Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Meagan Christoph | The camaraderie connection...Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Cameron Wink meets and...... read more read more
A black, navy chief flag was taped to the wall of a hospital room.
A small table filled with challenge coins and chief fouled anchors lay next to a bed at Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) occupied by retired Senior Chief Fire Control Technician John Meyers.
The flag and the coins belonged to Meyers who had come to spend his final days.
“His health unfortunately took a decline,” said Lt Cmdr. Michael Dore, Meyer’s physician at NHB. “He had a condition that wasn’t going to be cured. We were talking and his wish was to be here at the naval hospital. I said ‘okay, I think we can make that happen.’”
Meyers wanted to spend his final days among his Navy family passing down wisdom, sharing stories, and connecting with Sailors.
“It’s a reminder that his Navy family is important to him,” said Nina Fakkema, Meyer’s daughter. “He feels at peace and is comfortable here.”
When the NHB Chiefs Mess got word from Dr. Dore that Meyers was at the hospital, they all came together and brought him the flag, anchors and coins that Meyers had next to him during his stay.
“We were all waiting for him to get admitted,” said Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Cameron Wink. “Once we got the word he was there it gave us a lot of pride to come together and spend time with him. We gave him a couple of gifts and we hung the chief flag up in his room.”
The flag, a small token of gratitude, was signed by the chiefs’ mess with words of well wishes.
“He asked if the flag was a loaner,” said Chief Hospital Corpsman Andrew Dye, NHB Urgent Care Clinic leading chief petty officer. “I told him it’s his and he can take it wherever he wants. It was only right that if he was going to be here that he had his anchors with him.”
Although the staff at NHB provided over a decade of care for Meyers after he retired from the Navy in 1976, Meyers unknowingly provided wisdom for all those - active duty and civil service alike - he interacted with during the time he spent at NHB.
Meyers prided himself on making people laugh and impacting everyone he came in contact with.
“His goal each day was to be sure I laughed at least once,” said his caregiver, Sharon Dommermuth. “When I did, he would pride himself and comment, ‘I did my job for today.’”
Making the NHB Chiefs Mess laugh and Sailors he interacted with while he stayed at NHB was certainly accomplished.
“The best memory of him was from the day when the chiefs came by to talk to him,” said Dale Fakkema, Meyer’s son in law. “They let him hold court for a few hours which was quite awesome.”
Meyers’ time with NHB Chiefs Mess left an impact on them that has gone beyond their work at the hospital.
“I was very moved that he wanted to pass away here,” said Wink. “It’s been a busy time of the year right now and I’ve been working late and it meant a lot to hear him say your family has to come first. It kind of hit the reset button. The rest of the week I’ve been coming in to work a little later so I can put my son on the bus. He’s a freshman in high school. I’ve been driving him down to the bus stop at the end of the hill and telling him to have a good day and making sure that he remembers that we’re still here even though I go to work at six and get home at six.”
Meyers and his family was overwhelmed and thankful for the support and care they received from the hospital.
“He (Meyers) said after the chiefs mess left that it was enjoyable and meaningful,” said Nina Fakkema.
Meyers retired when his daughter was six or seven years old. She knew very little memories of his time in the Navy, but knows that it has greatly influenced him.
“For me it reminded me of this whole other life he had before I was really, really aware,” said Fakkema. “The connections and relationships that he has had and lost and the experiences he has had helped him grow. He spent 21 years growing up in the Navy.”
For Meyers’ surviving family members, as well as NHB’s Chiefs Mess, the connections and relationships that he fostered and grew in his time in the Navy were a reminder for all Sailors, young and old, that once a Sailor, you’re always a Sailor.
“You’re never alone in the military, which is one of the unique things, because most civilian jobs are not like that,” said Wink. “People should own that more and be appreciative of that kind of thing. But it’s hard especially for junior Sailors. They don’t want to ask for help or they think people are going to make fun of them and call them weak or something like that, and that’s not the case.”
After the chiefs mess visit, other staff members also took time to stop by and extend greetings to him and his family.
Several days later, he passed on.
Just where he wanted to be at the end.
Dr. Ronald F. Dommermuth, former NHB director of medical services and Family Medicine Residency program director who provided care to Meyers for over 20 years, commented that he ‘honestly could not recall an occasion of care that was so well constructed or had more impact.’
In communicating to Capt. Shannon J. Johnson, NHB commanding officer, Dommermuth wrote, ‘John was a patient of mine for over 20 years. When I moved to Harrison Medical Center, John wanted to stay with his Navy roots. He was very fortunate to ultimately end up having Dr. Dore provide his care. John’s last six months have been exceptionally difficult for him and his family. Dr. Dore time and again went beyond all imaginable expectations to coordinate care for Senior and his family. John continued to lose independence and ultimately sought hospice care.’
‘When Dr. Dore learned of this, he offered the family exactly what they had hoped for, (which was) an opportunity to spend his last days connected to his Navy roots.
‘That evening Dr. Dore, and I suspect the Command Master Chief, organized one final chief muster for John. His daughter told me 20 chiefs were mobilized within an hour or so of his arrival. They spent time with John that night and provided him and his family the signed Chief flag. Sea stories were told. There was laughter and tears. John’s daughter Nina told me she heard stories of her father’s Navy time that she had never heard before.’
‘I am sure it was difficult to decide to offer a service that really had not previously been done. Your nurses and corpsman - I wish I could name them all – did an amazing job. Senior and his family could not possibly have felt more supported or even imagined a more perfect piping ashore for one last time.’
“I could not be more proud and grateful for the tremendous competence and compassion displayed while Senior Chief Meyers and his family were entrusted to jour care. I appreciate your willingness to go above and beyond, and to find a way to yes, to accommodate the wishes of senior chief and his family. They wanted to be with their Navy Family as senior chief transitioned, and clearly they found that caring Navy Family, here at our hospital. Thank you for all the ways your honored his life of service and offered comfort,” stated Johnson.
Although Meyers is no longer with us physically, more than one staff member will readily admit that his spirit and lessons will live on at NHB.
“He very much reminds me as we chat about his life and my life to take care of your people,” said Dr. Dore. “I try to take that to heart, but sometimes I don’t always live up to his expectations. He squares me away as he should and as many chiefs have done before and will continue to do. Senior chief like most chiefs sort of humbly say, ‘sir that’s my job.”
| Date Taken: | 09.23.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2019 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 344339 |
| Location: | BREMERTON , WA, US |
| Web Views: | 868 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Once a Sailor always a Sailor: retired senior chief spends final days at NHB, by PO3 Meagan Christoph, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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