"Battle Honors"
Author: CdnJAGScribe
E-mail:
Rating: M
Classification:
Spoilers:
Summary: [Animal/Meg Timeline]
Exactly 45 years after the cessation of WWIII; the life of Admiral of the Navies and the Supreme Allied Commander Toshio Nakamura is commemorated by the commissioning of the US Navy's latest and largest aircraft 141,000 short tons, the USS Toshio M. Nakamura, honoring the accomplishments of his naval service
DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC charactersare the property of the author. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.
Author's Note: none
The Loss
2238hrs, Critical Care Unit, Naval Hospital San Diego, San Diego, CA April 26, 2056
Vice-Admiral Katie Nakamura-Roberts knew that her father had been ailing and it was only a matter of time. The doctors had told her that his heart was failing and that they needed to be aware of the fact that no heroic measures were to be taken.
But the ordeal of turning the life supports off and watching through tear-soaked eyes as her beloved father took his very last breaths was more than Katie could bear and as the heart monitor alarm started to wail a steady tone denoting that her father's heart had stopped she turned from her father's right hand that she'd been holding and staggered towards her husband, tears spilling from her eyes.
"He's gone...oh...AJ." Katie broke down in her husband's arms. AJ Roberts could only hold his wife tightly in his arms as she sobbed.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
While Admiral AJ Roberts comforted his wife, his friend Admiral James Toshio Nakamura comforted his mother Admiral Meg Austin-Nakamura (ret.) and his own wife Vice-Admiral Patricia Rabb-Nakamura. Her sister Admiral Maddie Rabb-Keller along with her husband Admiral Chuck Keller stood solemnly by in a moment of respectful silence.
There were so many stars in that room any medical staffer of lesser rank thought they were seeing constellations.
Also the grandchildren who had gathered took their own moments to say their emotional goodbyes, their own hearts breaking, the youngest of them, Dana, only 17, curling into the crook of her grandpa's lifeless arm and sobbing.
The oldest of them was Mark Nakamura who was a Navy Lieutenant, an naval aviator like his father and grandfather.
The other: Lieutenant JG Mackenzie Roberts stood by his friend, brother-in-law and fellow aviator wishing that they could talk to their grandfather one more time.
4th classman Midshipman Tracy Eliza Nakamura stood by her sobbing sister hand on her shoulder barely holding back tears of her own. The Commandant of the Naval Academy had graciously given Tracey family leave which would be commuted to bereavement leave as soon as she could make a phone call. She would manage to meet her obligation for graduation and commissioning just as her grandfather would have wanted.
Captain Harmon Rabb Jr., himself at 93 was not doing so well but he insisted to see his last remaining friends. He wasn't about to leave Meg to herself as her husband left the earth. Meg, herself, was 87. Harm, his old eyes misting, feebly held his hand in a salute to his old shipmate's body. "Fair Winds and Following Seas, my friend, my brother, save me a seat at the table of glory when I get there." He would miss him but at least Harm had the friendship of his son-in-law Jim, who was Animal's son; married to his adoptive daughter, Patricia, so by law, if not by blood, were they family.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 (ret.) Jennifer Coates-Rabb at 84 was only three years younger than Meg and they'd had a wonderful friendship after Meg left the Navy casting aside all differences in rank between the Chief Warrant Officer Two and the Admiral.
Harm and Jennifer had gotten together about five years after retirement and were married three years after that.
There had been no communication from. Colonel Mackenzie (ret.) with regards to Maddie and one could only suppose that she was keeping silent as she didn't want to talk to Harm after their last encounter or she had passed away. With the fact that, if alive, she would have reached the age of 91, one could suppose it was the latter, but no-one had called to verify.
Also teary eyed were VADMs (ret.) Roberts: both Bud and Harriet S. Roberts. Their son Admiral Albert Jethro (AJ) Roberts was the husband of VADM Katie Nakamura. So they too were family. Little did they know at the very start of their careers at JAG that their families would be brought together by friendship and now love joined as one family and now bound together by loss.
Also present was VADM Mikey Roberts, who kept a solemn face as he contemplated the scene. Of all of them he hadn't known the Admiral of the Navies well until they were introduced at AJ's and Katie's commissioning ceremonies. But he also felt the loss keenly as every one in the room was family in one way or another as Katie Nakamura was now a Roberts. The former Commandant of the Marine Corps General Camie Cresswell-Roberts (ret.) said a quick prayer commending the Admiral's of the Navies soul to eternal rest as a tear trickled from the corner of her eyes seeing her niece-in-law in tears embracing her nephew as if to not let go.
It was incredibly hard for Katie to reconcile having to let her father go. For the entirety of her life, Katie's father had been her bulwark the loving dad who held her when she was a baby, the father who helped her with her homework, the man who drove her to hockey practices until the war happened.
When she had gone into the Navy herself, he'd always been there via video conferencing even though he had a war to fight; to counsel her on career choices. She chose aviation and became a naval aviator herself flying the F-35B off the decks of the USS Theodore Roosevelt seeing her father's name or pictures in the wardrooms as he was one of the most recognized of her air wing's members.
Like father; like daughter, she'd gone into the VFA-41 Black Aces, moving up the experience level from nugget to wingman to element leader to flight leader and finally department head, XO and Commanding Officer at the squadron level; garnering a reputation as a hot stick just like her father, the higher-ups said: She's got the same talent as her father, and the looks of her mother.
She did take after her mother, long brunette tresses rather than blonde. But of course now white hairs dotted those brunette tresses while the hints of crow's feet from squinting while in the air on combat air patrol, were deepening.
Her mother had started dying her hair auburn; her natural color rather than blonde but now it was a uniform gray. Meg Austin-Nakamura was in her eighties, still striking in an elderly grandmother sort of way. Her blue eyes were still keen and her mind the same way. She was a little frailer than the last time Katie had seen her mother; due in part to staying resolutely by her husband's side neglecting her own self-care, watching for any signs of hope, and having her hopes brutally crushed when told that there was none. She had just lost the very love of her life and Katie's heart ached for her mother.
Katie knew that for all she'd loved her daddy, her mother had loved Katie's daddy more with her entire heart and soul though the both of them had plenty of love to spare for their two children. The four of them had always been that tightly knit of a family; loving and caring for one another but that wasn't meant to be the sole relationship. The children were meant to find their own true forever loves but for Meg Austin-Nakamura, that love would forever be her now late husband and heartbreak would be her now constant companion in her new unwanted status of widow of the deceased.
Her father had seen the outbreak of a World War Three that had threatened to go nuclear but ended without the exchange of such weapons as the enemies found a mutual threat in terrorism that the countries all had to band together to fight the extremists who had gone from wielding a rag-tag militia type terrorist group to subverting nations to their will by using the political system.
In 2018 her father was promoted from Admiral to Fleet Admiral, the first in many decades to don the rank since Chester Nimitz. But the US took the forefront in the War and her father had to become the Supreme Allied Commander a title not used for nearly thirty years since the First Gulf War. And the first five-star to hold that title since Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Second World War over 75 years ago.
In 2020 the Fleet Admiral was promoted for the first time ever to the highest rank ever attained by a United States military officer, the Admiral of the Navies. Since each fleet was a Naval force in itself the title fit. The ADMoN was a rank no other Navy officer had held and was only thought up of after the rival Army had come up with an O-12 rank of their own General of the Armies but had never actually put an officer in that rank. The Navy had finally done so to cement their place at the top of the Allied command structure insofar as the Third World War went. The $4500/mo paycheck continued in perpetuity also helped for as long as the surviving spouse lived.
After the war, the Admiral of the Navies retired, retaining his rank as the first ever 0-12 to ever serve his full term at that rank and the only other like Eisenhower to ever be a Supreme Allied Commander and the first Supreme Allied Commander to have received the nation's highest Medal for valor (though his medal was for actions long before he'd attained that lofty rank).
He said he'd done his duty and completed his stretch as a serving officer in the United States Navy and that he was truly ready to hang up his uniform. He was commanding the front when Katie had graduated from the Naval Academy and was rapidly sent to pilot training but he was able to send her a video conference message of congratulation. Meg gave her a big hug after she got her first salute from her drill instructor.
Upon his wife's retirement an year later the former Admiral of the Navies spent a lot of time exploring the land around his large estate. And he and his wife decided to go on a long excursion visiting all the States and touring Canada by recreational vehicle.
It was a good twenty two years before his health took a turn for the worse and he ended up suffering the first of three strokes in 2046. A mild one which managed to be treated and he regained about ninety percent of his activity level. The next one, a larger one, happened seven years later and confined him to a wheelchair. The third, a massive stroke, happened three weeks ago and confined him to hospital on a ventilator. They said that there was brain activity but it had been slowly receding till there was only reactive squiggles that doubted if even a conscious motor signal was being sent from the extremity to the neuro-synaptic nerve on the brainwave monitor when Meg or his children or grandchildren held his hand. The palliative care nurse stated that it was time; that there was really no hope for recovery. And that was when both Katie and her mother made the heartbreaking decision to let Daddy go.
Hand in hand, tears in eyes, they all said their last goodbyes to a loving husband, a father, a grandfather and as Bud, Harriet, Harm and Jen said their own tearful goodbyes to a friend, brother-in-arms, mutual fathers-in-law of their daughters and/or son and fellow shipmate and bade him fair winds and following seas.
It was time to let him go into glory.
The Funeral
1100hrs; Two Weeks Later, Arlington National Cemetery; Arlington VA.
The Body Bearer detail lifted the flag draped casket from the hearse. And the command was given for the detail to lift the casket onto their shoulders. In one smooth motion the casket swung upwards and the six Marines bore the weight of the Admiral's of the Navies casket standing steady, rock-solid and tall.
Amidst the playing of the "Navy Hymn"; "Forward Slow March!" The harsh command of the Marine Gunnery Sergeant in charge of the Body Bearers echoed in the knoll. The rifle squad were ready with their rifles to offer up three volleys of seven after the funeral. The eyes of the family and former squadron-mates all retired now were fixed on the approaching casket. All the civilians wore black. The widow though a retired Admiral was in black dress. Every other military personnel were in dress blues white gloves. The current CAG of the CVW-8, Animal's long time carrier air wing gave a memorial address going through the long list of the admiral's accomplishments while in the service of his nation and in the service of the United States Navy.
The chaplain made a long consecration sermon where he commended the deceased's soul to heaven and asked the Lord Savior to intercede on his behalf and allow him to join the halls of heroes standing guard in heaven, so that he could rest "evermore in peace... amen...". It was with great relief after thirty minutes that the burial party could say in response...
"AMEN!"
Many came up and said their final farewells. Harm said his piece from his wheelchair, voice halting and frail, a blanket draped over his dress blues to keep him warm against the breeze. It was all that Katie could do to not weep as she saw her father's old frail friend raise his hand shakily to salute the casket of her father.
Harm would not last an year after his friend and mentor passed away. He found his own place at the tablenine months after the passing of his friend.
As the service died down a roar was heard in the distance. A flight of four F/A-72C Corsair III stealth supersonic fighters newly operational in the USN bearing the markings of the VFA-41 Black Aces flew past the burial ceremony, one pulled up right over the casket, the naval aviator at the controls, yanking the stick back pulling the Corsair III into a vertical climb accelerating with super-cruise up until their eyes lost it in the blue - carrying symbolically the soul of the departed, one of their own, a former Black Ace, aloft to heaven to pass off to the celestial angels.
The Missing Man, the Ultimate tribute to those aviators gone beforenever failed to evoke emotion in those who witnessed the aviator's tradition and today was no exception; those who were in civilian clothes choked back sobs, while those in uniform tried hard to not show emotion standing stoically at attention, right arms raised to cap brims in salute through misty eyes; mouths pursed tightly begging their composure to hold.
Animal's Medal of Honor was not buried with him, it was laid on top of the casket during the ceremony and then would be given back to the family.
When the shots from the honor guard rang out everyone nearly jumped. Twice more the shots rang out over the knoll. Then the trumpet player played Taps. Then the Medal of Honor was removed from the top of the casket, then the six body bearers removed the flag and started the slow ceremonious folds of honor that turned the flag into a tightly folded triangle. When that was done, the flag was presented to the widow. Resting on top of the flag were a set of Naval Aviator Wings, the Black Aces patch and Animal's Medal of Honor. The CAG himself a former Black Ace, said "Ma'am, Admiral? Please accept this flag from a grateful nation."
Thank you, Captain". Meg Austin-Nakamura said through her mourning veil. A tear slipped down her cheek.
Meg stayed through the entire process of her husband's casket being covered by the earth. The vision of the casket blurred by silent tears. The image of the silent stooped-in-grief figure in black of her mother; the Medal of Honor of her late husband held lovingly in her hands, protectively holding the triangled flag and the Black Aces patch and wings tightly against her body, silently watching the grave diggers cover the casket of her husband, her shaking shoulders barely perceptible, nearly broke Katie's heart.
After almost 60 years of marriage Meg was again alone. But she didn't want to find love again. She was content with the fact that the love of her life would be waiting for her on the other side. She would spend the rest of her days with her family enjoying whatever time was allotted to her and she would miss her beloved Tosh for as long as she lived.
Meg whispered to her love; tears welling up in her eyes.. "I love you, my dearest Tosh, I will love you for the rest of my life."
The Spousal Reunion
(2058)
Officially under doctor's records it was listed as a massive myocardial infarction that killed Admiral Megan Renee Austin-Nakamura, United States Navy (ret.). But for her family and those who knew her well between them it was said that Meg Nakamura passed away of a broken heart two years after the death of her beloved husband.
She did not get to hear of the Navy's decision regarding commemorating her husband's life of service in a more enduring form. With as much naval tradition and ceremony; more tears and more love from her surviving family, she was buried beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Naming
1200 hrs; 2061, Newport News Naval Shipyard. Newport, VA
Admiral Katherine Jessica Nakamura-Roberts walked through the doors of the well known shipbuilding firm of Newport News. They had notified her of the blueprints needing to be approved for the newest class of aircraft carrier. The Nimitz class carriers were getting long in the tooth and were going to be replaced by the new class reputed to be the largest aircraft carriers the world had ever seen.
The head of construction at
Newport News had wanted to talk to her to get her input.
They had learned a lot about the CVNX concepts with the six Ford class aircraft carriers and were ready to tackle the task of building the newest class of super-carriers with the latest in technology.
One of the glaring vulnerabilities in carriers were the fact that they were a huge target for land based cruise missiles without being able to lob a few back themselves without the aid of a CGN or DDG escort.
Now they had several launchers in between the smaller island and the separate tower a bank of eight cruise missile tubes which could be outfitted with either TLAM conventional or TLAM-N 350KT nuclear warheads.
Then they had designed the superstructure to be low reflective against radar. Meanwhile the flight-deck was even wider and at least twenty feet longer allowing a wider runway for the approaching aircraft. and the trial with three wires was a bust that got nixed on the second of the Fords and by the third the fourth wire was back. On the CVNX2 the four arresting wires would be there from the start.
The CVNX2 had even more finely tuned electro-magnetic catapults designed to launch aircraft at variable speeds as per their weight and payload. This allowed the nuclear powered turbines to be devoted to propulsion while generators supplied power to the catapults meaning only a fraction of the power supply was needed to carry out carrier ops as opposed to the Nimitz class which siphoned power away at an alarming rate during carrier operations.
In respects to weaponry onboard the CVNX2 there were anti-aircraft missiles: RIM7F Improved Sea Sparrows that were active seekers homing in on incoming aircraft. On top of that torpedo tubes were added to a section of the superstructure and anti-submarine torpedos were added including Subrocs. A bank of anti ship missiles was also added forward. in a turret to the side a railgun meant for destroying surface targets trying to make an attack on the carrier as well as the Improved Phalanx Mk17 CIWS to knock down incoming aircraft as well as anti-ship missiles. Four 20mm cannons finished off the complement of defence weaponry.
An extra White Westinghouse reactor provided propulsion in addition to the usual two in the Gerald Ford class carriers. Sonar was added, radar was the usual setup including any advancements, electronics were updated and the performance of the ship became a speedy 35 knots plus though it was classified as to how much speed the aircraft carrier could actually put out. The CVNX2 was what one would consider to be the epitome of a supercarrier; a weapon of war designed to carry a whole lot of aircraft and ordnance to use against the enemy. A fitting carrier for a new generation of naval aviators.
"You wanted to see me?" Admiral Nakamura-Roberts asked the foreman of the shipbuilding team for the CVNX2 as she poked her head in the office.
"Yes, ma'am, please sit down. I just received a call today from the Secretary of the Navy and he was mentioning about the name of the new carrier. We lay the keel down today over the next six and a half weeks so that we can get the welding started. And of course as shipbuilders, tradition dictates that the ship is named before the keel is laid down for good luck. It was up to President Kelly..."
Katie was familiar with Ryan Kelly's tough, frank demeanor and how he expected things to run during his administration thus she was not surprised in the least,
"...and he was adamant on one thing that the next carrier class being a navy vessel needs to be a name the Navy men are familiar with and respect. Besides they are running out of Presidents who had a connection with the Navy. And no-one is going to name the carrier with that billionaire president."
"Dare I ask what the name planned is?" Katie asked narrowing her eyes.
The foreman smiled, "We wanted you to hear about the naming before anyone else heard about it. The President wants it to be the Nakamura class carrier with CVNX2 lead ship being the USS Toshio M. Nakamura with the designation of CVN-87."
Katie was speechless. Her father deserved to be memorialized but to have a whole new class of aircraft carrier, in fact the largest carriers that the United States would ever produce, named after him carrying his name in perpetuity at least while the class persists.
"The next one after that is to replace the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) . So the new USS Nimitz will bear a number exactly 20 numbers after its old one as CVN-88."
"It's too bad my father's friend cannot be memorialized either. He was a Naval Aviator." Katie said, "...but I can understand the Navy's reasoning for only those high-ranking Navy officers of note and Presidents having aircraft carriers named after them. I thought for sure that it was going to be another President. My father's friend was only a Captain. Maybe just so he'll be remembered, we could name the newest James Pointer class destroyer after him, after all, he did win a Silver Star and two DFCs. It has a nice ring to it: DDG 89 USS Harmon D. Rabb Jr. maybe assign it to the same battlegroup as my dad; the aircraft carrier." She chuckled.
"Your mother did some significant work in weapons, her improvements to the defensive capabilities of the Navy's ships deserve recognition. maybe she should have a destroyer named after her." The foreman stated. "If the Navy approves it, Ingalls would be honored to build the USS Meg R Austin-Nakamura.
"She'ddefinitely have to be in the same battlegroup as dad. They were always together." Katie missed her mother deeply as well but smiled as she thought of something amusing, "My mom was always taller than my dad. Now that my dad's namesake is an aircraft carrier and my mother's namesake would be a destroyer, well you can see the irony of the size difference." She grinned.
It had to be said that the laughter was cathartic.
The Dedication
1200hrs; 2069; Norfolk Naval Station, Norfolk, VA
The two James Pointer class guided missile destroyers DDG 89 USS Harmon D Rabb Jr and the DDG 90 USS Meg R Austin-Nakamura, their crews manning the rails, floated in the harbor anchored while the huge 141,000 ton aircraft carrier was moored at the dock. The new crew of CVN 87 USS Toshio M Nakamura stood on the dock; all 6,254 men and women; officers and enlisted.
The group of retired admirals, all children of Admiral of the Navies Toshio M Nakamura, holding a shadow box of medals and a picture took their seats on the review stand.
The Admiral of the Navies' grandkids were also there. The oldest Mark Nakamura was in his dress whites, a commander and CO of the VFA-41 Black Aces just like his grand-dad and aunt before him, married with four children
Commander Mackenzie Roberts also like his mom went into naval aviation. He was the XO of VFA-1 Wolfpack. married with two children
Lieutenant Commander Tracy Eliza Nakamura was a department head with VFA-154 Black Knights.
Lieutenant Dana Kelly Nakamura was a flight leader flying with the reconstituted squadron VFA-191 Satan's Kittens
All four grandchildren were the only active duty members of the US Navy at this moment within the Nakamura family although there would be a new crop of youngsters as the great-grandchildren came of age.
Today was a day of tears and speeches for the family. A remembrance of their father and a joyful part of knowing that the memory of their father would live forever in this enormous aircraft carrier, able to carry 146 aircraft, the largest of its kind that bore his name. In fact Newport News had had to build a completely new dry-dock just to build the new aircraft carrier; It had completed its construction and had been set in the water waiting for the operational crew that would take it on its first ever cruise; its shakedown cruise.
The current CNO of the United States Navy; in diapers when the namesake of the aircraft carrier which they were commissioning today as an US Navy line vessel was a two star flag officer, stood at the podium speaking regarding the late Admiral of the Navies and his was the final speech of that day, "...in 2018, Fleet Admiral Toshio M. Nakamura, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that every single United States Navy member was fated to go to war as it seems that humanity had not learned to peaceably coexist. And as long as war is deemed possible in the human convention, that the US Navy will be at the forefront using its advanced technology, thirst for innovation, superior training and overwhelming firepower to defend the ideals of freedom.We have three shining examples of such dedicated personnel, the namesakes of the admiral's best friends moored in the harbor, his squadron-mate a Captain and a former naval aviator and the Admiral's of the Navies wife, herself an admiral. And the namesake of the Admiral of the Navies himself. And not only had he, himself, provided a superlative example by the leadership and dedication that he provided during his service as a United States Navy sailor and airman; a dedicated officer of the highest calibre, he has provided more such examples in a naval family whose descendants continue to serve our great nation honorably with unwavering devotion to this day. His daughter and son, and their spouses (now retired), who are here today to witness the commissioning of their father's namesake carrier; all are of flag rank with the brilliant legacies of illustrious careers of their own. The Admiral of the Navies demonstrated an awe-inspiring example of valor, the recipient of our nation's highest decoration for valor, the Congressional Medal of Honor as well as the Navy Cross and others. His decorations will go into the ship's awards display case commemorating his decades of naval service offering a beacon of inspiration to all those who serve aboard this aircraft carrier which bears his name. The motto of the United States Navy's newest aircraft carrier of the line, our largest ever in size and total tonnage of displacement, a new class of aircraft carrier of its own, CVN 87 USS Toshio M. Nakamura is: Go Forth in Honor. And may this aircraft carrier sail in calm seas but its crew will know that when it comes to war this ship will have its fighting spirit in the example of its namesake. CREW OF THE CVN-87 USS TOSHIO M NAKAMURA. MAN SHIP!"
"ATTENTION!" The plank-owner captain, Captain James Elliot Willis, the grandson of RADM James David Willis, the RIO who flew with the namesake, smiled as he roared out the command. "CREW; MAN SHIP!" and with that command and the response from that hail, "MAN SHIP, AYE!" all 6,254 of her crew jogged aboard the aircraft carrier with the ceremony and tradition that went with making an Navy ship operational. "Man the flight deck!" Every single officer formed a line along the edge of the flight deck, a sea of white.
Of course the Navy Band had to play "Anchor's Aweigh" and the cheers from the families of the plank-owner crew were resounding on the pier. As one the family of the late Admiral of the Navies stood and saluted the flag as the "Star Spangled Banner" played.
CVW-8, in honor of the late Admiral of the Navies was slated to be the first air wing to ever deploy on the USS Toshio M Nakamura. And the CO of VFA-41, fittingly the grandson of the Admiral of the Navies, Commander Mark Nakamura, smiled as he knew that in a week he would be landing his Black Aces F/A-72C on board the ship that carried his grandfather's name for the very first time. And his squadron would do their level best to set just as high standards as his grandfather had set so long ago in his F-14.
Admiral Katherine Nakamura-Roberts (ret.) looked over at the newly operational super-carrier undergoing its final preparations to cast off and begin its shakedown cruise then a six month long cruise to the Med, and her gaze then went from it to the two guided missile destroyers, her uncle's and mother's namesakes both fittingly in the new carrier's battlegroup, floating in the harbor standing watch over the aircraft carrier as they both did in watching over her father in life. As she did so, a feeling of peace came over her; her first since the deaths of her father, her mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, Uncle Harm and Aunt Jen seemingly all in quick succession over the course of thirteen years (Uncle Harm right after the death of her father, then her mother, her father-in-law Bud, then her mother-in-law Harriet, and finally Aunt Jen) and she whispered softly, more to herself than to anyone else in the crowd next to her.
"I love you, Dad, Mom, Mama and Pop Roberts, Uncle Harm and Auntie Jen. Rest in Peace and I'll see you again when its time. Fair Winds and Following Seas."
And she looked over again at the looming aircraft carrier and its two guided missile destroyer escorts that were now pulling up anchor and getting set to move down the Channel and out to open sea as her husband Admiral AJ Roberts (ret.) took her hand and they walked down the steps together.
The End.
Postscript: The USS Toshio M
Nakamura would go on to have its own illustrious career spanning 55 years conducting strikes in the third Gulf War out of which the VFA-41 Black Aces deployed ten times on board the carrier. And was a potent force for the peacekeeping missions abroad. It spent most of its life in the Atlantic Fleet with the exception of ten years where the carrier was assigned to the US 7th Fleet. She was a main attraction of the US 7th Fleet and a photogenic subject of Japanese photographers who loved to photograph the American aircraft carrier with a Japanese name.
Both the ever present DDGs went with her. And their crews understood the tradition behind it and new crew-members quickly learned the reason why they escorted the carrier if the name of the DDG 90 wasn't apparent enough. The Navy would not allow a Task Force to be formed without all three being present if any one of the three was tasked to be a part of a mission.
The crew lovingly called the boat the "Animal Farm" taking their namesake's callsign and considering the usual madhouse of insane hijinks onboard that resulted during liberty stops it was quite fitting.
Mark Nakamura eventually became the battlegroup commander and again his grandfather's carrier namesake became his flagship.
As the first of its type, when retired in FY2125 the USS Toshio M Nakamura was moored at Norfolk to become a floating museum and is used in that capacity there to this day. The USS Meg R Austin-Nakamura is moored right beside it. Just like she was in life.
As for the USS Harmon Rabb Jr; she was parked by the pier just opposite the Vice-Admiral Bud J. Roberts Building, containing the Norfolk Region Judge Advocate General offices; which was also right beside the Vice Admiral Harriet M Sims-Roberts Building housing the Norfolk Naval Station Public Affairs Office. As always the men and woman who work in that edifice say that it's damned hard to find anything there and much like its namesake was always in a state of confusion.