{"product_id":"leadership-reaching-out-pulling-up-holding-on-to-stand-strong-together-9798985260731","title":"Leadership: Reaching Out, Pulling Up, Holding On, to Stand Strong Together","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eWhat is a 'Shipmate'?\u003c\/strong\u003eFORCM (SW) Thomas J. Snee, USN, (Ret)This question has often been expressed and shared with me. The '\u003cem\u003ewhite hat'\u003c\/em\u003e, as we were so often called, '\u003cem\u003ehalfcocked' \u003c\/em\u003eon the back of our heads\u003cem\u003e, \u003c\/em\u003e defined us as persons, who were always\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003esearching and looking out to sea for a new life. The right foot on the lines, not to jump or surrender, but a '\u003cem\u003eleg up' \u003c\/em\u003eon life's challenges in thought and ideas by persons we call, \u003cem\u003eSHIPMATES!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eYou see, most of us '\u003cem\u003esigned on as young men', \u003c\/em\u003efor the seas and a new adventure. We left our hometowns to create, make, and hopefully aim our '\u003cem\u003eshot line', \u003c\/em\u003einto new friendships and ports of call. No, we did not forget our hometown friends, but rather, rediscovered a whole new world. Some may think, that when our \u003cem\u003e'brows' \u003c\/em\u003ewere pulled up, we departed, but to move on, from those \u003cem\u003eanchored\u003c\/em\u003e pasts. These valued bonds were left \u003cem\u003efor other gangplanks \u003c\/em\u003ein another life. We moved on to make new and \u003cem\u003ebigger bow waves for smoother wakes, in life's high seas. \u003c\/em\u003eWe did not sign on to organizations or associations to be forgotten, with titles or positions, but as persons of dignity, value, and self-worth, or simply, as \u003cem\u003eSHIPMATES. \u003c\/em\u003e  So, when you meet that casual friend, remember, they too are persons on a \u003cem\u003esea detail\u003c\/em\u003e away from home. They were searching for a bonding as \u003cem\u003eSHIPMATES \u003c\/em\u003efor a new life. Sometimes lonely, but always, just a bonding in friendship, from the many \u003cem\u003esea tales \u003c\/em\u003eof the past, as a \u003cem\u003eSHIPMATE. \u003c\/em\u003eWe are not just another name on the rolls, but real persons, who have feelings, emotions, and needs to reconnect those \u003cem\u003eshot line crossings to each other's bows. \u003c\/em\u003eWe are, after all, and always will be, \u003cem\u003eSHIPMATES, in LEADERSHIP! \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"MindStir Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51181933560082,"sku":"9798985260731","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_bb256ad7-0a13-4a38-b2f2-b59f650ec440.jpg?v=1744409690","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/leadership-reaching-out-pulling-up-holding-on-to-stand-strong-together-9798985260731","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}