The memory clicked into place.
“Jimmy,” I said.
The admiral’s eyes filled with tears.
Part Eleven: What the Admiral Said
He didn’t say anything for a long time.
He just stood there in front of our table. A four-star admiral. Seventy years old. With tears running
down his face in front of two hundred people.
Then he did something I’ll never forget.
He came to attention.
Heels together. Back straight. Chin up.
And he saluted me.
I’ve been saluted before. Many times. In twenty-eight years in the Navy.
But I’m an enlisted man. A Chief Petty Officer. Officers don’t salute chiefs. Not usually. Chiefs salute officers.
A four-star admiral saluting a retired chief is something you don’t see. Something that doesn’t happen.
I returned the salute.
My arm shook. I couldn’t help it.
We held it. The two of us. For a long moment.
