On the sidelines of remembrance

I have only this past year discovered that my old boat, the USS LAPON (SSN661), has a thriving alumni association. My heart almost broke when I saw the photos they posted on their website of LAPON sitting next to a sister ship in the mothball fleet, waiting to be sent to the scrap-yard. As far as I know, only one of the old Sturgeon Class fast attack submarines remains on active duty, having long been supplanted by the Los Angeles Class (688) and the new (and expensive) state-of-the-art Seawolf and Virginia Class subs. My how times have changed, when the Sturgeon Class sub was the backbone of the cold war effort. The Soviets went broke trying to match the capabilities of that sub, with their fast but noisy-as-hell attack boats and behemoth missile subs. It was the L.A. subs that got the glory in such movies as "Hunt for Red October", but let me tell you, it was the LAPON and her sister ships that really did all the dirty work, and none of credit, at least as far as the general public is concerned.
So imagine my delight when it was announced that the LAPON's sail (that's that thing stuck on the top where the periscopes poke out and the forward dive planes are attached) was saved and will be installed as a monument out in Missouri. Yea, I know, a long way from the briny deep, but a monument is a monument. There will be a dedication ceremony in July, just around time for my (gulp) fifth annual 45th birthday. Unfortunately, times have been lean for me and the wife these past years and we've never been able to afford anything you could call a vacation, much less cough up the time off work and money to drive there from Florida to attend. Oh well, I am certainly there in spirit. It doesn't mean much to my wife, since she never experienced me in a uniform, much less the long waiting for a sub sailor to make it home from sea. So, when I care to talk of the experience, she just nods her head and humors me, while thinking about her garden. It feels kinda lonely sometimes.
So, on that day, I will send along my thoughts to my shipmates, pop open a beer, and hoist a toast to the silent service, and to a grand old lady that gave the soviets nothing but grief and brought me and my buddies home alive, time after harrowing time. Here's to the nuclear fast attack submarine LAPON (SSN661), and to those who served aboard her.....SALUTE!