Thursday, June 22, 2000 

Regarding him with reverence was almost a reflex. "That’s David David," I once heard someone say in awe. "He was a Navy SEAL. Won a Silver Star in Vietnam." At a dinner I attended last year, David’s presence seemed to fill the room even though he sat in a corner and said little. For years, maybe as long as three decades, David L. C. David has been a fixture at area military events, including Long Beach’s annual Stand Down to help homeless veterans. "He’s always been there for us," says Stand Down chairman Gus Hein. "He’d spend nights at Stand Down. He was an extremely reliable, conscientious volunteer." But for all his volunteerism, David was more admired for his sterling war record: six combat years in Vietnam, a Silver Star, six Bronze Stars, the Soldiers Medal, three Air Medals, six Purple Hearts, plus the trident symbol earned as a SEAL.

"His house was a shrine to Navy SEALS," says a friend who once visited David’s Long Beach home. It was a record David would acknowledge in boyish, self-effacing fashion; sometimes proffering a calling card that identified him as a former chief storekeeper and a retired SEAL with the nickname "Iceman." (SEALS are Navy commandos with expertise in
underwater demolition.) If a committee were selecting Long Beach’s most admired veteran, David David would certainly be a nominee....

Tom Hennessy’s viewpoint appears Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Fridays. He can be reached at (562) 499-1270, or via e-mail at
Scribe17@aol.com