Carl Brashear Essay -- Essays Papers

Carl Brashear If it is difficulty that shows what men are, there should be no doubt about what kind of military personnel Carl Brashear is. The Navys first African-American captain Diver, Brashear faced difficulties that would have defeated most people. His spirit and determination resulted not only in his overcoming great odds to perish a U.S. Navy diver, but to a fault in his surviving the loss of a leg in an contingency on the USS Hoist in 1966 - and to a greater extent amazingly - in his attaining the rank of Master Diver. In the fall, Twentieth Century Fox will release The Diver, the story of Brashears struggle. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Brashear. The film also stars Robert DeNiro as Billy Sunday, a senior officer and Master Diver who is at first an other(a) obstacle, but who ultimately helps Brashear overcome his crippling injury, as well as racism, bureaucracy. Brashear joined the Navy in 1948 at the age of 17. The film follows his acceptance into dive school, his training in the Mark V gear, and the accident that could have ended his career. Brashears struggle to convince the Naval Bureau of Medicine and Surgery to allow him to continue diving is an integral part of the story. Carl Brashear was born in rural Kentucky in 1931. His family moved to Sonora, Ky., when he was only two weeks old. He grew up swimming in creeks and rivers near his home, but there was nothing to intimate that his life would take the twists and turns that eventually resulted in his spending almost 32 years in the U.S. Navy. Becoming not only the Navys first African-American Master Diver, but also its first amputee diver. Brashear joined the Navy as a steward. He was sent to a Beach masters unit in Florida, and there he first saw divers in Mark V gear. He was hooked. In 1949 he qualified using the Jack physiognomy rig, then progressed to the Mark V in 1953. Gaining official diver status was in itself quite an achievement at the time. Brashear attained th e rank of Chief petty(a) Officer E7 and worked successfully, but relatively uneventfully, until March 26, 1966, when the determination that he had originally called upon to help him become a Navy diver would seem almost light-headed in comparison to the tenacity that he would need in order to stay a Navy diver. On January 17, 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52G pigboat carrying a hydrogen bomb collided with a KC-135 refueling tanker off the coas... ...nstrated his ability to climb ladders and to dive. On the surface, he had to walk at least 12 steps, wearing the 290-pound helium/oxygen rig. He was also required to dive in scuba gear and engage in physical training with other dive school students. That physical training included calisthenics and running. When Brashear ran, scar tissue would break loose and blood would leak into his artificial leg. To prevent infection, he would remove the prosthesis and soak his leg in warm water laced with hydrogen peroxide or Betadine. He neve r told his doctors about the business because, I hadnt made Master Diver yet. That goal kept him going. In March of 1967, doctors finally Okayed his transfer to Second Class Diving School in Norfolk, VA. In April 1968, he was restored to full active duty and full diving status, the Navys first amputee diver. BibliographyMLA CitationsCarl Brashears Story,http//www.discovery.com/stories/history/reelhistory/menofhonor.htmlMaster Chief Carl Brashearhttp//web.usna.navy.mil/finlayso/symposium/newpage10211112.htmlMaster Chief boatswains Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, USNhttp//history.navy.mil/faqs/faq105-1.htm