Long Faces of Fleet Week

It's Fleet Week and the sailors have hit town. Fortunately, I don't have to stray very far from home to visit the ships because I live near the Stapleton Home Port, where several of the ships are berthed. Unfortunately, thanks to the continuing war on our military by the mainstream press, the mood and morale of the visiting sailors are slightly more cautious. What a difference from one year ago, when I took a tour of the cruisers. The men I spoke to were upbeat and proud of their service. The crowds lining up to go on board the ships were friendly, eager, and appreciative of the fleet, and they were anxious to show their support. On Wednesday, I stopped outside the gate on Front Street outside the Home Port and caught a large group of young naval officers heading toward Bay Street. I flashed my press card - a big mistake - and asked if they could spare a few minutes to talk about Fleet Week. Their greeting smiles turned to wary looks and they politely hurried away from me, muttering excuses about catching a bus to the ferry. I was finally able to catch the attention of two young officers, and this time, I didn't bother showing my card until after they agreed to answer a few questions. Yes. This was their first time in New York and they were out to venture out on the town. The only information I could drag out of them was that they were with the USS Monterey. Sorry, but they couldn't tell me where they had been. I managed to learn that one man was Petty Officer Tom S. from Pensacola and his friend was Brandon L. from Akron, Ohio. I left them with a few directions to the ferry and a suggestion that they visit Times Square. I watched them walk away and I walked back to my daughter's car and drove home, passing the same group of officers who had rushed away from an interview standing at the bus stop. I don't blame those men for distrusting the press. It has become a foe as deadly as the one we're battling in Iraq and Afghanistan. My sister Rose, who's a Democrat, called me up during the endless Abu Ghraib photo releases and angrily said, "The media has sold out our country. There's nothing sacred anymore. They're giving ammunition to the lunatics who want to bring down this country." I flicked on the television and watched one young sailor being interviewed. He said the news reports bother him, but he believes the country supports the soldiers. But can we say that about New York? The professional protesters are planning to disrupt the upcoming convention in August. Some in the GOP are having misgivings about having their convention here in New York City - the belly of the liberal beast. What was apparently thought to be a brave gesture is now being thought to some insiders as foolhardy. Earlier this year, I attended a dinner where the guest speaker was Bill Harris, the CEO of the 2004 Republican Convention. He made a compelling case about how the convention will benefit the city, and anyone who's worked for the service industry after 9/11 knows how important the tourist industry is to the city. My husband is a bell captain at a large hotel and his income dropped considerably during the lean months that followed the attacks, but he was one of the lucky ones who still had a job. Now the city is finally booming again and people will be coming from all over the country to visit the greatest city in the world. Regardless of one's political affiliation, surely, one can recognize how important tourism is to so many segments of the city's working class. The television coverage of the convention will showcase the city to the nation, but what will they see? Will the TV audience see our great landmarks, or the fringe hate groups threatening protests to rival the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago? Wednesday was a sad day for me. I had to have my cat, Kiki, who was dying of feline leukemia, euthanized, and my heart wasn't really into pestering these brave sailors for sound bites. Even more depressing was watching the video that evening of the increasingly vociferous Al Gore flailing his arms, bashing the president and blaming the administration for the Abu Ghraib abuses. "Nor did these abuses spring from a few twisted minds at the lowest ranks of our military enlisted personnel," he said. "No, it came from twisted values and atrocious policies at the highest levels of our government. This was done in our name, by our leaders." Twisted values? According to Specialist First Class Ray Reynolds, of the Iowa National Guard, who recently returned from Iraq, these are just a few results of those atrocious policies: 400,000 Iraqi children immunized, 1,500 schools renovated, 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time in Iraq, 100% of hospitals are fully staffed and operational, sewer and water lines are installed in every major city, and hello, NOW, girls are allowed to attend school. Too bad we don't ever hear that side of the story. New Yorkers, the Fleet's in. Let's show them a good time.