[Gathnet] News from Hawaii -- Jim's comissioning

[Stuart Gathman]

Dear Gathnetters,

It is with great pride that I am reporting that our son Jim is now an 
officer in the United States Navy.  The Official ceremony took place last 
night on the shores of Pearl Harbor.  The oath was administered by the 
commanding officer of the USS Paul Hamilton.  Sue removed the anchors (the 
sign of being a chief) and Anne and I pinned on his new ensign bars and Sue 
put on his new hat.

It was obvious that he was greatly liked by both officers and crew of his 
ship.  During the ceremony, I gave the invocation,  his commanding officer 
did the official things, the master chief was the master of ceremonies and 
Jim gave a final farewell to his shipmates in an emotion filled speech.  
Jim's first salute was to his good friend the QM1  who is taking his place 
and Jim gave the traditional dollar to him.

The official ceremonies was followed by a traditional party. There were kegs 
of beer,  hand food, ham sandwiches and chicken sandwiches passed out by 
real "hooter" girls.

Roger and Mike Compton,  old friends from Fairfax were there.  Lt. Col Gene 
Godell his wife and son Doug were there.  There were some Tonganese folk 
from his church and many sailers and officers from the area.

---Jonathan's contribution---
Daddy didn't mention it, but he gave the Invocational prayer.  He was a bit 
stressed about it in the morning, but he delivered a prayer that was 
honoring to the Lord and to Jim in an transparent manner.  One of the 
shipmates commented to me that he was quite touched by the prayer.

Here it is:

Invocation

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

6:30 PM

Our Father we come to you this day to invoke your  blessings on this 
commissioning ceremony.

Lord, we thank you for Jim and all his life has meant to his family, his 
church, and to his county.

We thank you Lord for the United States of America and for the freedom she 
means for all of us.

We think especially this Memorial day weekend of those who gave their lives 
for this freedom.   One of those was Stuart W. Gathman, Jims paternal 
grandfather, who gave his life on May 5, 1945 in Germany for our freedom as 
well as the freedom of the German peoples.

Lord we thank you that we can call again on you during  these   days of 
trouble in the world when again our  young men are upholding the torch of 
freedom in far flung  portions of the world.  We think today of the words of 
God  given to the apostle Paul and recorded in Romans 8:28
  And we know that all things work together for  good to them that love God, 
to them who are  the called according to his purpose.

Lord, we ask your blessings on all those in authority over Jim, including 
the President of the United States, the commander of the Pacific fleet and 
the commanding officer of the USS Paul Hamilton

And we thank you that Jim has found Favor in your sight and that of this his 
superiors to serve in this new capacity.  We pray that you will continue to 
be with him as an officer as you have been with him each step of the way so 
far.

We pray for Sue, Alex, Robert, and Madeline , and all those who have come 
today to honor Jim that the light of your face will be shown to each one.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

                                              Amen


It was an honor to be at the ceremony, and see the genuine respect and 
appreciation that Jim's commander and shipmates had for him.  I got to talk 
to a number of the guys, and it was fun to get their perspective on life, 
for while I have done a lot of reading about the Navy, I've not really spent 
anytime around sailors, save Jim and Scott.

For those who remember Mike Compton from Fairfax days, he is currently 
flying C-17s, after stints with F16 and F15s.  He retains his good nature, 
and friendliness that I always remembered him for.

Take care, all, more hopefully later,

Jonathan