Military Men
The Project Proposal
“I remember looking back. I didn’t have anyone else with me. I was in charge. I remember looking back and thinking: ‘holy moly there’s no one out here but me!’ “
– Myron P. Gray
“The damn fire and 20mm flak guns kept firing at us, and I thought sure as hell my number was up. “
– Myron E. McClintock
Whether you are submerged 2,000 feet beneath the ocean surface in command of an 8,000 ton ballistic missile submarine, or 6 inches deep in a sandy ditch with machine gun fire surging overhead, one of the things that most likely crosses your mind your family.
Family and ancestry are very important, and my family has given me military values that have been interwoven with our Scots-Irish ancestry throughout history. Just like my relatives quoted above, the Scots-Irish have been dealing with warfare since the very beginning.
“Their bloodline was stained by centuries of continuous warfare along the border between England and Scotland, and then in the bitter settlements of England’s Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland.”
― James Webb, Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America
The warfare that the Scots-Irish faced eventually caused many of them, like my ancestor, George McClintock to migrate to the americas. They preferred a simple life on the vast American country-side where they could make lives for themselves without any British government to tell them where to live or what to do. The founder of the my family in America, George W. McClintock, who was George McClintock’s son, did exactly this when he built his own log cabin and set up his own farm in Auglaize County, Ohio with his first wife, Margaret Steen in 1848.
Scots-Irish had been fighting in wars since the beginning of their history, and because of this they continued to fight by serving in the military in America throughout its history. This has been the case in my own family as well.
Flash forward about 150 years to my birth in 1998…
These Scots-Irish, military values have been a large part of my own upbringing. Ever since I can remember “yes sir” and “no sir” are what my brother and I have been taught to use when addressing our dad. Anything else was unacceptable and not tolerated. Although my dad is by no means insanely strict or anything, he has still always demanded respect and has kept my brother and I well-disciplined throughout our lives. This mentality stems from the way my dad was brought up as well as his personal military experience.
My dad, Michael McClintock, also grew up in a military household. His dad, Myron McClintock, served in World War II as a lieutenant commander under General Patton, and he brought home with him much of what he had learned in the military when he was raising my dad. My dad has told me many stories about how strict and hard his dad was on him at times growing up. While sometimes my dad felt that it was over the top, he now feels that he only became tougher and more self-reliant because of the way his dad was.
When my dad was 17 years old, his dad, Myron passed away. This was very hard on my dad, and he has told me that it was the most difficult time for him in his entire life. This was right before my dad graduated high school, which made it even more difficult for him as he was faced with the tough decision of what he should do with the rest of his life.
Instead of staying in Montana for college, my dad chose to venture out and attend the Merchant Marine Academy in Long Island, New York, where he could get away from home and focus on starting his own life. He often talks about how the military was really good for his maturity and provided some stability and brotherhood for him after his dad passed away.
My dad served on active duty in the navy after college for four years as an Electronic Warfare Officer and Officer of The Deck on the antisubmarine destroyer ship, the USS Joseph Hewes. He told me he loved the navy, and that he was really good at it. The only reason he left it to go to law school was because the U.S. government was trying to decrease size of its navy at the time.
My dad was greatly influenced by his dad throughout his childhood, but he was not the only strong military figure that influenced my dad’s life. When his dad passed away, my dad still had someone else he could rely on for guidance during his time at the Merchant Marine Academy and throughout the rest of his life. This person is Uncle Mike.
Captain Myron P. Gray, or “Uncle Mike” is the son of my dad’s father’s older sister, Helen McClintock Gray. Because my dad’s dad was so old when he had my dad, Uncle Mike is actually my dad’s first cousin even though he is much older than my dad and was essentially an uncle to him growing up, hence the title “Uncle Mike.”
Uncle Mike has an extensive and prestigious military background himself that played a large role in influencing my dad to not only go to the Merchant Marine Academy, but also to join the navy. Uncle Mike is a highly decorated Submarine Captain that served in the Navy for the majority of his life until he retired a few years ago. The subs that he commanded were the most badass the U.S. Navy had to offer, complete with advanced long-range nuclear missiles and every other classified tech and weaponry imaginable.
Captain Gray served on many different subs throughout his career. In order, he served on the USS John Adams, the USS Lewis and Clark, the USS Sunfish, the USS Andrew Jackson, the USS George C. Marshall, and the USS Georgia. During the prime years of his service he would spend multiple months at a time submerged beneath the surface of the Ocean carrying out secret patrols for the U.S. Navy. He needed to be ready to fire the ballistic missiles his ships carried at a moment’s notice. In 1981, he became the Antisubmarine Warfare Officer on the Staff of Commander, Sixth Fleet, which basically meant he was in charge of an entire fleet of subs. The sea stories he has could rival any stories of anyone anywhere, and it is for this and other reasons that I have chosen to interview him.
I thought that Uncle Mike would be the perfect person to interview not only because of his navy background, which connects well with my Scotch-Irish heritage, but also because he is the only person alive that can tell me extensively about what my grandfather, Myron was like before my dad was born. I have obviously never met my grandfather, and I am very curious to find out what Uncle Mike will have to say about him.
Since my grandfather served as a lieutenant commander in World War II, I am sure he had a significant influence on Uncle Mike when he was growing up as well as on my dad. I am very interested to see how my grandpa’s military career influenced Uncle Mike’s, and how both of their military career’s influenced my dad’s.
Interview Questions
- What was your household like growing up in terms of values? What was the value system you grew up with?
- Did you go to church growing up? If so, what kind of church did you guys go to?
- Do you know why your parents chose to go to a Presbyterian as opposed to another church?
- Are you aware at all of your Scots-Irish ancestry? Do you think it has affected your life in any way that you know of?
- Did you have any older relatives that served in the military that influenced you growing up? If so, how did they influence you?
- When did you first know you wanted to serve in the navy?
- Could you outline your navy career for me?
- Can you take me through a day to day on the sub? What is it like out there on the subs?
- How many guys total are on the crew of the subs you were on?
- What was my grandpa, Myron like as a person? What do you remember about him?
- How in your eyes were you mentor to my dad at the Merchant Marine Academy and going through his navy career?
Working Bibliography
Leyburn, James. “The Scotch-Irish.” AMERICAN HERITAGE, 1970, www.americanheritage.com/.
McLaglen, Andrew V., director. McLintock! YouTube, YouTube, 9 Mar. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9wNbD7wJrQ.
“20 Million Members Have Connected To a Deeper Family Story.” Ancestry, www.ancestry.com/.
Thernstrom, Stephan. “Scotch-Irish.” Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press, 1994, pp. 895–916.
Webb, James. Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America. Mainstream Digital, 2011.
