US Navy 1st. Black Master Diver CPO, Carl Maxie Brashear. 1931-2006 photo gallery

💠Carl Brashear, U.S. Navy
1st. Black Master Diver.
💠Highest warfare qualification of the U.S. Navy Divers.
💠1st Black Master Diver, &
1st recertified after losing a limb.
“I would do it all over again
if I could,” Brashear said in a 2001 speech at DePauw University.
💠Carl Brashear was born
January 19, 1931-2006, the Son of a sharecropper in rural Kentucky.
Brashear dropped out of school in the 7th grade to work on a farm.
💠1948, Brashear sign up with the U.S. Army &
was rejected, & the Navy accepted him.
💠The Navy assigned Carl Brashear to the stewards’ branch,
as a messman, his duties included cooking, & serves food.
💠At the time the Navy had zero Black divers.
💠To Brashear, diving seemed every bit of the adventure he’d
been dreaming about.
Brashear sent over 100 letters to the diving school before they
finally accepted him as the first Black attendee.
💠“Sometimes my project would be sabotaged,” he recalled.
In spite of his poor treatment, he remained undaunted.
Brashear graduated in 1955.
“Some people may not like you,” Brashear later said in his
DePauw speech, “but they can’t stop you.”
Brashear’s job was tasked with retrieving sunken ships, & planes
He had to detonate World War II torpedoes.
💠Received a High School equivalency diploma 1960.
💠Next, Brashear enrolled in the Navy’s deep-sea diving program.
Brashear became a 1st-class Diver in 1964, & 3rd in his class.
💠Some of his duties required recovery of sunken WW II torpedoes, & lost Hydrogen bomb
that could be deadly recoveries.
💠1966, Carl Brashear had his most challenging assignment.
A B-52 bomber carrying 4 hydrogen bombs collided with a refueling tanker in Spain.
💠3 bombs were quickly recovered in a fishing village, but 1 fell into the Mediterranean sea.
💠Brashear’s rescue and salvage team was dispatched to recover
the missing nuclear weapon.
💠An accident nearly ended Carl Brashear’s life, the first-class diver stood on the deck overseeing operations, &
a towing line snapped.
In an instant, a heavy steel pipe flew across the deck toward the crew.
💠Brashear leapt into action, pushing the men out of the way,
earning him The Navy & Marine Corps Medal, the highest
decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department
of the Navy to members of the United States Navy, & United States
Marine Corps.
💠The pipe struck Brashear’s left leg, he was transferred to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia,
doctors told Brashear his leg would take years to heal,
and have to walk with a cane.
“Go ahead and amputate,” Brashear replied.
“I can’t be tied up that long.
I’ve got to go back to diving.
Almost a year pass as he recovered, he refused to sign discharge papers.
💠Carl Brashear had already broken many color line barriers.
Brashear vowed to return to his duty making him the
Navy’s 1st amputee diver with a prosthetic leg.
💠Brashear returned to diving school, & officials didn’t believe
he would succeed, & he prove them all wrong.
💠Brashear was put through intense tests, he climb ladders
carrying heavy barbells on his back, 300 pounds of equipment
all while wearing a prosthetic leg, he remained undaunted.
💠Carl Brashear pass every challenge.
It wasn’t easy. “Sometimes I would come back from
a run, and my artificial leg would have a puddle of blood
from my stump. Carl Brashear remained undaunted, he's an
inspiration to every young boy or girl that face more difficult
challenges, & to embrace, & overcome.
1970, Brashear earned the Master Diver.
💠Fewer than 2% of divers achieve this rating,
which makes them an elite group.
Brashear served in the Navy until 1979.
In his civilian life he worked at Naval Stations & retired in 1993.
In 2000, the movie Men of Honor,
 told the real-life story of Carl Brashear, played by Cuba Mark Gooding Jr.
Black Actor, recipient of an Academy Award, screen
Actors Guild Award, & Emmy nomination.
💠The retired diver acted as a consultant for the film,
and confirmed it was a largely accurate depiction of his life.
💠When BA's speak about racism, there's accused of victim mentality.
Most People avoid conversations about racism, yet it's a threat to
the human race, & sadly, it persists in new moderns day form & oblivious to the unconcious Black Americans.
Racism is embedded in US institution.
Carl Maxie Brashear VETERAN
BIRTH 19 Jan 1931
Tonieville, LaRue County, Kentucky, USA
DEATH 25 Jul 2006 (aged 75)
Portsmouth, Portsmouth City, Virginia, USA
BURIAL
Thank you for your service
Woodlawn Memorial Gardens
Norfolk, Norfolk City, Virginia, USA