Serve the large purposes of free men

There is a tradition in the sea-going profession, a tradition of the sea that is older than the traditions of our great country. . . . This is the philosophy of the Navy. It is the time-honored tradition of men who must meet the challenge of the sea. It is the philosophy inherited by the United States from those who have braved the seas to find freedom and fulfillment, and it must be your philosophy as Americans if you are to serve the large purposes of free men on earth.

—Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, 1959