Reverend Kellog is a retired submarine officer. While on active duty he was Reactor Officer in ENTERPRISE and commanded both NARWHAL and FULTON. He is now Rector of Saint Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Lemon Grove, California.
Lord God, we feel blessed by you this day, in this setting, with so many friends, shipmates, and loved ones around us. As we think back over the many, many accomplishments of NARWHAL, we realize that they were made possible not by the strength of her construction, but by the strength of the men who sailed her, and, along the way, by the many, many sacrifices of their families. We also realize that you, Lord, have been part of all of this, that you were there with them in their high-jinks as well as their camaraderie, in their goofs as well as their exploits, in their terrors as well as their triumphs; that somehow you smiled on them as you smiled on their ship, allowing the good times to far and away outnumber the bad ones. And so, as we give thanks for the men who have taken her critical and shut her down, who have taken her out and brought her back, who have submerged her and surfaced her every time, and for their leaders from Matson to Bock, and give thanks for the faithful families of these same men, many of whom are here today, we also give thanks to you, Lord, for sustaining all of us throughout her valiant history. AMEN
