Aboard USS San Antonio – 28 Feb 2019

Son of first African-American master diver speaks to Sailors aboard USS San Antonio
By Mass Communication Specialist 1^st Class Sean P. Weir, USS San Antonio Public Affairs

NORFOLK — U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4, Phillip Brashear visited USS San Antonio (LPD 17) and spoke with the ship’s crew along with visiting Sailors from other ships during LPD 17’s Black History Month celebration Feb. 28.

Brashear, son of Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl Brashear, the Navy’s first African-American master diver, spoke to the Sailors about his father’s determination in a time when there was no such thing as racial equality; a time where his father not only persevered, but excelled.

“It is true that my father had to make himself physically capable to wear a 300-pound dive suit, even though he had a prosthetic leg. I want you all to take note: here’s a man fighting for his life trying to save his military career and get his body back into shape,” said Brashear. “The Navy actually had a veteran climbing stairs with weights on his back, lifting weights on unstable mats, all while wearing dress shoes. He had to prove to the Navy that he could pass his PT test; they weren’t going to give him a break.”

Brashear spoke about losing his father and how impactful this time was for him. His father spoke to a philosophy that had helped him persevere in his own career and bestowed that wisdom upon his son.

“After receiving a Red Cross message regarding my critically ill father, they flew me back to Portsmouth, VA from Iraq. My father said, ‘Son I’m not leaving this hospital room.’ At the time, I didn’t think much of it,” said Brashear. “I started to complain about how bad Iraq was. I had walked into my dad’s hospital room complaining to a man who was literally on his death bed. My father looked up at me and said, ‘Son, what are you complaining about? Don’t ever complain, because there’s always someone out there who’s worse off than you.’”

Brashear mentioned the virtue of a service member simply doing their job. From his own father to an injured Marine he rescued in Iraq, Brashear values the most junior of service members doing their duty.

“My father didn’t want an extravagant burial. He wanted junior enlisted Sailors to be his pall bearers. My father didn’t think of himself as a hero – he thought of himself as a regular guy who was just doing his job,” said Brashear. “I’ve met a lot of VIPs and celebrities in my career, but that Marine corporal who lost his left hand and his left food in an IED explosion – That is the most important person I’ve ever met in my life. Corporal Dave Leddy – that’s the American hero right there – that’s who we serve.”

Brashear’s father overcame much adversity throughout his life: from poverty and racism to handicap and alcoholism. But he showed that with determination these obstacles can be overcome. Brashear believes the best way to overcome them is to expect more than the minimum in life.

The San Antonio is the first amphibious transport dock of the San Antonio ship class.  San Antonio is in a maintenance availability to conduct necessary upkeep and upgrades of the ship.