COMMANDER DAVID G. CLARK
Commanding Officer, USS SEMMES DDG-18
Long ago on a cool, wet Fall day, we received a letter from Commander Clark. In the letter he said that he, the officers, and crew wanted to fly two of the students and me to the Charleston, South Carolina, for the ship's Christmas party when they returned home. It would be for a weekend in January.
The Commanding Officer and officers of SEMMES were exceptional people. For example, before being deployed to the Indian Ocean, the officers bought a raft and a rope at the local hardware store. A rather strange object to buy for a ship. The Officers knew they were being deployed for months to the Indian Ocean. At that time we had few ports in the area. After being at sea for awhile, the Commander ordered his rope to be attached between his raft and the ship. The crew were then put into the officers' raft two at a time. The sailors were then "off" the ship. As they floated in the raft, each sailor was handed a beer! When they finished, two others replaced them. Sailors were not allowed to drink beer on a ship - but they weren't on her! Needless to say, this was a great morale booster the crew. Skip forward about a year:
My eighth grade homeroom had been corresponding with the guided missile destroyer for years. Every fall when school began, students would volunteer to write to a ship (we were writing to twenty ships each week.) Each group had one student that would be sure a letter went out every Friday. After receiving Commander Clark's letter the first step was to speak to Mr. Dresser, the principal, to see if this would present any problems. Mr. Dresser thought it was a wonderful opportunity for the kids. In his letter Commander Clark asked me to choose one
boy and one girl to go to Charleston. How would I be able to judge who would be most deserving? I wrote to the Commander and thanked him but asked him if he would please choose the students. He sent the names of two students. It was now time to speak with the parents (without the kids finding out!) When the parents all approved the next step was to inform the kids. Sometimes the kids would stay after school and play football or have pizza (Friday nights). Usually they would walk home (the homes were relatively close to the school) but I asked if they would like a ride home. Instead of just dropping them off, I went in with them - and mom and dad went to the living room where the kids learned of their future adventure. I can still see the kids' faces and their eyes when they heard about it.
About three days before the great adventure, the boy broke his ankle! Heck, he wasn't going to let that stop him!! Early one cold, snowy morning we got on the Eastern Whisperjet at Hopkins. The plane made a stop at Charlotte, North Carolina, and then we landed at Charleston FB (the regular airport and AF base use the same field). Commander Clark met us at the airport. He had the kids stay at his home. Friday night the ship had its Christmas party and it was wonderful. Saturday they gave us a tour of the ship and explained different things.
care to guess which sailor is from Minnesota and which one is from Louisiana?!"
The two sailors at the bow of the ship - one in a parka and one in short sleeves. He then took us to the forward 5" gun mount. He opened the hatch and that left a cool breeze in.
One sailor turned and said "Shut the - oh, sorry ,sir, I didn't know it was you!"
Needless to say the captain kept a rather stern expression on his face as the operation of the forward mount was explained. Once we were back outside and the hatch was closed, Commander Clark laughed and said the young sailor wasn't expecting to see the captain there! One side note In the morning I went through Charleston.
A number of small stores had hand written signs in their windows : "Due to the extreme cold, we are closed."
The temperature had gone down to forty degrees the night before! All too quickly Sunday evening came and it was time to board the Eastern airliner in
Charleston. At Charlotte the stewardess moved the three of us to first class! It certainly is the way to fly!! When we returned to school, the two kids told their classmates all about their weekend. I had gone to a little shop and had 40 books about Charleston sent up to give to their classmates.
We spoke to the principal and were permitted to add a painting of USS SEMMES to our classroom wall. She joined the USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CG-5) which the students had done a few years earlier. When we had the "official " unveiling, Commander Clark had one of his sailors - OSSN Brian S. Frederich home on leave from Ohio stop by to unveil the picture. Later on Commander Clark and the crew of SEMMES sent us two Navy signal flags: Bravo and Zulu.
These two flags together mean a job well done - the only official congratulatory signal used by the Navy. If you go past New Chestnut Grove Cemetery you will see these two flags flying under the American flag every Armistice Day and Memorial Day. As you can see Cormander Clark and Mrs. Clark and their two Children are an exceptional family. Mrs. Clark did so much for the crew members families when the ship went to sea. Commander Clark was very interested in my classes. Ho and the crew would send souvenirs post cards, and letters from all the places they sailed to. The kids would mark the different locations on our classroom map of the world and follow the ships on their patrols. Commander Clark passed away earlier this year. BRAVO ZULU, Commander.
WME
December 2021