A Sailor's Last Wish

A story I read touched me at the deepest core of my being. I try not to get emotional but this story is one whose reading pushes those buttons.

It is about a man named Gerald Bowman and his dying wish.

An excerpt:

Bowman had no idea his old destroyer was still around. Father and daughter were on the couch one night watching a documentary and there was the Laffey at Patriots Point.

“That’s my ship,” he said. And he began to cry. “I’d love to walk her one more time.”

My old ship, the USS Brinkley Bass DD887, was  decommissioned and sold to Brazil in 1973 then sunk in January of 2000 as a target ship so I will never get the chance Mr. Bowman had to walk her deck one more time.