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.

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

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