The phrase 'Eternal Patrol' means nothing to a vast majority of people, but to some of us, who have lived and worked on the sea, or belong to the order of the Dolphin, that phrase carries a great deal of meaning.
There is one group of military personel who cannot be confirmed as KIA, they can only be listed as MIA. Thier bodies can never be recovered, if they can even be found, and that phrase deals with these men.
These are the men who served on ships with names like Wahoo, Growler, Shark, Perch, Pickerel, Pampano, Sculpin, Sealion, Swordfish, Triton, Trout, Grampus, Grayback, Grayling, Grenadier, Gudgeon, and a dozen or so others.
These boats lie with their crews on the bottem of the Pacific, lost during a war sixty years ago. Thier last minutes were spent disperately trying to reach the surface, knowing it was impossible.
Well, one of these boats was found last year, and although we now know were the USS Wahoo lies, she and her crew, like the others, remain forever on patrol.
These were joined after the war by the Thresher and Seawolf.
We, who have lived and worked on the sea remember all those who have died at sea, and those men who wear the dolphins remember them, every day.
We look out on the ocean, that cruel mistress and remember, those who died in peace and war, and who the sea claimed as her own. We remember, because many people do not.
We remember because we know the sea has claimed men from the day that man decided he could sail across her, beyond the horizon, to distant lands.
These men did not die at the hands of the sea, however, they died at the hands of a hostile enemy, for them, the sea took them into her arms to hold them safe, until the day that the She will give up her dead.
I dont know why I have such a feeling for these men, perhaps it is becuase I have made a living on the ocean, perhaps in a past life I was one of them. I do not know, but I will openly admit that last October, when it was confirmed the USS Wahoo had been found, I wept, for while they remain on patrol, today we know where they are, and we can put a memorial next to her hull.
