Sad news, friends. CDR Richard Gragg, USN-Ret., ended his gallant fight against cancer yesterday. His battle was tough and long. His was the second name posted on the Naval Intelligence Professionals Binnacle list in 2016.

Rich was a shipmate from USS Midway days. A bit more about that shortly. He had a successful career in uniform, and later a solid one in civvies working with the Defense Information Systems Agency, helping the new technologies migrate from the scientific and business worlds to the less forgiving one of combat systems on which lives depended. He was one of the pillars of continuity in our crazy world, the “go-to” guy for years as many of us attempted to understand how it all works. Rich was one of the men who knew.

His distinguished naval career included service all over the world, intelligence and diplomatic, and on retirement specializing in Information Technology and communications. His lovely wife Miyumi could use your thoughts and prayers as he ends his part in the courageous fight in which they both struggled together.

I met Rich in a shuddering steel office on the 0-2 level of the Midway, operating off the Japanese coast southeast of Tokyo. He was crisp and efficient, and wore a dry smile that let you know he realized everything was as crazy as it looked. It was only a few steps past the first ones I trod on a man-of-war underway. Rich was in khakis, the florescent light blue-tinged and pouring over paperwork that needed to be done that day, plowing through green sea or not. That was more than forty years ago, a couple worlds away from the one we inhabit today.

There is something special about all of the old Midway gang. She was home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan, and orders to join her meant an exotic couple years away from the more familiar chaos of Stateside. Our little group included aviators, meteorologists, ship drivers, intel bubbas and a hoard more. We were close. It was not unusual to slide into a seat in the Dirty Shirt Wardroom below the hangar bay and casually ask the CHENG (Chief Engineer) how the water was doing, or look over the at Rich and ask how the new technologies were going to change our world.

Midway was a unique environment where everyone had to work together, and we took pride in the efficiency and lethality we could produce faster than anyone else. That experience kept me in the Navy, and it was because of men as talented and good to be around as Rich Gragg. I am going to miss him a lot. Please keep Miyumi in your thoughts and prayers. She is a major part of the astonishing crew that made up the Midway Foreign Legion. God rest you, Rich, and all power to you, Miyumi.

She exemplifies the best of two cultures. She travelled extensively and moved nine times supporting Rich’s Navy and diplomatic assignments. Her children were products of both public and private schools and participated in county sports and recreation. Around multiple family commitments, she earned the coveted GRI designation and also completed the requirements for the SRES certification to assist the ever growing seniors market. Miyumi is one of Northern Virginia’s most dynamic realtors- if you need quality help in these stressful times 703-624-9023 (cell) or 703-451-9797 (office).

For those still on this side of the Big River, Rich had been fighting the same treacherous disease that afflicted four of our former senior naval intelligence officers. The team at Johns Hopkins University Hospital went out for all of them. Please give a thought to supporting them. Additional details on Rich’s service will be forthcoming as Miyumi decides.
For Rich: See you at Fleet Landing on the other shore. Till then, Rest In Peace, Shipmate.

Copyright 2020 Vic Socotra
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