Rest in peace skipper.

Another American hero has begun his final patrol.
I offer my sincere condolences at this loss.
Thank goodness our nation has such men.

Patti
 

As I was walking one of my puppies this morning at 5:30 am I thought of my Dad because there was a beautiful full moon and I remember that one of Dad's favorite time was when he was on the bridge of his sub and there was a full moon shining over the silent ocean.

He also loved to come out to the SW desert and walk in the desert sands. He always found a great walking stick and I still have the last one he had from his last visit.

There are so many great memories that I have and I know Dad is still watching over me as he has always done and I even bet that he has a full audience up in Heaven and he is telling some great Navy stories (just hope they have not heard them already-even though that did not matter at all to Dad).

I hope I can meet alot of you at his memorial on August 21st.

Navy Junior Patti signing off:arrgh!:

Patti
 

Where you on the USS Shark? That was one of the subs that my Dad was on too:yeah:

My condolences!


Rest in peace,
SquareSteelBar :ahoy:

Like most of us here, I didn't know him, but he was a submariner. The necessary dedication and bravery alone deserves everyone's respect.:salute:

May he rest in peace.

I received an e-mail from Neal @ subsim.com.

I did not know Zeb Alford, but please accept my sincere condolences on the passing of your dear father, husband and friend.

May God bless you and your family during this time and always.

Sincerely,

Rafael R. Dahan
Rotterdam - The Netherlands

Capt. Alfords son in law
 

It is with the greatest respect that I have compiled your comments concerning my father in law. Capt. Zeb D. Alford, your fellow hero.
A heart felt salute to you for your service to mankind, from whatever country or branch of service, Thank You. :salute:
Some gave life or limb but all of you are the true hero’s that “offered” to give your life for peace and the freedoms we enjoy. You are the men and women of honor and patriotism. All of you that are dear friends of the water are true American Hero’s. Although you may have never known him, you are forever part of his legacy through your service to the world. He was NAVY and you are NAVY, you are all here shipmates of a kind. It is for the great things that all of you did to improve and add to the human experience that you can claim Capt. Alford as part of your life!
We the Alford family thank you.
Because of what you have done, you will forever be part of our love and respect.

Look for “An Interview with Zeb D. Alford” April 2007 in The National Museum of The Pacific War, Center for Pacific War Studies, Fredericksburg, Texas some time after the museum reopens December 07, 2009. You’ll get to read when Zeb told Admiral Rickover that he had just graduated with a degree in math and physics then Rickover, chuckled, and said “what a waste of time compared to my school”.
Enters ‘The Nuclear Era’.

The Alford daughters are as wonderful as they seem. Thanks Capt. Zeb.

Mr. Doug

R.I.P.

I hope you men who are able to attend the memorial will give our respects and condolences to the family and the daughters, and represent all of us as an honour guard to a fine man, seaman, father, husband, and skipper, i am sorry we cant all come but this wondeful chance to share our sorrow and support is a precious example of the gifts of the modern age, an age that Captain Alford worked so hard to protect and allow us all to enjoy.

And I hope you girls and other family will keep in touch and come by and visit with us when you can. We are your shipmates of the SubSim community and will be here for you.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5210/...amoonliten.jpg

My thoughts and payers are with his family.
May he Rest In Peace

My condolances to all who knew and loved him.

Although i didnt know him reading some of the posts here i realise the loss is great,i wish all involved lots of strenght and love through these difficult times..

My condolences and prayers. May God rest his soul.
Rest in peace!

RIP Captain Zeb
 

Our condolances go out to Joan, Margaret and to their four daughters, as well as his many, many friends.

Cap'n Zeb was truly an Officer and a Gentleman, of the highest order. It's because of heroes like him and all of our servicemen/women, that we're able to enjoy the liberty and freedoms that we possess today, which he was so proud of in his service.

If you'll indulge me.... we 1st had the honor, privalege and pleasure to meet Zeb when one of his Navy League colleagues and a mutual friend, Brian Klock, introduced my brother and I to him, to assist in raising money for the crew's activities during the week of the commissioning of the USS Texas, down in Galveston(back inthe Fall of 2006).

As the story goes, during some of the rather contentious meetings on a few occasions, Brian was trying to sell the committee on a bunch of us O&G folks putting on a play for the Captains' reception(the night before the commissioning) to raise that money. Amateurs that we all were but seasoned at having raised over $1 million for charaties in the local Houston area, it was suggested to the committee that we combine with the crew and weave several scenes from "The Best Little Whorehouse"(renamed "The Chicken Ranch"), "Chicago", "Road to Key West" and of course, "South Pacific" into our presentation. Brian conveyed to me that, as you can imagine, the traditional Navy committee members were squirming about the whole "play" affair, not to mention anything referring to the Chicken Ranch(i.e.Tailhook redux), because First Lady Laura Bush and practically every Admiral in the Navy was going to be there.

Finally, after listening to input from everyone on the committee, all eyes turned to Cap'n Zeb, and with his cheshire cat grin and folksy laugh, piped in "What's wrong w/the Chicken Ranch? There's probably nothing more represenative of the Navy". Obviously, that drew a huge laugh and from that point on, the play was on.
Word was that he, the Texas crew and many of the cast members shut down several of the Galveston establishments during that week.

Fittingly, he had a spot playing Admiral Nimitz during the play, when he conveyed to the audience, as has been noted previously, that "Submarines were now the Capital ships of the Navy". Truer words were never spoken.

Just over a year ago, he invited several of us, through Brian, to come down and tour the USS Cavalla. We were in awe that this great sailor and gentlemen was not only conveying history, he lived it on that very boat.

Fair winds, Blue skies and Calm Seas on your last patrol, from your friends Rae Lynn and John Wertz.

patti
 

I love the sub pictures, I can almost see my Dad Zeb on watch and he loved to moon on the ocean. Thank you so much for that pictures and kind words. I am the #1 daughter (that sounds a whole lot better than the oldest one!) Patti

Chris,
thank you again for your kind words, I keep coming back to this site to read more about my Dad and find it so comforting in my loss.

Patti (Navy Junior #1):cry:

Couldn't have said it more precisely.

R.I.P.

Shootin' theMoon
 

Hate to correct #1 (oldest daughter) but she said Dad liked to "Moon on the Ocean" Is that shoot the moon - I am sure lots of sailors did that but not Zeb - He did tell us some stories that went on in the subs for 6 months out at sea that would make "Shootin' the Moon" seem mild

Baby Katie (#4 daughter)

I don't know how to edit but what I meant to say was that Dad loved to see the moon reflect on the ocean, the other stuff I really don't know what all you guys did at sea!:D

Dan Olivas
 

Zeb you are a one of a kind…..being your son in law for 25 years…I have been lucky to see the extraordinary qualities that you were blessed with and more importantly to see how effortlessly you walked through every facet of this life and how you extracted every ounce of life out of the time that you were given on this earth.

I have always admired how quick you were to forgive and forget and how you never let anything stand in the way of your focus to show your love to your daughters.

Your, ability to never meet a stranger and always leave that encounter having told them a story that resonated with what ever was going on in their life. Yes! I know the story more then likely was one of your passionate stories from one of greatest adventures and loves of your life the “Navy” … “I also know that any one who was lucky enough to hear one of your stories was lucky enough” .

Zeb The world and in particular our great country is a better place today because of your service to your country and to every human being you met. Thank you for your tireless service.… …You presence, wisdom and love will deeply be missed…may God bless you with all the rest and peace that you deserve. I am one of those that was “lucky enough”

Love you and miss you! :yeah:

Dan