By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alexa Trafton Forty years is a lifetime. In fact, it can feel like several. For Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer 5 Phillip Brashear, son of legendary Master Chief Navy Diver Carl Brashear, four decades of service came full circle as he became an honorary inductee in a select group with a unique familial connection.  Brashear, whose father’s journey to becoming the Navy’s first Black American master diver was immortalized in the motion picture “Men of Honor,” was appointed as an honorary chief petty officer by Master Chief Petty Officer of Read More…

BUEI’s second event in celebration of Bermuda’s Dive Month is a special screening of the film, ‘Men of Honor’ this Friday [April 8] at 7.00pm. A spokesperson said, “The ‘Men of Honor’ film, directed by George Tillman Jr., is based on the life of Carl Brashear, the first African American Master Diver in the US Navy. The film chronicles the journey of Carl Brashear, portrayed by actor Cuba Gooding Jr, as he overcomes the racial discrimination around him to become the first African American Master Diver in the US Navy. Robert DeNiro co-stars. “In April Read More…

By CAROL KENT WYATT | Cwyatt@nevespublishing.com PONCE DE LEON – Army pilot Phillip Brashear says he never tires of sharing his father’s trailblazing legacy of courage and perseverance. Brashear’s father, Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate (MDV) Carl Brashear, was not only the first African American to attend and graduate diving school; he was also the first POC master diver in U.S. Navy history and the first amputee to re-qualify as a Navy diver after losing his leg in 1966 while on a mission to recover a hydrogen bomb that had been lost off the coast of Read More…

By NAVSEA, Office of Corporate Communication WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, D.C. – Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Diving presented Navy Diver First Class Bryan Myers with the Navy’s 2019 Diver of the Year Award during a July 10 ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard recognizing Warrior Toughness. NAVSEA’s Supervisor of Diving, Capt. Robert Marsh, joined Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Phillip Brashear, representing the Carl Brashear Foundation; and retired Chief boatswain’s mate Tony Palm in presenting the award for superlative performance of duties while serving as the Leading Petty Officer and Diving Supervisor for Mid-Atlantic Read More…

RICHMOND, Va. — Every time he straps on the leather band of his watch in the morning, Phillip Brashear remembers his father. “My dad’s famous saying is, ‘It’s not a sin to get knocked down. It’s a sin to stay down,’” Brashear said. Those words are engraved on the back of a Swiss limited-edition wristwatch, surrounding the iconic image of a Mark V diver suit helmet. The watch was manufactured in honor of Carl Brashear, the first African-American master diver in U.S. Navy’s history who lost his leg during a tragic accident on a mission Read More…

The iconic Navy diver has inspired a new limited-edition watch and a new generation of military men – starting with his son. Like George Patton and Stormin’ Norman, Carl Brashear is one of those military figures who has transcended the battlefield and become a mythic American figure. Alive from 1931 to 2006 and raised in Kentucky, he’s probably best known as the Navy’s first Black master deep-sea diver and the subject of Hollywood’s Men of Honor. He lost half his leg in 1966 during the recovery of a B28 nuclear bomb that was lost off Read More…

JUNE 11, 2020 FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky State Senator Chris McDaniel is prefiling a bill to replace the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the Capitol Rotunda with Carl Brashear, a Kentucky African American Navy sailor and master diver who died in 2006.   In 1970, Brashear became the first African-American master diver in the history of the U.S. Navy, despite having his left leg amputated in 1966. The film “Men of Honor” was based on Brashear’s life. McDaniel says he’ll call for $500,000 to erect a statue of Brashear. The Jefferson Davis statue Read More…

By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Breckenkamp 80th Training Command (TASS) JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK-FORT STORY, Va  –  JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK-FORT STORY, Va. – “A son never forgets.” You may recall this line from the movie “Men of Honor,” based on the true story of the late Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, the first African-American master diver and master chief in the United States Navy. Following in his father’s footsteps, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Phillip Maxie Brashear also never forgets. Like his father, Phillip Brashear joined the military. At the age of 56, Phillip, a UH-60 Read More…

Swiss watch brand Oris has teamed up with the Carl Brashear Foundation once more to launch a bronze chronograph in honour of the deep sea diver of the same name. This limited edition chronograph, similar to the previous bronze piece from Oris, will be restricted in production to just 2,000 pieces. Oris explained that, “Like the first watch, a time-only piece, the Oris Carl Brashear Chronograph Limited Edition is based on the Oris Divers SixtyFive and cast in bronze. Oris has chosen the material again to represent the early diving equipment Brashear used, which was also Read More…

These certificates and photographs belonged to Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl Brashear, the Navy’s first African-American Master Diver and first amputee diver. Brashear graduated from salvage dive school in 1955 and deep-sea diving school in 1964, despite experiencing harassment, hazing, and other threats. In 1966, while taking part in the recovery of a lost hydrogen bomb, he was struck in the leg by a steel pipe as he pushed another Sailor out of harm’s way. Brashear elected to amputate his leg after learning the injury could take up to four years to heal. After a Read More…