Hey folks,
Spent a great afternoon yesterday with my youngest son in Norfolk, VA at Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin memorial. The battleship was pretty cool and had most weather decks and a few below decks spaces open to the public. That's not what really impressed me, though. Inside Nauticus they have a battleship exhibit with the usual ship models and artifacts, a few binnacles and engine-order telegraphs....a really nice and well-executed museum. We wandered through the exhibts and stopped to read a few of the information placards until we saw a large ship's wheel that must've been five feet across. My son (18 years old) noticed it first and let out an enthusiastic "Whoa!" We went up to it and found out it was the wheel of the USS West Virginia. The wheel had obviously seen better days as it had numerous scratches and gouges in it. My son is interested in WWII history and frequently asks about what happened in this battle or that battle but when we stepped up to that wheel his understanding of history became an epiphany. He reached out and touched the wheel and ran his hand over it and said, "Wow, I wonder what happened to cause this?" as he pointed to a deep cut that ran several inches.
History is often thought of in terms of events that happened a long time ago to "other" people and, consequently, becomes somewhat impersonal. Yesterday, my son go it. There was a real man standing behind that wheel. Did he get hurt when the wheel was gouged? What happened to him? What did he like to do on his time off? Did he have a girlfriend? Did he make it home?
The light went on.......and it was good !