I made a little girl cry today

[shadetreewelder]

I almost said that and then I thought, nahh...nobody'll know what a BZ is! USCG or USN?

USN, HT2(SW) '85-'91

Bravo Zulu is a naval signal, conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning "Well Done"; it has also passed into the spoken and written vocabulary. It can be combined with the "negative" signal, spoken or written NEGAT, to say "NEGAT Bravo Zulu", or "not well done".

There are some myths and legends attached to this signal. The one most frequently heard has Admiral "Bull" Halsey sending it to ships of Task Force 38 during World War II. He could not have done this, since the signal did not exist at that time.

"Bravo Zulu" actually comes from the Allied Naval Signal Book (ATP1 Vol 2 series), an international naval signal code adopted after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1949. Until then, each navy had used its own signal code and operational manuals. World War II experience had shown that it was difficult, or even impossible, for ships of different navies to operate together unless they could readily communicate, and ACP 175 was designed to remedy this.

In the U.S. Navy signal code, used before ACP 175, "well done" was signaled as TVG, or "Tare Victor George" in the U.S. phonetic alphabet of that time. ACP 175 was organized in the general manner of other signal books, that is, starting with 1-flag signals, then 2-flag and so on. The 2-flag signals were organized by general subject, starting with AA, AB, AC, ... AZ, BA, BB, BC, ... BZ, and so on. The B- signals were called "Administrative" signals, and dealt with miscellaneous matters of administration and housekeeping. The last signal on the "Administrative" page was BZ, standing for "well done".

At that time BZ was not rendered as "Bravo Zulu", but in each navy's particular phonetic alphabet. In the U.S. Navy, BZ was spoken as "Baker Zebra". In the meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had adopted English as the international air traffic control language. They developed a phonetic alphabet for international aviation use, designed to be as "pronounceable" as possible by flyers and traffic controllers speaking many different languages. This was the "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta..." alphabet used today. The Navy adopted this ICAO alphabet in March 1956. It was then that "Baker Zebra" finally became "Bravo Zulu".

[wireburner]

I wished there was more ppl in the world like you Dave GREAT JOB

[JHCHOPPERS]

The best things in life are free...

[KBar]

Does this board have a "Welder of the Month" award ?

I know the perfect candidate

[HMW]

well.......that explains it Shadetree


I agree with the welder of the month for Dave. Got my vote

[wireburner]

He got my Vote to

[kiwi]

The only thing that I could add to this is there were three lucky people. The little girl was lucky because you made her dream come true. Her father was lucky because his little girl had someone take the time to help her. In my opinion, you are the most fortunate of all. The joy that the little girl gave you is something that rarely happens, and no amount of money can buy. I work in a children's hospital, and I can say for a fact that people like you are rare and the world is a better place because you are in it.
Nick

[dabar39]

I really appreciate all of the kind words from all of you, but I would really prefer to hear that you all did some form of good deed for the day as well. That would be the perfect end to this story, and would be a great reward as well. Dave

[KBar]

I really appreciate all of the kind words from all of you, but I would really prefer to hear that you all did some form of good deed for the day as well. That would be the perfect end to this story, and would be a great reward as well. Dave

OK Dave but mine cannot compete with yours, maybe a few years ago, yes but all I did recently was take a new idea and play with it using several different materials. No two are alike and I gave every single one away to people that commented about them on a positive note. Most of the material was taken off the scrap pile. I gave about 7 away so far and have enough auger to make 1 more, this one will rotate on a bearing.

[Black Wolf]

Dave,
I know you're a little embarrased by all the positive feedback to your original post, but as I was reading your story, I remembered a very fitting quote:

A man never stands so tall.........
as when he reaches down to hold the hand of a child.

You are a GIANT my friend. Well done.

Later,
Jason