U. S. S. Salem

I just spent a very busy two days with Henry aboard the U.S.S. Salem. It was pretty amazing, truth be told. The Salem is a Cruiser Gunship and man, it definitely has guns. It reminded me of lego ships that I built when I was little and went way overboard with the guns... they were massive and everywhere. We stayed overnight on the ship courtesy of Henry's cub scout troupe.

Henry pretty much stayed with Nicholas Tuttle, one of his closest friends, the whole time. At times, we were given run of the ship and could go anywhere not roped off for safety reasons. That meant that all of the scouts could climb the huge guns and sit at the turrets. This, I am absolutely sure, was Henry's high point of the trip.

We ate in the mess hall and slept in the racks. The racks consisted of three bunked hammocks stacked on top of each other with about a foot of breathing room in between. There were about 20 of us in one tiny little room. Henry and I were lucky enough to get two top bunks that were next to each other. I say lucky for Henry's sake. It didn't matter to me... I never really slept. Many, many, many snorers in that room.

The trip in its entirety was great. The cub scouts were thrilled the whole time. Henry was nonstop in pretend mode. (He was fighting "the flood" with Nicholas, and by the sound of their conversation, nearly died several thousand times. He also was targeting real planes flying overhead from Logan. I am sure those passengers never even knew the peril they were unwittingly facing.

There is something primal about sitting aboard a ship fully pimped out for destroying anything in its path. Even pacifists must feel this down deep in their bones. Outside, on the green next to the ship, there was a very small german submarine rusting away. The swastika was still visible. I have read pretty extensively about World War Two. Even in my mind, and Iam very far removed from such things, it remains a dark place, and in college, I was shown some images that I wish I never had been. This hung in my mind as Henry enjoyed his way around anti aircraft guns and cannons that were able to shoot planes out of the sky at 18 miles away.

Still, I am left impressed and maybe a bit scared of what we, as humans, are capable of.

db