Carl Brashear was a United States Navy sailor and the first African American to become a Master Diver in the United States Navy. He is best known for his determination and perseverance in the face of adversity, as well as his role in breaking down racial barriers in the military.
Brashear was born in rural Kentucky in 1931, the son of a sharecropper. He faced many challenges growing up, including segregation and poverty. Despite these challenges, Brashear was determined to succeed and joined the Navy in 1948 at the age of 17.
Brashear excelled in the Navy and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a diver in the Deep Sea Diving School in 1954. He faced many obstacles and discrimination throughout his career, but he never let them stand in his way. In 1966, he became the first African American to be certified as a Master Diver, the highest diving qualification in the Navy.
Brashear's most famous moment came in 1966, when he was severely injured during a salvage mission. While attempting to raise a sunken airplane, Brashear's leg was crushed by the plane's landing gear. Despite the severity of his injury, Brashear refused to give up and underwent numerous surgeries and rehabilitation in order to regain the use of his leg. He eventually returned to active duty and became the first amputee to serve as a diver in the Navy.
Brashear's story was later adapted into a movie, "Men of Honor," starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as Brashear and Robert De Niro as his instructor. The movie tells the story of Brashear's determination and perseverance in the face of adversity and serves as an inspiration to all who see it.
Carl Brashear's story is one of determination, perseverance, and the power of the human spirit. He faced many challenges and obstacles throughout his life, but he never let them stand in his way. His determination and hard work paid off, and he became a pioneer in the Navy, breaking down racial barriers and inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.
Oral History
I did it every day, weekends and all. He flew Hueys, Blackhawks and eventually was cross-trained to fly multi-rotor Chinooks, serving in Bolivia on peacekeeping assignments, helping to build community centers, schools, hospitals and infrastructure. In June 2014 Phillip took the required annual instrument flying checkout certification β and scored so highly that he celebrated by engaging in a rigorous 4-mile run the following morning! Evacuated from the area, he was transferred to Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia, where the portion of the leg was eventually amputated. As a result, surgeons amputated his left leg below the knee. Until this time, no Navy man had ever returned to full active duty with a prosthetic limb. From March 1967 to March 1968, Brashear was assigned to the Harbor Clearance Unit Two, Diving School, preparing for return to full active duty and diving.
Carl Brashear
Carl Brashear died of respiratory and heart failure at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, on July 25, 2006. And he learned the importance of a positive mindset in accepting his amputation and finding new solutions. He realized belatedly and with some regret that he had sacrificed his family relationships, subordinating them to his Navy diving career. Brashear rises quickly through the ranks, even becoming a national hero in the The two eventually meet again after Brashear's left leg was so mangled in the Palomares incident that he feels that his only chance to return to active duty and a relatively normal life is for the leg to be amputated and replaced with a prosthesis. The military would be officially desegregated in June of that year. In 1970 he qualified as the first Black master diver in the history of the U. And therein, friends, is our opportunity with Phillip.
Carl Brashear, Master Diver (Navy) born
Sunday again trains Brashear and aids him in his fight against the Navy's bureaucracy and an antagonistic Navy captain Brashear's and Sunday's former Hoist In the epilogue, it is noted that two years later Brashear becomes a master diver. These included recovering live ammunition from murky North Atlantic waters and recovering multiple bodies of lost Blue Angel airmen. On the afternoon of March 23, as Brashear directed the transfer of a crate to hold the bomb once found, the supply boat parted its mooring line. Between the hospital and the naval station, while on medical hold, I endorsed my own orders and reported to second-class diving school. Directing their son to leave the subsistence farm where he worked the land so arduously with his brothers and family was a huge sacrifice for his parents, but their desire for Carl to have a better life impelled them to send him off to make the best possible life for himself.
Carl M. Brashear
Naval Institute Photo Archive So Admiral Guest, through the radio conversation with our skipper, said to pick it up. He also had temporary duty with Joint Task Force Eight for nuclear tests in the Pacific. Then, in 1970, he qualified as a master diver, a difficult feat under any circumstances and something no black man had accomplished before. In that year, if I had gone to sick bay, they would have written me up. Then it came time for me to report to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery physical evaluation board. As he recovered, Brashear researched.