4/04/06, Navy Mom wrote:
> I've known Ed Brown since I was a little girl and have
> always had nothing but the utmost respect for the man. I
> find SF's post concerning Ed far more accurate. As for a
> dislike of the military, I have failed to ever notice that
> as well. My son is in the Navy and as long as I've known
> Ed, he's never been anything but respectful of the
> military. I grew up in Jacksonville, but now live
> approximately 60 miles away. But my family is still in
> Jacksonville, so visit there quite often. Also, until a
> few months ago I was working in Jacksonville. You may see
> my next words as a disrepect for the military, but that
> isn't my intentions. My intention is to give a possible
> reason as to why you may perceive him as anti-military.
> Most of the Marines (and sailors) stationed at Camp Lejune
> are young and for many of them it is their first time away
> from home. They have freedoms they may not have had at
> home. I've seen that myself with my son during his short
> military career already. And I am not blind to the fact
> that young people sometimes like to kick it up and party a
> little bit. I was never allowed to go into the downtown
> districts of Jacksonville when I lived home because of the
> fact so many young Marines were hanging out in that area
> and on most nights there was always some kind of trouble
> even if it was only a fight. I do remember once having a
> young man I was out with one evening drive me through
> there because I had heard about some of the things that
> went on, on the then famous "Court Street". The area was
> crawling with prostitutes and Marines all over an area of
> nothing but strip clubs. Of course back then, the legal
> drinking age was 18. It was like entering an entirely
> different world. Even though my date at the time was with
> me, prostitutes would walk right up to the car (the doors
> were definitely locked) and ask him if he wanted to have a
> party. Take a look around you while driving through
> Jacksonville. Almost all of Jacksonville is military.
> The place is literally crawling with them. There are very
> few that are actually natives. So, it stands to reason
> that since the majority of the population is military,
> then they will be singled out from time to time. As for
> accusing the officer's wife of being a prostitute,
> stranger things have happened. As I said, I worked in
> Jacksonville until recently. I was employed at
> Convergys. One thing that completely amazed me while I
> was working there was the amount of young women that quit
> their jobs soon after their husbands' deployments to go
> to "better" jobs they'd found as strippers.