Speech: Preserving the Past, Gifting it to the Future

Copyright © 2025

by Ralph F. Couey

Good Evening,

On behalf of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, I want to welcome you and express our sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the many ways you continue to support Battleship Missouri and its programs. 

My name is Ralph Couey. I am a tour guide and a former crew member of Missouri, serving from 1988 to 1990, the last two years of my Navy career.  I was a Chief Petty Officer in charge of Combat Engagement Center and the 65 good men who worked there.  As you might expect, many memories lurk among the passageways and compartments, ready to ambush me unexpectedly.  I can tell you that the first day I came back aboard to work here was an emotional experience.  I remember entering the ship's interior, being enveloped by that familiar scent of steel, paint, and fuel oil, and knowing I had returned home. 

Since that day, I’ve had nothing but fun, and I am so pleased and proud to work with such a great crew. I am hard-pressed to remember when I’ve been around a happier, more caring group of people. 

There are many memorials in the United States, touchstones of times of challenge and adversity, times that demanded from each of us our best efforts, passions, courage, and, most importantly, our unity. These places are where we can return to those moments and eras that molded us both as a nation and a people. It is good that those events can still inspire us because it is so vital that we remember our past.  We must honor those who went before, stood up to the dangers, and did the arduous work that brought us to this day.  Their stories, those accounts we need to tell and re-tell again. 

Memory is fickle. Time has a way of softening details and changing perceptions. For a given event in history, there are two groups of people: those who remember and those who learn.  We who were around and cogent on that terrible day we know as 9/11 have strong memories of that tragedy, driven by shock, sorrow, and, yes, rage.  We watched, most on television, some who were present as those aircraft knifed into both buildings of the World Trade Center.  We learned about the attack on the Pentagon and watched with disbelieving eyes as that great concrete battleship burned.  We heard about Flight 93 and the heroism of those passengers and crew who sacrificed their lives and prevented an even larger tragedy.  That day unfolded before us as no day ever had, burned into our memories.  We remember what we were doing, how we found out, how we felt, and what we feared. 

Speech: A Look to the Past, a Charge to the Future

Copyright © 2025

by Ralph F. Couey

On December 7^th, 1941, at 7:55 AM, the quiet calm of a Sunday morning was shattered by explosions and the hoarse sound of general quarters alarms.

In the first few minutes of the attack, hundreds of American Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines had already lost their lives.  This was the tragedy.  Then came the triumph.  The personnel aboard the ships did not wait for orders but rather reacted in accordance with their training and, in those same first few moments, filled the sky with anti-aircraft bursts.  It is important to note that most of them were barely older than these magnificent student musicians here.

The war that began with that attack lasted 3 years and 10 months, during which time some 69 million people lost their lives.

Then, on September 2^nd, 1945, USS Missouri was anchored in Tokyo Bay, Japan.  The destroyer USS Lansdowne brought a delegation of Japan’s representatives alongside.  Among them was the Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigamitsu.  For years, he led the peace faction within Japan’s government.  This did not make him popular with the hard-liners, who wanted to fight to the last man and the last bullet.  Mr. Shigamitsu was targeted several times for assassination.  One of those attempts cost him his right leg.  It was painfully difficult for him to have to climb down the side of a destroyer, then climb up the side of this battleship, and then up an additional ladder in order to arrive on the starboard side 01 level where the ceremony would take place.  I also know that when someone risks their life several times in the cause of peace, that by definition makes him a tough guy.

Speech: Time to Lead

Copyright © 2025

by Ralph F. Couey

There is a story about a young Marine who won a medal for fearlessly charging an enemy position.  He was asked later how he summoned the courage for such an act.  He replied, “I wasn’t running toward the enemy.  I was running away from my sergeant.”

When someone joins the military, it can be an unsettling experience.  It’s an entirely new and alien environment.  They are rarely sure what to do or when to do it.  In those moments, they look for help, direction, and assurance.  The person they always look to is the one with all the stripes.  There, they will find knowledge, wisdom, experience, encouragement, and the occasional kick in the ass.  That person is the Non-Commissioned Officer.  That leavening influence in a unit is essential in the day-to-day of peacetime.  It is absolutely critical in war.

It takes someone special to be a soldier, and it takes something rare to lead them. The roles of a Staff Sergeant are many and varied. They include training, administration, instruction, counseling, discipline, and being the subject matter expert on being a soldier.  But beyond those roles is leadership.

Soldiers want and need to be led, whether they realize it or not.  No matter how confident a soldier is, the acquisition of experience takes time.  That requires the steadying influence of the “been there, done that” NCO.  Therefore, all NCOs are responsible for teaching not only the technical aspects of this profession of arms but also the value of discipline.   In battle, that discipline will keep a young soldier on the line.  And alive.

However, the most important things that an NCO can impart to the troops are the more profound lessons of courage, honor, integrity, and commitment.  These are the most important reasons for wearing the uniform. 

An NCO helps soldiers grow as they respond to the challenges they face.  To confront adversity, rather than turning away.  To learn what it takes to become a leader.  To find within themselves the power and strength to stand their ground.  This was always for me, as a Chief Petty Officer, the most satisfying and fulfilling aspect of my job, taking a raw, nervous, inexperienced kid and watching them become a strong, confident, and skilled fighting sailor.  I’m sure many of you standing here also remember and treasure those moments in your careers.

Admiral Mike Boorda, a Mustang who rose to the position of Chief of Naval Operations, once told a group of Chief Petty Officers, “I may run the Navy.  But I assure you, the Navy runs because of you.”  This is an undeniable finite truth that applies to all the armed services.  All the great things the Army has ever done were because the Sergeants made it happen.  You are where the rubber meets the road.  Where battles are won…or lost. 

This country will likely find itself in another war in the coming years.  If that happens, you will be at the tip of the spear.  Know that the outcome of any battle is absolutely dependent on all of you doing your duty.  And on the sergeants to lead the way.  But wherever you give battle, make sure that the enemy knows that field belongs to the United States Army.

Sergeants, your time is now. Step up. Stand tall. And lead.

Re-learning How to Love -- And Trust Again.

 

Falling in love once again...

Copyright © 2025

By Ralph F. Couey

A lot has happened since the last time I checked in here.  Cheryl and I got sick in March, which stretched well into April before whatever it was finally released us from its vile clutches.  It left us both sapped of energy, and it's been a slow road back.  Then, about the same time we put that behind us, My Urologist decided that my continuing struggles with prostate issues had come to a head, and last Wednesday, I had surgery.  It wasn't major, as surgeries go, but, sparing you the details, my plumbing system is already improved.  I was out for about 2 hours, and it's taken another huge effort post-anesthesia to regain my stamina.  

Now, some good news.  Through one of our daughters, we were introduced to a wonderful lady who has been suffering for years from crippling chronic pain.  She was looking for someone to adopt her dog, a cute little Bichon named Pickles, as she wouldn't be able to care for her any longer.  We love dogs but haven't had one since we lost our beloved Tweeter in 2016.  He had been with us for 17 years, and that loss was sheer heartbreak for both of us.  We avoided getting another one because of that.  As one wise person said, a dog's only fault is that they don't live long enough.  Long story short, we agreed to adopt Pickles and will take her in late May after I return from Virginia.  The circumstances are sad, but we are happy to once again have a furry, loving companion back in our family.  We met with them on Monday and had a wonderful, meaningful time together.  This will involve some changes in our lifestyle, but none that will cause us any regret whatsoever.  It does leave us with the feeling that, as ecstatic as we are to get Pickles, we could feel the lady's heart breaking because of this necessary choice.