If I could eat dinner with three of my faves, I would call up Admiral Yi, John Paul Jones, and Admiral Flucky. We would meet at the Garret Station, getting a booth with a view of the TV to watch the Sharks game. I’d be sitting next to Admiral Flucky, with Yi sitting next to Jones across from us. We’d break the ice, just introduce ourselves: where we are from, and some of our favorite vessels.
After the ice has been broken, and a bucket of wings arrives for the table, I’d start to interview the three of them. I’d ask Yi, “What drove you to keep fighting, even after you had been stabbed in the back, tortured by your apparent friends?” I’d ask him how he had the strength to keep fighting away the Japanese invaders after losing a majority of his warships due to the negligence of a superior officer. Finally, I would ask him, “What gave you the courage to charge an enemy fleet with superior ships, weapons, and numbers, and after getting shot, continue the charge until you die?”
After hearing Yi’s harrowing tales, and the entrees arriving at the table, I’d ask Jones, what gave you the courage to get into a broadside with superior ships, against ships that were stronger and bigger? What has given you the tenacity to make a new American flag on the spot to make a deal with the Dutch? And most importantly, if he had any advice, to make the most out of life, and live to the fullest?
After listening to Jones’ pure luck and skill, dessert would arrive at the table, and I’d ask Flucky, what gave you the courage to take live torpedoes and make them more sensitive while being underwater? What was the conversation like while debating whether or not to charge a Japanese beach with a cook and a nurse, with no backup and under-strength weapons? What gave him the sheer audacity to ask the navy to put rocket launchers on top of the submarine, despite it never being thought of before?
My conversation with these three naval legends would be amazing, if only it could happen in real life!