James E. "Spike" Atkinson

 ICC (SS), U.S. Navy (ret)

 

I walked away from Houston’s Aldine High School in December 1970, completed a GED (General Equivalency Diploma), and joined the United States Navy on May 7, 1971.

 

After a colorful career, I transferred to the Fleet Reserve on May 31, 1993, and was permanently retired on May 31, 2001.

 

 To the many good people I served with; surface warfare (Targets), special warfare (Seals), submariners (Bubbleheads), construction (Seabees), Army, Air Force, Marines, British, Australian, Canadian, and Japanese Submariners;  “Fair Winds and Following Seas”.

 

Those who would give up essential Liberty,
to purchase a little temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety..

Benjamin Frankiln, 1755

 

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,

who has given us freedom of religion.

 

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,

who has given us freedom of the press.

 

It is the VETERAN, not the poet,

who has given us freedom of speech.

 

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,

who has given us freedom to assemble.

 

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

 

It is the VETERAN, not the politician,

who has given us the right to vote.

 

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Charles M. Province, 1970