Last Saturday and Sunday I spent my time walking, climbing and crawling through the entirety of the USS Salem with a local Cub Scout Pack. The ship, docked in Quincy, Massachusetts, is the last of a proud series of Des Moines class cruisers which provided speed and muscle to the US Navy during the first years of the Cold War.

The Cubs, so cute in their uniforms, learned about knot tying, cold weather survival and how to treat the wounded. They also learned about life inside metal walls that are constantly in motion.

By far the most long lasting lesson, whether the boys and girls understood it or not, came by way of a no nonsense Senior Chief. Senior Chief Tate met his “sailors” in the aft engine room, three decks below the main deck.

Interspersed among his views on the world, the Navy, the state of affairs, Senior Chief Tate quizzed the Cubs on how to make steam to make the ship move. He wanted to know temperatures and which valve to turn. He was tough, but he also discussed the ship and its role in the fleet.

The Senior Chief even demonstrated to the youngsters their potential role in the larger world. “You’re the group from that town near Bath, Maine, right?” He then said, “Well we always knew the ships that came from Bath, they were good. We knew we were in good hands. They never let us down. They were built well.”

For the Scouts that were surrounded by all of the sights and sounds of a large engine room the comments may have gotten lost. However, I filed that little nugget away for use with my own sons who were intently staring at the valves and gauges, switches and throttles in the Engine Room. Filed it away to be used later to make a point.

Deeper still into the ship there was a small room that documented some of the vessels that had docked at the Quincy Shipyard or had an impact from New England. Many of the ships hailed from Bath Iron Works. These documents shared the details of ships long since taken out of service but who had played a vital role in our defense and the defense of our allies.

One such ship, the USS Edson, brought home to me the idea of local works and global impact. The Edson was launched in 1958 from Bath and served for more than 30 years all over the world. The documents showed that the Edson served with distinction in the waters off Vietnam during the conflict there.

It is possible, indeed probable, that my Grandfather, Elmer Moore had a hand in crafting the USS Edson. He went to work at BIW as a teenager in the early 1940’s. And for four decades he, like the thousands around him, went to work each day to provide for his family and to make a better ship. Whether they were pipe fitters, welders, crane operators, painters or countless others, each person poured their efforts into making the ships that the Senior Chief would come to know as Bath ships, as good ships.

These men, and women, had local work but made for a global impact. An undeniable legacy.

The real lesson is not that you need to be recognized for doing great things. Doing your best to be the best that you can be in whatever it is that you choose to do is the best goal that you can have. Your personal recognition comes from knowing that you made a difference and made things better for someone out there.

The Cub Scouts will eventually go off and begin their journey anew, free of that which ties them together in this moment. Going forward, it will be upon them to find their purpose and, in some small way, leave their mark on the lives of people they will never meet or know. I hope that in thirty, forty years there is someone like the Senior Chief who can say that the work that each of the Scouts has done has made an impact, locally, maybe beyond.

If each of the Scouts can have an impact they will have done their part to help carry on a tradition of good works that will live on. Good luck living up to that legacy Scouts.

That’s my two cents…

Jonathan Crimmins lives in Brunswick and can be reached at j_ crimmins@hotmail.com.