Why Carl Brashear Continues to Inspire – 2015

And how his example of courage and determination changed my life. By Tony Palm BMC (SW/DV) USN (Ret)

From my childhood in the early 1960’s, I was mesmerized by deep sea diving.

Movies and television were capitalizing on technology developed during WWII which had recently been made available for the first time to recreational divers. The Undersea World Jacques Cousteau, National Geographic Specials, and James Bond’s Thunderball, captivated audiences and flamed underwater exploration. But by far, my favorite was, Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges, who played former Navy frogman ‘Mike Nelson’. My goal when I enlisted in the Navy in 1975 was to become a Navy Diver; but my scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test were too low. So I joined with the hope I could, over time, improve those scores. After 10 years, I had finally gained a coveted seat at the Navy Diving & Salvage School, Coronado, California. But in the late spring of 1985, having failed the same test twice, an Academic Review Board rendered its decision: “Dis-enrolled due to lack of analytical ability”. Navy-speak for, he doesn’t have the intellectual capacity. It appeared my life-long dream of becoming a Navy Deep Sea Diver was over, a mere 3 weeks after it had begun.

Shortly after my ego bruising failure, I watched a documentary on the life of Master Chief/Master Diver Carl Brashear, USN (Ret), the 1-legged Navy Diver whose story of courage and determination would be told in the movie Men of Honor, starred Oscar winners, Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. Like me, Master Diver (MDV) Brashear loved being underwater as a boy and long aspired to become a Deep Sea Diver. After over 100 requests, Brashear was finally admitted to Navy Dive School in 1954, where he was subjected to countless acts of racial discrimination and bigotry. By stoically refusing to buckle under the added pressure and working diligently to overcome his 7th grade education, Carl Brashear became the first black man to graduate from Navy Dive School. But it was Brashear’s dogged determination to retain his diving qualifications after losing a leg that was the catalyst for inspiring me to reapply to Navy Dive School in 1987.

The process of qualifying for and gaining accepted to Dive School is DAUNTING. Applicants are subjected to a comprehensive battery of physical tests and academic screening. That process is exponentially more challenging for those applicants who failed previously. The number of dis-enrolled applicants granted a second chance is negligible. However, the inspiration provided by one of the MDV’s often repeated quotes, “It’s not a sin to get knocked down, it’s a sin to stay down”, sustained me through the application process and continued to motivate me when I finally made it back to Navy Dive & Salvage Training Center, Panama City, FL where I finally graduated as a Second Class Deep Sea Diver in September 1987.

Years later, while assigned as the Chief Petty Officer in charge of Navy Recruiting Station, Salisbury, MD, and my own Navy career was coming to a close, I took pause to reflect on how dramatically my life had changed because of MDV Brashear’s example. Not only had I achieved my lifelong dream, I had become exponentially more confident having overcome failure to earn the coveted Navy Dive Pin which I wore proudly on my uniform every day. It was then that I decided to write a letter to the Master Diver to thank him for inspiring me to achieve one of my life’s greatest dreams.

In the days before the internet, I somehow managed to find MDV Brashear’s address in Virginia Beach, VA and his home phone number. And so, 6 years before the movie about his life was released, with a trembling finger I dialed his number. When he answered the phone and I asked if I was speaking to MDV Brashear, in a calm, deep voice that resonated seemingly from the depths, he said that it was. Even though I was nearly awestruck by speaking to a Navy legend, I reminded myself we were both Deep Sea Divers and Chief Petty Officers, so I introduced myself and told him my story including how his story had inspired me. When I finished, I said, “Master Diver, I’m just a few hours away in Maryland. I’d love to drive down and buy you a beer at the CPO Club on Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA”.

“Well Tony, I don’t drink these days, but I do enjoy a good hamburger”, the MDV replied.

And so, I scheduled a day to drive down to Virginia Beach, and met for the first time, a living legend, and one of my personal heroes. We had hamburgers at the Fuddruckers in Virginia Beach; he was impressed and thought it was a great place. Over the years, I visited with the Master Diver several more times, I took my children and a few friends to meet him, and came to know him on a personal level. We even discussed why he preferred Cuba Godding Jr. to the other actor in consideration for the lead role, Denzel Washington.

“Tony“, the MDV said, “Denzel too pretty to be a Navy Diver!” Then he roared with laughter.

Master Diver Carl Brashear died in August 2006, just 6 years after the 2000 release of Men of Honor. Through the movie’s successful telling of his story, Brashear’s courage and determination has inspired countless men and women, boys and girls to live their dreams. He will continue to inspire through the words inscribed on his grave marker, “I ain’t gonna’ let nobody steal my dream”. HOOYAH Master Diver, thanks again for your example, it has forever changed my life and will inspire me to push through failure for the rest of my life.