NATO, Friendship, Etc.

I’ve got this neighbor who has become a great friend. He is an Admiral in a European Navy. I knew him as a neighbor before I knew who he actually was. Unlike in D.C., we don’t ask each other what we do immediately here at the beach. We just hang out and eventually figure it out. Or not. It’s the home of the even-numbered SEAL teams, etc, so you don’t tend to ask.

A few months ago, said neighbor invited me to a NATO Bastille Day celebration at the local botanical garden. While a definite Francophile who speaks passable French, I felt a bit out of sorts with all of these people in colorful uniforms from multiple countries, speaking multiple languages. Yet I felt a sense of great calm knowing that, with Ukraine and all, NATO is stronger than ever. And I sensed a confidence in the room, along with the pride we altogether showed for France and her people, God bless them.

The other night, he had a little farewell party at his near-empty apartment downstairs. He has been reassigned to another country. I do not think I have been so sad to see someone move since my childhood best friend moved from my hometown when I was 15.

But the friendship will endure. He wrote me, “Only the mountains will not meet again.”

The bigger point is NATO. Norfolk is the home of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in America, and as such, I come across people of all kinds, every day, and it is a delight. I don’t think it is hard to figure out how valuable the alliance is in these times. Thirty independent countries, with two or maybe three on the way.

History, from Wikipedia:

The Treaty of Dunkirk was signed by France and the United Kingdom on 4 March 1947, during the aftermath of World War II and the start of the Cold War, as a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance in the event of possible attacks by Germany or the Soviet Union. In March 1948, this alliance was expanded in the Treaty of Brussels to include the Benelux countries, forming the Brussels Treaty Organization, commonly known as the Western Union.^[10] Talks for a wider military alliance, which could include North America, also began that month in the United States, where their foreign policy under the Truman Doctrine promoted international solidarity against actions they saw as communist aggression, such as the February 1948 coup d’état in Czechoslovakia. These talks resulted in the signature of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949 by the member states of the Western Union plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. Canadian diplomat Lester B. Pearson was a key author and drafter of the treaty.

And from there it grew. And it lives. On our shores, it lives here in Norfolk. It amuses me how some in recent years have belittled NATO. But one need look no further than Ukraine to know that its strength and vitality are critical and shall remain so.

At the end of the going-away party, my admiral friend gave me a firm handshake. And I felt something in my palm that I last felt from a member of SEAL Team Ten. It was a challenge coin. His personal one. I’ve only received a few, but I treasure them. It is a sign of respect that I really do not deserve. I treat them like crown jewels. It’s an extreme honor to receive a challenge coin. As I write, I have it as my side, and it almost makes me weepy.

So to my friend: safe travels, Admiral, and may God be with you. And to all NATO nations and staff: God be with you as well. Keep doing what you do, which is His work.