Adm. William H. McRaven (USN, Retired) has written a very good book. His experiences alone are admirable and worthy of praise. However, what got me most involved in the book were his tales of growing up in San Antonio, Texas.
“Sea Stories” not only let me learn about his life of service and duty, but also brought back some of my own memories. It is a book that I felt involved in, even if it was tangentially.
Below is the full quote of the sentence I used in the headline.
“I realized that life is actually pretty simple. Help as many people as you can. Make as many friends as you can. Work as hard as you can. And, no matter what happens, never quit!”
“Sea Stories”, pg. 333
San Antonio, Texas was at a 300-mile drive from Monterrey, Mexico or a 40-minute flight on the now defunct Mexicana Airlines. My father had banking relations in San Antonio and ties to the Incarnate Word College, to which my grandmother was relocated as a child during the 1910 Mexican Revolution.
San Antonio was a place I visited often from Monterrey and later moved to for college. I graduated from UTSA and lived there for more than 30 years, having businesses in both cities.
“In my journey, I found that there was always someone better than me: someone smarter, stronger, faster, harder-working, more talented, more driven, more honest, more pious—just better than I was. It was humbling, but at the same time immensely reassuring.”
“Sea Stories”, pg. 332
Cheers to those that make history, and write about it.
