USS Constitution

There is a show on about the USS Constitution. I kept it on because I used to know the CO of the USS Constitution. That, and the fact that I’ve recently become a big fan of the United States Constitution that was in place when her keel was laid.

I was a junior officer who had announced my intention to resign my commission and he was a mid-grade officer on the way out. We worked together (I did most, err, all of the work) to create doctrine that, to my knowledge, is still in use today. But he was a good guy.

There is a family story that one of my great grandparents was engaged to a descendent of John Paul Jones. I cannot claim the blood because, as the story goes, the descendent drowned and she married someone else. Thus my affection for beer. But I am very proud of my forefather nonetheless.

I had, in my mind, that John Paul Jones was the Captain of the USS Constitution. I was wrong. The Internet bursts bubbles.

This is the Navy’s Website for the still-in-commission USS Constitution. You can tell that the government runs it. It kind of bums me out that Googling ‘John Paul Jones’ gets you to Led Zeppelin.

I saw the Blue Angels today. I took my family there to witness excellence. John Paul will have his day.

13SEP08 p.s. Somebody fixed the USS Constitution web-site. Hooray! (and a sincere thank you to the hard-working person who actually did it).