When it was released in 2001, I went to see Men Of Honor the first weekend it was out. The main reason was because it starred Robert DeNiro, one of my favorite actors. When the movie was over, though, I came away amazed at the performance of Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Carl Brashear, the first black diver in the history of the U.S. Navy. The fact that it was a true story made the movie all the more moving, which is why today’s news of the death of Carl Brashear is sad:
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — Carl M. Brashear, the first black U.S. Navy diver who was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2000 film “Men of Honor,” died Tuesday. He was 75.
Brashear died at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth of respiratory and heart failure, the medical center said.
Brashear retired from the Navy in 1979 after more than 30 years of service. He was the first Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury
For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, here’s why Carl Brashear is an American hero:
In 1966 Brashear was assigned to recover a hydrogen bomb that dropped into waters off of Spain when two U.S. Air Force planes collided.
During the mission Brashear was struck below his left knee by a pipe that the crew was using to hoist the bomb out of the water. Brashear was airlifted to a naval hospital where the bottom of his left leg was amputated to avoid gangrene. It later was replaced with a prosthetic leg.
The Navy was ready to retire Brashear from active duty, but he soon began a grueling training program that included diving, running and calisthenics.
“Sometimes I would come back from a run, and my artificial leg would have a puddle of blood from my stump. I wouldn’t go to sick bay because they would have taken me out of the program,” Brashear said in 2002 when he was inducted into the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians. “Instead, I’d go hide somewhere and soak my leg in a bucket of hot water with salt in it — that’s an old remedy I learned growing up.”
If you haven’t seen the movie, you owe it to yourself. Gooding and DeNiro both deliver fantastic performances and the story itself is amazing.
Others paying tribute: Captain Ed,
July 26th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
RIP Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl M. Brashear, USN (Ret.) — A MAN Among Men Has Passed
Once, as a boy, I met Carl Brashear. I didn’t quite understand his significance at the time, but I have come to understand it as an adult. Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl M. Brashear, USN (Ret.), has passed away. He…