Movies, Sports and Stuff: USS Bunker Hill 25-Year Anniversary

On Sept. 20, 1986, the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) was commissioned in Boston, MA. We were men, young and old, from different ethnicities and upbringings, brought together to bring the Navy’s newest ship to life.
Just shy of 25 years later, current and former crewmembers came together in San Diego, CA, Aug. 18-20 to celebrate the silver anniversary of the Aegis-class cruiser. While it was great to see some old friends at the anniversary party Friday night (Aug. 20), the headcount of plankowners and former crew members was extremely light. I guess with the way the economy is and with people spread out across the country, a low turnout could have been expected, but it was a little disappointing nonetheless.

The operations department had some representation. Jim Vanderpoel and I were the only plankowner Operation Specialists there, but Masterchief Rick Henson, who joined the ship after commissioning, was in attendance. George "Marty" Martinez was undergoing dialysis that night, but we caught up with him on a tour of the ship the following day. Howard Satalino and Ed Sou represented the cryptologists and our final operations officer, Rear Admiral Samuel Perez, took time away from his duties as commander, Carrier Strike Group One to attend.

In 1986, I never would have thought I'd be looking forward to the weekend with such pride. I didn’t appreciate the time I spent onboard or in the service enough at the time. I wish I had. It’s amazing to think of the amount of responsibility that is placed in the hands of relatively young men. I think I can safely say I haven’t had that level of responsibility since.
My lifelong friend Paul Eckert was the Food Supply Officer onboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1) right about the time I was getting out and I loved hearing his stories about ship life told from the officer point of view. He said he experienced the same kind of pride while showing off his ship to his wife and sons a few years back.
These types of parties are fairly relaxed with plenty of brass in attendance, as it was for Friday night’s anniversary affair. It made me recall our commissioning party in Boston, having guys from the WWII Bunker Hill (CV-17) sitting at our table telling stories about their ship and surviving kamikaze attacks. I think it was one of our guys, OS2 Kevin Church, who may or may not have indulged in a few cocktails, walking up to one of the many admirals in attendance asking, “And who are you sir.” The admiral-whose name escapes me-wasn’t fazed by this and cooly replied, “I’m WESTPAC, son. I’m your boss.”
The biggest difference for the old crew-at least it was for me-was that this time the brass were officers we served with; many of them who had been young men themselves. It was nice to be able to talk to some of them not as boss and subordinate, but rather as men who had been through the same experiences and were happy to see each other 20-plus years
later. Our first captain, Vice Admiral (Ret.) Phillip Quast was the guest speaker while former weapons officer Rear Admiral (Select) Thomas Rowden made his introduction.
Saturday morning, Melanie and I took a tour of the ship with all the other Operation Specialists as well as with a shipmate from disbursing and a gunner’s mate. We had a tour guide, but between all of us on the tour, we probably didn’t need one. Well, we remembered all the old things, it was good
to have a guide take us through things that had changed over the years.