CHAPTER 4
It had came to the day of the memorial service of ET and Spider aswell as the award ceremony for the crew of Hammersley. "You ready?" Kate asked Nav walking into their cabin "as ready as I'll ever be" Nav replied drawing in a breath "Nik you are not alone in this" Kate told her looking her directly in the eyes "I know Kate, thankyou" she replied her voice husky as she broke down into tears again.
"HMAS Hammersley HO!"The Priest yelled bringing all the sailors into a upright position. "off caps" he once again he yelled as an order for all the sailors to remove their caps in respect to their fallen sailors as Mike Flynn began his speech.
"How do we frame our grief, how do we make sense of the lives taken away so early. These are things that we will for years to come and there are no easy answers.
What is clear though is the way ET and Spider lived their lives, They represented the first valuesof the Royal Australian Navy, they believed passionately, they were loyal to their crew and they never sherfed their duty. They were couragious, deligent and their sense of humor could defuse even the most difficult situations. They were sons, they were brothers, they were friends and they" Mike paused as he slightly lost his composure, he quickly glanced in the direction of Kate whom gave a nod urging him to go on as she gripped tightly on both Lieutenant Nikki Caetano and Able Seaman Rebecca Browns hands. Regaining his composure Mike continued "They were members of my crew. we will miss them" Mike finished.
"I know commence Leading Seaman Billy Webb and Petty Officer Joshua Holiday into the sea may their souls rest in Peace" the Priest announced.
"General Salute" Buffer yelled "Preset up" he once again yelled in officer tone as Leading Seaman Robert Dixon, Seaman Jessica Bird and Leading Seaman Leo Kosov-Meyer raised their firearms to their bodys, as the Anzac song began to be played by Cheif Petty Officer Chris Blake through his trumpet. "Preset" Buffer yelled again ordering the three sailors to raise there firearms to the sky as the parents of Billy Webb and Joshua Holiday released their Ashes into the ocean "Fire!" Buffer yelled as one gun shot from each sailors fire arm was sounded "Fire!" he again yelled "Fire!" he yelled for the last time as Petty Officer Andy Thorpe picked up the big Reef where he carried it towards the edge of the ship and released it into the ocean.
"In an honour of the crew of HMAS Hammersley outstanding effort and Bravery I am pleased to present to them the Australian Defence Medal" Steve Marshall siad "Unfortunately Leading Seaman Webb and Petty Officer Holiday are not able to collect their medals so would one of the family members like to come forward to collect their medal" Billy 'Spider' Webbs ten year old little sister stepped forward and was presented with the medal as Josh 'ET' Holidays twin sister stood forward to collected his.
"Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn I present to you the Australian Defence Medal congratulations on your achievements" Steve said saluting Mike and presenting him with his war medal like he did with the rest of the crew of HMAS Hammersley.
Mike dissapeared after the ceremony so Kate went in search of him and by no surprise she found him in his cabin "Hey" she said entering his cabin and sitting down on his rack "Hey" he replied "you ready to go home?" he asked "ready when you are" she answered. Mike got up out of his desk chair and stood in front of Kate where he took her and instructing her to get up which she did, now standing Mike slipped his arm around her waist and lead her out of his cabin. They both didn't need to say anything just being in each others company was enough but right now they just needed to be sad for the two family members they had just lost