Silas and I got to tour a destroyer and a submarine, both from WWII, while in Texas.
The USS Stewart.
Silas liked the size of these "bullets."
On the bridge, being a tough captain.
At the prow of the ship.
Sighting in the guns. It still had the seat and foot pedals on it and he was able to get up into the gun. We pretended to blow up the ferry going to the Bolivar Peninsula.
We counted all the big guns like this. There were eight still on the ship, and two on the ground next to it.
The USS Cavalla with a torpedo coming out!
Where the crew slept that manned the torpedoes in the stern. He couldn't believe how big those missiles were.
Discussing our battle tactics at the officer's table.
By the torpedo tubes. I offered to stick him in one, but he declined.
Captain's quarters. Quite roomy, huh?
Trying on old army hats at the army surplus store in Galveston later on in the day.
I could file this trip under "education" because we had a very long conversation about what it meant to protect and defend. He's only four, playing soldiers and battles is always just pretend. The little green plastic men always get back up again when they get shot. The reality of soldiers and sailors defending our country, and dying for it, was a deeper concept that took some time to explain.
I also was prepping him for our trip to England next month, when we'll get to see the famous "red coats." We read a book from the library, "Red Coats and Petticoats," about the Revolutionary War several months ago and the idea that the red coats were bad stuck pretty hard in his head. I explained that at one point, England and America didn't like each other and so they fought, but now they're really great friends that are on the same team.
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