Elite frogmen muster in Va. Beach as SEALs turns 50

Members of one of the military's most elite clubs gathered Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Navy SEALs, established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

Outsiders might expect a roomful of current and former SEALs - or frogmen, as they call themselves - to be full of boasts and bravado. After all, this is the organization that took down Osama bin Laden, killed the pirates holding an American ship captain hostage in a tiny lifeboat and - just this week - rescued an American aid worker from her captors in the Somali desert.

But the 150 SEALs of past and present who came together Friday at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek did nothing of the sort.

"I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions," reads a line in the SEAL creed, which was recited by four active-duty SEALs.

Instead, with a mixture of pride and humility that defines their community, guests paid homage to the storied institution's modest roots.

Retired Capt. Rick Woolard described how SEAL Team 1, in California, and SEAL Team 2, at Little Creek, were established in January 1962 with a shoestring budget and a few dozen handpicked sailors.

"The page was blank," Woolard said. "Now SEALs are respected and known as one of the most effective fighting forces ever. But SEAL history was not predestined, it was made. It was made in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and a hundred other garden spots on operations that most people will never hear about."

It turned out so well, Woolard said, because the original members were so committed, and they trained their successors so well - a legacy that continues today, he said.

The celebration included a dozen "plankowners" - original members of SEAL Teams 1 and 2, most of them now in their 70s.

One of them, Master Chief Petty Officer Rudy Boesch of Virginia Beach, addressed the crowd at the SEAL Heritage Center.

Boesch has long been famous in naval special warfare circles: he spent 45 years in the Navy and until his retirement in 1990, was the longest-serving SEAL on active duty. Ten years later, after starring in the reality TV show "Survivor," his fame widened.

Boesch mentioned SEAL Team 2 being involved in "some of what was going on in Cuba" around the time of the missile crisis. "I think some of that stuff is still classified, so I won't mention it," he added quickly, to chuckles from the crowd.

Many of the former SEALs said they are still close to the men with whom they survived BUD/S - basic underwater demolition/SEAL training.

Philip King went through that training 48 years ago. He spent six years on active duty before embarking on a career with the FBI. Now 70, he serves as sergeant at arms for the North Carolina Senate.

"I've never had better friends," he said of his SEAL classmates.

His class started out with 120 students; 18 of them graduated and became SEALs. Two have since died, King said. As for the other 16? "I know where all of them are right now," he said, and he's in touch with most of them - weekly, through email, and annually, at a reunion in Virginia Beach.

Amir Pishdad traveled from San Diego for the celebration. Pishdad, who retired in 1996, said teamwork is the key to SEALs' success.

"None of us can do it alone - it's a team effort," he said. "That's what makes it so special. This is like a marriage. It's a lifetime commitment."

Jim "Patches" Watson, a retired SEAL senior chief and original member of SEAL Team 2, said early commandos were sent to just about every type of training the military had to offer. He attended 25 training schools, everything from karate to jujitsu to nuclear weapons to how to survive as a POW.

He did three tours as a SEAL in Vietnam.

"There were times I didn't think I'd live another five seconds," he said.

Hershel Davis, a 70-year-old retired SEAL command master chief who retired in 1993, acknowledges he thrived on the adrenaline while deployed to Vietnam, Lebanon and Panama.

"The highlight is combat, being in harm's way," he said.

Petty Officer 1st Class Jason D., a SEAL based at Little Creek, enjoyed the chance to meet his predecessors. He was struck by how similar they are to his teammates today.

"In here and here," he said, gesturing to his head and his heart, "we're pretty much all the same dude."

Kate Wiltrout, 757-446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com