NEPTUNUS LEX - Captain Carroll LeFon, US Navy Retired - RIP

A year ago, we lost one of our best shipmates -

And we are still trying to understand why but the Good Lord must have needed him in Heaven

Here's my post from a year ago -

Thanks again Cap for all you contributed to our lives and our country.  You are missed.

NEPTUNUS LEX - Captain Carroll LeFon, US Navy Retired - He belongs to the ages - (1960-2012)

 

The world lost more than one hero yesterday.

Captain Carroll LeFon, US Navy retired died in a plane accident flying a Israeli Kfir for a military contractor when his jet crashed outside Fallon Air Base in Nevada.

He was known to many in the Navy but many others from his well read blog, Neptunus Lex.
http://www.neptunuslex.com/
He is the main reason I started writing here at US Navy Jeep. He inspired me to want to be more like him and to share the leadership lessons we had experienced in our military careers and life.

As I had written in an earlier posting, "It can all change in an instant..."; None of us are guaranteed anything. Capt LeFon was doing exactly what he loved, flying. He had a difficult day with his plane the day before when his drag chute failed to deploy....He wrote about it in his normal enlightened prose and made light of it. The next day, he was gone.

Our world is a little less bright and enlightened by his loss. He made us think, lead by example and shared the virtues of a cold glass of Guinness. We will not see his like on this earth again.

It is somewhat prophetic that I was watching " The Search for Spock " last night, which deals with the bond between Kirk and Spock and how Captain Kirk finds a way to overcome the death of his friend...In real life, we do not have such ability.

I share in the loss of our Shipmate, Captain Carroll LeFon, Neptunus Lex. All our prayers and sympathies to his wife and children.

In tribute to our beloved shipmate, I would share the words of Pericles who delivered a funeral oration that paid tribute to his men.

" I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast.

The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed. For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men."Pericles - In tribute to his soldiers after first battles of the Peloponnesian war

Rest Easy CAP, we have the watch. Fair Winds and Following Seas.

Submerged fame

Mark Twain's words reminded me of a departed shipmate, Captain Carroll LeFon, lost to us a week ago. I posted these words on his Milblog a while back as they reminded me of him when I read them.

Now they bring his memory to us again, as he has been taken from us all too soon.

Fair Winds and Following Seas Shipmate.


" Robert Louis Stevenson and I, sitting in Union Square and Washington Square a great many years ago, tried to find a name for, the submerged fame, that fame that permeates the great crowd of people you never see and never mingle with; people with whom you have no speech, but who read your books and become admirers of your work and have an affection for you.

You may never find it out in the world, but there it is, and it is the faithfulness of the friendship, of the homage of those men, never criticizing, that began when they were children. They have nothing but compliments, they never see the criticisms, they never hear any disparagement of you, and you will remain in the home of their hearts' affection forever and ever. And Louis Stevenson and I decided that of all fame, that was the best, the very best."

- Mark Twain, 11 January 1908

THUNDER ROAD - Raise a Glass of Guinness ( For Strength !) to our shipmate Captain Carroll LeFon

In tribute to the loss of our good friend, NEPTUNUS LEX, I post this epic performance by Bruce Springsteen...Thunder Road LIVE.

Lex would have wanted us to raise a glass of Guinness ( For Strength !) and remember the good times shared among shipmates.

I will do so this evening along with a fine cigar in his honor.

" Oh oh, come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh oh oh, Thunder Road
Oh, Thunder Road, oh, Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey, I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh oh, Thunder Road
Sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road..."

NEPTUNUS LEX - Captain Carroll LeFon, US Navy Retired- He belongs to the ages - (1960-2012)

The world lost more than one hero yesterday.

Captain Carroll LeFon, US Navy retired died in a plane accident flying a Israeli Kfir for a military contractor when his jet crashed outside Fallon Air Base in Nevada.

He was known to many in the Navy but many others from his well read blog, Neptunus Lex.
http://www.neptunuslex.com/

He is the main reason I started writing here at US Navy Jeep. He inspired me to want to be more like him and to share the leadership lessons we had experienced in our military careers and life.

As I had written in an earlier posting, "It can all change in an instant..."; None of us are guaranteed anything. Capt LeFon was doing exactly what he loved, flying. He had a difficult day with his plane the day before when his drag chute failed to deploy....He wrote about it in his normal enlightened prose and made light of it. The next day, he was gone.

Our world is a little less bright and enlightened by his loss. He made us think, lead by example and shared the virtues of a cold glass of Guinness. We will not see his like on this earth again.

It is somewhat prophetic that I was watching " The Search for Spock " last night, which deals with the bond between Kirk and Spock and how Captain Kirk finds a way to overcome the death of his friend...In real life, we do not have such ability.

I share in the loss of our Shipmate, Captain Carroll LeFon, Neptunus Lex. All our prayers and sympathies to his wife and children.

In tribute to our beloved shipmate, I would share the words of Pericles who delivered a funeral oration that paid tribute to his men.

" I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast.

The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed. For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men."

Pericles - In tribute to his soldiers after first battles of the Peloponnesian war

Rest Easy CAP, we have the watch. Fair Winds and Following Seas.