Memories of Higgins: Life Goals

When I grow up, I want to be a sailor, like my dad.

Dad works aboard The Deyo, a Spruance-class destroyer. He works in the ship’s engine room as a machinist’s mate. That’s like a mechanic for big ship engines. He makes sure that the ship’s engines are working normally. He keeps the engines, propulsion systems, and other ship machinery in good condition alongside other machinist’s mates. Without them, the ship can never set sail in the first place.

There’s always something happening aboard. Dad says they conduct drills frequently to make sure they don’t forget what they learned in training, and to get ready for actual combat operations. A day never passes without at least one or two drills going on. He also has to check a lot of stuff in the engine room every day to make sure things are moving along well. Boilers have to be steaming properly, engine wirings need to be in order, and turbines need to be running without problems. It’s a hard job, but Dad loves it because he always loved to play around with machines.

Besides the enjoyment of machinery work, Dad said he always loved being able to travel overseas for free. He’s spent a couple of shore leaves touring the streets of Rota, and we even managed to join him on one of the rare occasions that their crew got to visit Naples. Dad also has fond memories of his port call to Toulon early on in his destroyer career. Of course, that doesn’t mean being in the water most of the time is boring. Dad has sent us countless pictures of the Deyo at sea with the night sky in the background. Seeing so many stars around the big ship is very awesome!

Do you know what a tiger cruise is? It’s when the sailors’ families get invited aboard ships to get a taste of what they do. My first tiger cruise was when I was 9. Dad’s ship was on the way back to Spain, and we were aboard for the ride. We were given a tour of the ship, and I was able to see Dad’s workspace up close. It had so many moving parts! It was steamy! It was noisy and hot! Still, it was a fun trip inside. I remember being able to try firing some of the ship’s guns, too. I really learned a lot about why Dad has to go away from home for long periods of time. I was sure more than ever that I wanted to be a sailor like him, too.

Being a sailor isn’t really easy, though. Most of the time you don’t see anything but water. Lots of water. There aren’t a lot of fun things to do aboard. The drills can be very tiring, too. Dad once experienced a drill that lasted from one morning to the next without a break. The worst thing about it, though, is being away from family for so long. Dad said it was the only real bad thing he had to suffer every day. I guess I can understand that, because we miss him terribly every time he’s out to sea. He says it’s something he has to deal with, because he made a promise to fight for us, to protect us, to keep us safe.

And that is why I want to join the navy in the future. Dad and his friends leave all the things that are important to them and then take a ride on a rusty floating can for months if not a whole year, all so that we can spend another day able to go to school, see our friends and have fun. They give up the time for holidays with their families so that we can even celebrate holidays at home. As Dad loves to say, ‘you give a piece of yourself to everyone by serving’, or something like that.

All in all, there is one main reason why I want to join the navy: I want to protect everyone. Dad goes out of his way to guard the safety of our country and everyone in it. I want to do that too. I will protect everyone so that everyone can still enjoy every morning with their families. I will serve because I want to see everyone with a smile in their faces. I will protect those smiles, the same way Dad has protected our smiles for so long.

-- Gas Turbine Systems Technician Second Class Eugene Vandenberg was monitoring Higgins’ auxiliary propulsion systems when the Abyssals attacked LA. Despite the initial damage sustained by the ship, he valiantly stayed at his post, ensuring that the parts needed for Higgins’ mobility were still working under fire. He suffered grave wounds from the initial hits to the forward engine room, but he insisted on staying at his post to ensure that the destroyer is not totally crippled. He died of his wounds later after he and the rest of the forward engine room crew were forced to evacuate and dog down the hatches due to flooding. He was 30.--