I first toured the Pentagon years ago, and when I entered the Navy's administrative area, I felt very much at home. Each service "dressed" their space according to their branch's aesthetic. The Army section was predictably a forest of brown and green hues.
The Air Force's sector was more airy and reminded me of puffy white clouds against a light sky blue. I was honestly surprised by the lack of green representative of all their golf courses.
When I entered the Navy quarter, the mood instantly became more somber. The whole area was encased in dark stained wood with brass accents. Rather than shrinking the space, making it more closed in, it became more comfortable, like an old leather chair in a corner of a study.
Navy blue provided the bulk of the color palette, and ships' wheels and brass bells were tastefully interspersed to round out the decor. I wanted to linger, but our tour guide shuffled us through.
This year marks the US Navy's 250th birthday. That's two and a half centuries of being the US Army's hero. Of all the armed forces, the Navy is the most steeped in tradition. From protocols when launching a new ship, to the way dignitaries are piped aboard, to the ceremonies conducted when her sailors first cross the equator, these traditions are numerous and time-honored.
A physical embodiment of Naval customs and traditions is the USS Constitution. Launched on 21 October 1797, she holds the distinction of being the oldest commissioned warship afloat. Undefeated in 33 battles, she's also the only remaining US Navy vessel to have sunk an enemy combatant during wartime.
Time, tide, and naval battles weren't always kind to Constitution, and even her stout, live oak timbers from coastal Georgia eventually deteriorated. She underwent several overhauls and refits. The most recent was completed in 2010 and restored her to her War of 1812 trim.
These cycles of renewal for the USS Constitution echo a classic philosophical puzzle: If an object has all its components replaced over time, does it remain the same object? This mirrored a question posed by a classmate. "If so much of the original lumber from Old Ironsides has been repaired or replaced, is she still the same ship?"
My knee jerk response was, "Of course she's the same bloody ship!" I suspect any sailor who's served aboard her would give the same response, just saltier. Consider this, the human body undergoes constant regeneration. Skin cells are replaced every 2 weeks, red blood cells every 4 months, and bones every 10 years or so. After 15 years, are you still you?
Older? Yes. And hopefully wiser. But your core self, shaped by life experiences, remains intact. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his poem, "Old Ironsides", captured a small fraction Constitution's storied existence.
Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood,
And waves were white below
As we celebrate this milestone birthday of the US Army's hero, we're reminded that it's not the planks and sails that make a ship, nor the cells and atoms that make a person, but the enduring spirit that flows through them.
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