As arranged, the moment the gangplank was in place, the entire crew, except for the duty section, in their best whites, hurried out of the access hatches onto the pier and formed ranks in front of the distinguished visitors’ box. The band continued to play, following “Anchors Aweigh” with Sousa marches.
Jerry was the second to the last to disembark, with Captain Weiss the last to step ashore. The two senior officers walked quickly down the pier and, after Weiss received the XO’s report that the crew was “present or accounted for,” took their places in front.
President Hardy stood and approached a microphone. “Welcome back, Jimmy Carter and her valiant crew. I won’t even try to describe the service you have performed for your country, because it would take too long to do it justice. I will say that it was difficult, a little dangerous, and performed brilliantly, in the best tradition of the U.S. naval submarine service. Attention to orders!”
Carter’s crew came to attention, and the chief of naval operations assisted President Hardy with the decorations. Captain Weiss was awarded the Navy Cross, and Jerry received one as well — his fourth. After teasing Jerry about “his collection,” President Hardy ended the ceremony with “I am pleased to award USS Jimmy Carter with the Presidential Unit Citation, and also to announce, with the exception of the duty section, liberty for the crew!”
The cheer that followed almost drowned out the first notes of “Victory at Sea.” Jerry and Captain Weiss quickly disengaged from the many well-wishers, and hurried back aboard. They had a reception to host.
Everything was in readiness when the two arrived in the wardroom. This left Jerry and Weiss at loose ends, especially when word came down that the president and first lady were taking time to shake hands and pose with the crew and their families.
“Never too early to think about the next election,” Weiss commented philosophically.
“I think he’d get their votes anyway,” Jerry replied. “By the way, a word of warning. The first lady is a hugger.”
Weiss’s eyes widened a little. “Really.”
Jerry nodded sagely. “Just go with it. She was probably sweating our safe return more than the president.”
“I can do that,” Weiss answered. His hand kept going up to touch the medal Hardy had pinned to his uniform. Jerry wasn’t sure if he was worried about it being on straight, or was just checking to see if it was real.
A mess specialist suddenly popped out of the pantry; two cups of fresh, steaming coffee in his hands. “Here you go, Skipper,” he said.
“Thank you, Olson. I’ve been waiting for this.”
Jerry graciously accepted his cup and raised it… the smell was incredible, and the taste was even better. “Whoa! Lou, where did you get this coffee? This isn’t standard Navy issue, that’s for sure!”
Weiss was slow to answer; there was an awkward look on his face. No, a better word would be sheepish.
“What?” asked Jerry with concern.
“I, uh, got this from the EB engineer that runs Shippingport, Commodore… before we left.”
“You mean to tell me you had this coffee with you for the entire run north!?” Jerry’s expression was one of utter disbelief.
“Ahh, yeah… I, uh, kind of forgot I even had it, sir.”
“Forgot about it!? Coffee this good!? Mister, we need to have a serious talk about your priorities!” Both men laughed heartily.
The wardroom fell silent as they enjoyed their relaxing time together. Weiss looked down at his award again and slowly shook his head.
“Something wrong?” Jerry inquired.
“No, sir. I’ve just been looking for the right opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for not relieving me during that fight.”
Jerry shrugged. “Sometimes not shooting something is the best course. What matters is that you grasped the situation and handled the boat brilliantly. You’ll be a much better captain now because of what you’ve learned. And truth be told, Lou, that’s really the best part of my job — to help train my COs.”
Weiss nodded, appreciating his boss’s compliments. Then his expression suddenly changed and he motioned toward Jerry. “You said something during the fight about a friend of yours?”
“Oh yeah, I did, and it’s completely ironic too. You see, my friend, Alex, was the commanding officer of Severodvinsk, Kazan’s sister.”
Weiss abruptly leaned forward in the chair, his eyes wide with curiosity. “Seriously?”
“Mm-hmm,” Jerry muttered while taking another sip. “Alex was over the top aggressive. I was on Seawolf, we were doing a northern run and he snapped us up, had us dead to rights. But he couldn’t just embarrass us and let it go. He kept getting closer and closer, scared the crap out of us. Then something went wrong and he plowed into us. Seawolf got smashed up pretty bad, tore open the sonar dome and sliced up a couple of the main ballast tanks. Severodvinsk slammed into the bottom… really, really, hard.
“We managed to help save Alex, and most of his crew, but he lost eighteen men. We lost one young sailor as well, one of my guys. Alex has been haunted by that tragedy ever since. He learned a hard lesson that day, letting your aggressive tendencies get the better of you can be costly… in more than one way.”
Carter’s commanding officer listened with rapt attention to Jerry’s story. He wanted to ask a host of questions, but a 1MC announcement cut him off before he could even start.
“UNITED STATES, ARRIVING.”
“Well, that’s our cue,” observed Jerry as he put the cup on the table, stood, and adjusted his uniform.
Hardy and a gaggle of guests in trail arrived a minute later. Photographers snapped the handshakes and greetings, and Joanna’s hugs of both COMDEVRON Five and Commanding Officer, USS Jimmy Carter.
As guests continued to enter the already-crowded wardroom, Hardy pulled Jerry into what had to serve as a quiet corner. He asked, “Jerry, you know, I’ve got some connections now. What can I do for you, besides giving you another Navy Cross?”
As Hardy asked the question, Jerry spotted Emily, with Charlotte resting on her hip, entering the wardroom. He’d spotted her in the VIP seats, but hadn’t had a chance to talk. She didn’t look happy to see him. In fact, she looked a little mad.
She hadn’t spotted her husband yet, and Jerry slid over a little so that he was hidden from her view. “If you could run interference with Emily, Skipper, I’d be eternally grateful.”
Hardy glanced over his shoulder, and saw Mrs. Mitchell acquire her target and commence an approach. He laughed, and answered, “Not a chance, sailor. She’ll chew my ass off, even if I am the president. I’ll delegate that responsibility to my national security advisor,” gesturing to Joanna, a few feet away.
Seizing on the advice, Jerry maneuvered to place Patterson between Emily and himself, and more importantly, placing the approaching threat in the first lady’s field of view…
“Emily! And Charlotte! I’m so glad you could fly out. Carly, how big you’ve gotten!”
Patterson reached out, and the child allowed “Auntie Joanna” to pick her up for a hug and compliments about her fancy dress. Emily, delayed but now unencumbered, circled Joanna to port and caught Jerry. To his surprise, there were no harsh words, just a hug almost fierce in its intensity, while she buried her face in his shoulder.