Navy Sailors Share Insights With Ranger School Students

Three sailors from  heard from curious third graders at  on Wednesday, while they demonstrated the proper way to fold the American flag. The visit marked one of many this week around Newport County for Navy Week, which is being celebrated from Sept. 24 to Oct. 2 throughout New England.

Dressed in their whites, First Class Petty Officer Chris Stoots, Second Class Petty Officer Nora Duran and Second Class Petty Officer Derrico Cathey folded a 38-inch by 20-inch American flag for the class and answered flurries of questions during their visit. All three are also ranked as "culinary specialists" and have been serving 11, 12 and 10 years, respectively. The flag they brought to school was from the station's funeral team.

"The flag is presented to those who lost somebody," Stoots said to students. "It's presented to someone with the stars and stripes [out] instead of red."

He said the red stripes of the flag are never presented facing outward because there's "already been enough blood spilled."

A recurring question throughout the morning was what happens if the American flag touches the ground.

"It's disrespectful," Stoots said. "Some people put their lives on the line to make sure it stays here. All of you probably have someone in your life that fought for this."

Students asked a range of other questions.

"Are your outfits comfortable?"

"Have you guys ever played Battleship?"

"How do you make your own air in the submarine? Do you go 'huff, huff, huff?'" That one was followed by a round of giggles.

The sailors said they go underwater for sometimes as long as 18 hours and sleep in extremely cramped quarters. Stoots said he spent over 60 days underwater during a three-and-a-half month trip out to sea.

"You come up from being underwater and the whole world has changed," he said. "We were under ice for 90 days. We have no cable or internet."

He noted that "machines" power how they get oxygen underwater, and there's approximately 275,000 active sailors in the Navy.

Denise Truver, a third grade teacher, said she thought the visit was fun and noted that she often nags her students about etiquette, so she thought the Navy officers' presentation about the flag was timely. She said children often only hear about the military in the media when it is about war and bad news.

"But it's moms, dads, brothers and sisters in a real life setting," she said about the classroom visits. "We need that purpose."