'CRANK' or 'Horse'

This is a memorial for people to leave thoughts, stories, and condolences about my brother, a U.S. Navy helo pilot who left us way too early. Godspeed bro! My family would like to thank all of you who visit, who knew my brother, who served with him, who flew with him, and encouraged him. He was loved by many, but I was proud to call him brother.

A special thanks to everybody at HSC-25 for their support and their wives for supporting my brother's wife through this tragedy. I'd also like to thank Guam Fire Dept. SAR, Guam Police Dept., the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas.

Please leave comments, stories, and pictures by emailing them to shaunhescock@comcast.net. I will create posts out of them. Please also leave your name. Thank you.

The letter I prepared for Christian's Memorial

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being here at this memorial to my brother, Lt. Christian John Hescock. I am sorry that I could not attend.

I loved my brother very much and I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of him and his various accomplishments throughout the years.

When I think of my brother I can’t help but think of the US Navy, and all the opportunities the Navy has given him. They took a gawky kid, who had some rough talent and forged him into a man drawing those various rough talents to the surface and molding him into the sailor and officer we all knew. To me, the US Navy and my brother represent four qualities: Excellence, duty, honor, sacrifice.

All of you here today have sacrificed to get where you are. The duties and missions you undertake are dangerous in nature and there is a real chance that you may not make it home. You know this, but you persevere and do your duty anyway. You all have my sincere admiration. You are all part of an amazing tradition of excellence, duty, honor, and sacrifice that harkens back to the birth of our nation. You make manifest the vision that President Abraham Lincoln had on November 19, 1863 when he spoke these famous words…

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Our Union is a legacy that the men and women of the US Navy have helped keep alive since October 13, 1775. You are all a part of that legacy, I am proud that my brother is also a part of that great tradition.

I can only hope that his memory and his life will inspire you and drive you to excellence in your careers and your lives. Live them to the fullest.

In conclusion, please let me say that I would like to tell my sister-in-law Ruth that I love you very much and though we didn’t spend a lot of time together, I think of you very highly. My brother was the fortunate one in the relationship and there was no doubt in my mind when I met you that you were the one for him.

Pete & Peggy Lance, my brother loved you both very much and I always felt like I was a part of your family as well. Thank you for your support and your love for my brother.

I would like to recognize Jonathon Fletcher and Thomas Butts. You were more than just friends to my brother. You were his brothers and he loved you both as such. I ought to know.

I would also like to thank LCDR David Orlosky, LCDR Bruce Nolan, & Commander Pat Everly for taking care of Ruth and my brother and for being there for our family day or night.

Thank you to the Navy wives, you are the cornerstone that keeps the home fires burning and you give your spouses the peace of mind to concentrate on their duties. Thank you for being there for Ruth. You are all outstanding.

I'd also like to thank Guam Fire Dept. Search and Rescue, Guam Police Dept., the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Marianas.

Thank you HSC-25 (Two Five) for your input on my brother’s memorial site, for your kind words, for your pictures, stories, thoughts, and prayers. HSC-25 will have a special place in my heart.

May God bless you all and keep you safe through your various deployments and assignments. I salute all of you.

Shaun Hescock

Go Island Knights

Go Navy

Hoorah!!

My Brother's Helo Goes Down - My brother, LT Christian Hescock is dead.

Sept. 24, 2007, 10:26PM
Navy helicopter crash in Guam kills 1. Three other crew members injured.

HAGATNA, Guam — A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed late Monday during a training mission in Guam, killing one of four people on board, the Navy said.

The helicopter from the Sea Combat 25 squadron crashed into the Fena Reservoir on Navy property near Naval Magazine in Santa Rita.

Three members of the crew were rescued and transported to the island territory's Navy hospital. Lt. Donnell Evans, a Navy spokesman, said one crew member had a broken arm while the other two were treated for minor injuries.

The body of the fourth crew member was recovered from the water, Guam Fire Department spokesman Angel Llagas said. The names of the crew members were not released.

The helicopter squadron in Guam is the Navy's only one of its type. Its mission includes resupplying ships and providing 24-hour search and rescue and evacuation services for the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Navy identifies crew member who died in Guam helicopter crash
By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition,
The Navy has identified the crewmember killed in Monday night’s helicopter crash on U.S. Naval Base Guam.
Lt. Christian Hescock, 34, died about two hours after the MH-60 Seahawk crashed into Fena Reservoir at about 10:30 p.m., during a training mission, said Lt. Donnell Evans, a Naval Base Guam spokesman.
Hescock, whose position was not released, was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.
Evans said the remaining three crewmembers, all men, were hurt in the crash, including a 27-year-old who suffered a dislocated shoulder. The other two, identified only as being ages 27 and 20, sustained minor injuries.
All were treated at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. Evans could not confirm Tuesday whether any of the servicemembers had been released.
The helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, stationed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
Evans said Tuesday he had no more details on the cause of the crash.
“Right now, we’re still in the recovery and investigative phases,” he said. “The majority of the aircraft is submerged. … Once we’re able to recover the aircraft, we can start the investigation.”
Evans said a memorial service for Hescock may be held in the coming days.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Family Pics

Picture of my grandfather Robert "Bob" Ganjian with my brother.







CJ, Critter, Crit, the "frog" are different names we used to call Christian. I still called him "Crit" just not in front of people he knew or worked with. I think I did it once down at North Island and his eyes got really big and he snarled and said, "DUDE! Not here!!" I could have made a fortune with that knowledge on the Essex. Here's a pic of us when we were growing up 70's style.

Service Pictures

I think the first picture is a pic aboard the USS Essex, but I'm not sure. I'm sure Fletcher knows.






The second pic is Christian doing what he did best...keeping the bench warm.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Appreciation



Jonathan Kline sent me a couple photos to post. Thanks Jonathan. I really do appreciate it.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Jonathan Kline

Shaun,

The picture was from LT Pete Martino who was one of Christian's instructors in San Diego when he went through as a crewman and rescue swimmer. Pete is the guy in khaki's in the picture.

The story. Definitely my favorite memory of being in the Navy. I remember that Christian told me he sent you an e-mail about it right after it happened. It was the time he got stuck in Indonesia when he lost his passport. I remember it like it was yesterday. The scene of walking into the police station to file the police report was like something out of a 'B' movie -- you know, where the ceiling fan only has one blade, there are no lights on, and the furniture is plain wood block furniture with no cushions or upholstery. And everything is brown. our tour guide - Marlon Brando - had to act as our interpreter. The cops were so back-woods that when they were typing the report, they had to go to the safe to pull out a sheet of carbon paper. since the immigration office was closed, we finished the tour and the guide took us to a hotel to spend the night. See, the Indonesians wouldn't let him on the ferry to get back to Singapore because they were afraid Singapore wouldn't let him in without a passport, and then he would be stuck on the ferry because Indonesia immigration wouldn't let him back in either.

I was a young LT, married with a kid, and had just bought a house a month before we deployed -- i had no money. Christian was an E-5 at the time, so we were both sweating paying for the extra night and all that might go with the adventure since we didn't know what would happen when we finally got into the immigration office -- were we going to have to fly to Jakarta to go to the embassy, were they going to arrest him, were we going to miss the ship leaving Singapore...all sorts of crazy thoughts. So that night, we decide to go back to the mall where he thought he had lost the passport. It was just down the street from the hotel, so we went out front to catch a taxi. of course, at night in that part of Indonesia, there are two kinds of taxis -- legal and illegal. The legal ones have the little things that you expect -- meters, windows, floors. The illegal ones -- well, they're a little more exciting. By the time we were ready to head out, it was getting dark, and the illegal ones had pretty much turned into rolling brothels. While we were standing by the side of the road, we were probably propositioned 10 times -- "American, American -- you want good time?" Of course, we politely said no and waited for a taxi that didn't offer a 'happy ending'. So when we finally got in, we realize that we only have 10,000 rupiah between the two of us (the exchange rate was 15,000 rupiah to the dollar at that time -- it's only 9,500 now). So we say to the cabbie and his buddy in the front seat "10,000. Only 10,000." From what we understood, they agreed. So we got in and went down to the mall. When we get there, he wants 15,000 and we end up arguing about it until Christian shoves him the money and we decide to just 'melt' into the crowd. two Americans, 6 feet tall, melting into the crowd in Indonesia is a pretty difficult thing to do. Fortunately, they didn't pursue. Ands then we realized that we had just screwed them out of about 33 cents. Could have pulled a dollar out and thrown it to them and they'd have been thrilled. But oh well, too late now.

So we're at the mall looking for his passport and decide to get dinner and do some souvenir shopping. We finish dinner, buy our little trinkets and can't find the passport, so we decide we'll just walk back to the hotel instead of dealing with another cabbie. Along the way, we are passing a bar and decide to check it out. Well, turns out that the illegal cabs aren't the only things that turn into brothels after sunset. So we turn around and walk out and continue back to the hotel to go to the lounge to drink our beers. That turned out pretty good -- we had two or three Japanese couples in the lounge singing karaoke, so they provided plenty of entertainment, and the beer was cold.

The next morning, we get ready to check out, with no idea how much it was going to cost. Christian was pretty appreciative of the fact that I had stayed behind with him, so he offered that he would pay for the whole thing. i told him to just put it on his card and I would get him some cash when we got back to the boat. So he goes to the counter to pay and comes back with this huge grin on his face. The night at the hotel -- which was like your typical marriott or Ramada, had cost something like $19. So we figured that the hotel, dinner, beer and souvenir shopping had cost a total of about $50 for both of us. After paying, he says to me "if i had known how cheap this was going to be, i would have drank more beer last night and enjoyed myself!"

The end was pretty uneventful. We got to the immigration office, they gave him paperwork as an affidavit of a lost passport that would let him leave Indonesia and that the Singapore authorities would accept for him to get back in over there, and we caught the next boat back. turns out, of course, that all Singapore requires for US servicemembers is a valid military ID. Who knew? He was pretty scared when we got back to the boat because the whole boat knew what had happened (the ship's lawyer had been on the tour with us and reported back to the amphib group commander and staff). Christian had to go to the embassy to report the loss of his passport and get a new one, and i think he had to do a lecture of some sort about being responsible while on liberty. The boss also threatened to withhold his application for Seaman to Admiral (she was joking, of course, but she wanted him to sweat a little because he was generally irreverent about getting into trouble because it just didn't happen to him. She was trying to make a point that he had almost caused an international incident). He ended up getting selected for the program about a month later.

all in all, not a crazy story of drunken stupidity or youthful indiscretions -- just a story that makes me smile. The enduring part of it, for me, is the image of the police station and the cop pulling the carbon paper out of the safe. And of course, the argument over 33 cents with the cabbie.

I am going to look for some more pictures, including ones from that deployment, and will forward what I can find to you.

thanks for reminding me of the story. makes me smile every time i think about it.
Jon