Fair Winds & Following Seas, Tom Epting

Got word last night that shipmate Tom Epting passed away on Christmas Day, six days before his 84th birthday.

Tom lived in beautiful, quiet little Belton, S.C., and we had the pleasure of visiting him four or five times in the last nine years. In addition, he and I talked on the phone several times a year, just about quarterly, I believe.

Tom and I served aboard the USS LSM 435, an amphibious ship that we helped to commission in 1944. There were 50 of us in the crew plus five officers. Tom worked in the engine room, while my signalman’s duty was up on the conning tower.

We could not say that we remembered each other all that well, because our work stations, our duties, and our “watches” were so far apart. We got to know each other considerably better in our recent lives. It was pleasant, meaningful, and touching to create a new friendship out of a dim history that went back 60 years.

We shall miss Tom and his warm, generous hospitality. He was a model of true, southern manners and grace.

The expression “Fair winds and following seas” is a sort of wish, or toast, usually to a retiring sailor, that he would have a safe voyage, with wind enough for speed to his destination, and current enough for smooth travel. Nobody earned it more than Tom. Farewell, faithful shipmate.