David E. Devine, SA
Originally published in
"To Be Someone Special - The Story of UDTra Class 29, by R. D. Russell
The
Viet Nam
memorial in Washington, D. C. is a hole in the ground and from a distance looks
like someone was trying to shore up an eroding creek bank with black rock. I
never wanted to visit it but like a lot of things in life that you swear you
will never do, I found myself standing in front of the damned thing with Ret.
Capt. Larry Bailey and Ret. Senior Chief Ty
Zellers, both of SEAL Team
TWO. Both had completed multiple combat tours in Viet Nam. I looked up
Devine’s name in the directory and it said go to panel number so and so
and read on line such and such, which I did. There, on polished black stone was
all that was officially left of our classmate “Skinner”. Ty saw the
look on my face as I stood there reading Devine’s name and he asked,
“Are you o.k., teammate?” I looked Ty in the eye and lied saying,
“Yeah, I’m fine, I just got high centered for a minute or
so.” I wouldn’t know how to explain what it feels like to look at
58,000+ names knowing that each one was just as real as Skinner and just as
loved and missed.
All of us in Class 29 were fortunate to know Skinner and serve with him in the
Teams. Treasure those memories, classmates, because Skinner deserves more
recognition and remembrances than just a few inches of space on a rock.

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Charlie Mack & David Devine
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Craig Marley, Ron Withers, David Devine
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Skinner Devine
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David Devine in foreground
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