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Who we swim for...

I've had the privilege to honor the following fallen Navy SEALS over the past three Tampa Bay Frogman Swims:

- 2016 HMCS (SEAL) Theodore Fitzhenry
- 2017 CDR (SEAL) Job Price
- 2018 SOC (SEAL) Chris Kyle

And this year is even more special. Why? First off, there's a bit of pertinent family history. I joined the Army in 1972 to become a cryptographic technician. (The Army Signal School produced about 200 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine cryptographic techs per year during that time frame. And the technology has evolved very rapidly since then.)  After I got out of the service, my sister Kathleen joined the Army and became a "ditty bopper", slang for a Morse Code intercept operator (think Military Intelligence for radio communications).

After a long-ish while in school Kathleen wound up in Berlin, when it was still East/West. One of her buddies was Diana Pike. Diana had a son, Christian Michael, born the day before Kathleen's birthday in 1981.

Christian would, like Kathleen's son, my nephew, grow to join the military. Christian joined the Navy and became a cryptographic technician, then a SEAL. It is interesting to note that of the ~100 SEALS we honor, only a handful are CTC or cryptographic technicians.

Tomorrow I'll be swimming to honor CTC (SEAL) Christian Michael Pike. See https://stationhypo.com/2018/11/19/remembering-cttc-christian-m-pike-kia-afghanistan/ for more details about CTC Pike.

It is an honor to dedicate this swim to a fellow cryptographic tech. And so much more.

Farewell & following seas.

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