A few years ago I was attending a major annual inter-service military medical congress at one of the larger convention hotels in the country. I had just finished lunch in one of the dining rooms, which was mostly filled with military brass – all in uniform.
While standing in line to pay, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. It was the very senior gentleman behind me in line, who looked at my uniform and asked softly: “Excuse me, Sir, but – are you in the Air Corps?” I said “yes”, and explained that now it’s called the Air Force. He said he had been a Navy Gunner’s Mate during World War II, and briefly told me what ship he had served on, the actions he had seen, and the decorations he had earned. I thanked him sincerely for his service and what it had meant to all of us ever since then.
Then he looked around the room, placed the fingers of one hand across his opposite wrist, and asked: “Sir, does four broad stripes on the sleeves still mean the person is a Captain in the United States Navy?” I told him yes, the Navy is still hung up on using that system to show rank on their uniforms, and indeed four stripes represent the rank of Captain.
He looked around the room again, slowly. He gulped visibly, and confided to me in a whisper: “Sir, you know, this whole place is so top-heavy it may just flip over and sink.”
Editor’s Note. Ariel Thomann has submitted this story to the Reader’s Digest.