Show I A A t- t r v I i i e Carl c rr v at i lB Brashear w fc rase ras J. e r an of f H 4 Honor onor n r Carl Brashear a true trueman trueman trueman man of honor comes to the Redwood campus By Robyn Staff Writer What comes to mind when en you think of a hero Someone w io o does something well or someone someone who would do anything for those they love What about someone who overcomes unimaginable obstacles to accomplish his or her goals Despite his humble beginnings on a small farm in Kentucky Carl Brashear became the only amputee sea deep-sea diver to reach Master Diver status and the only black man to ever hold the position position position tion in the US Navy In 1948 at age 17 Brashear enlisted in the Navy After boot camp amp he like other black Navy men was a cook and cleaned for forthe forthe forthe the officers After two years he became a seaman He said the first time he saw a dive he knew it was for him Unfortunately Brashear had only completed up to the seventh grade in a one room segregated schoolhouse He knew with the education he had he could not advance in the military so Brashear set to getting his GED which he received in 1960 For a year a-year and a half Brashear was continually denied for diving school Through persistence and the knowledge he could do it he was finally admitted The physical physical cal psychological and mental pressure was daunting but Brashear knew this was where he wanted to be He developed a thick skin to todeal todeal todeal deal with the racism and the sabotaged sabotaged sabotaged sab sab- diving projects He graduated graduated graduated Salvage Diver and began working for Master Diver Brashear enrolled to be a Master Diver but the course was too academically challenging so he had to drop out In 1963 he enrolled for the second time Of the original 30 to enroll 17 graduated graduated graduated grad grad- and he was third in his class In March of 1966 Brashear was in an accident aboard a ship The doctors did until August but were unsuccessful After consulting Brashear they decided the best thing to do was cut off the leg Although he had been released from the Navy with honors Brashear knew he was not done After being fitted for the prosthetic prosthetic prosthetic pros pros- leg Brashear began his training He knew the doctors would not so he decided to sneak out When his leg would give him problems and bleed he would soak it in hot salt water To prove he was capable to sea deep-sea dive the Navy officials set demands far higher than those required He had to do countless deep knee bends climb up and down a vertical latter and hold weights over his head without giving any slack on his prosthetic leg He walked up and down stairs with weights on his shoulders to prove his equilibrium was not off balance He led the sailors in calisthenics calisthenics calisthenics calis calis- and ran two miles every morning and afternoon He had some sort of training every day of the week Brashear went to Washington See Sec BRASHEAR on page 4 I BRASHEAR speaks at h DC to prove he could dive in any circumstances He was restored to active duty and full diving ability by Admiral Young who said If you do it I will go anywhere anywhere anywhere any any- where to reinstate you When the movie Men of Honor was filmed Brashear was involved from start to fin fin- ish He was on the set 95 percent of the time He said the courtroom courtroom courtroom court court- room scene in the movie was almost identical to his situation Brashear had been invited to the White House to watch the movie with Bill and Hilary Clinton Brashear commented I have made it from an outhouse to the White House He loved the Navy when he joined every minute he was there and loves it even now he has retired He would do it all again if it were possible I dont don't feel Im I'm a hero I feel I did what I had to do Heroes are policemen and school teachers Despite the major motion picture put out by Twentieth Century Fox Carl Brashear remains a ahu hu humble ble man whose philosophy is love yourself develop a positive positive positive pos pos- attitude set a goal and work towards it with all your might He credits this as the key to his success |