Goal Sheet/Project Record Butler County
Please fill out one Goal Sheet for each project you do. Bring the completed form with you on Judging Day. After the fair put this completed form along with pictures, clippings, and worksheets in your 4-H record keeping system. This form is to be used as a template to help guide you through the write up process.
Project Area: Personal Development: Carl M. Brashear Class #: 10560
Name: Brandt Reints Grade Completed: 9th grade
Club: East Butler Ramblers Years in 4-H: 5 years Year in project: 1 year
All Non Livestock projects will need to have the following goals filled out:
Member’s goal(s) for the project?
My goal was to use a piece that I worked very hard on for a school project and turn it into a pro- ject for 4-H. I learned so much about Carl M. Brashear, that I wanted to continue to share the information that I learned while researching him and representing him in my project.
What steps did you take to achieve your goal?
This project started as a World History Project for National History Day. I took my project to the district competition in Waterloo in March and received first place in the Five Sullivan Brothers District for Senior Individual Project. I then advanced to the State competition which was supposed to be held in Des Moines in May but due to Covid-19 I did an online presentation. I did not advance to Nationals which will be held virtually in July.
1. First, I decided how I wanted to take what I had and turn it into a condensed version my World History project. 2. I decided that I would use the header board with the title of the presentation. “Diving Past Barriers-Carl M. Brashear” 3. I took the wooden crate and attached the header to the top. 4. I then attached the prosthetic leg to the edge of the header board and to the side of the wooden crate. 5. I then added the Naval hat, the rope, and the diving helmet. 6. I then used some of my information and printed it off so I could make a small dis play inside of the crate by the helmet. 7. Finally, I made sure that everything was secure by using hot glue and some additional rope to make everything sturdy for travel and transport.
What were the most important things you learned while working towards your goal?
What I learned through this project is not something that I can put into words. I learned about racism and discrimination but I also learned about self-image, perseverance, goal setting, achieving dreams, being determined, and being a role model. Even with many barriers, Carl M. Brashear fought hard to achieve his dreams and he let nothing stand in his way. Financial Summary of Project (Remember, things out of your cupboard do cost someone something!)
INGREDIENT/ITEM: COST:
I used materials that I all ready had from a school project.
Project Total:
(IF APPLICABLE TO PROJECT) Gross Income Totals: Minus Expense Totals:
Net Income:
Cost to buy: ______
Cost to make: ______
Total Saved: ______
The above cost summary is not required for Non Livestock projects but we highly suggest it so you will have a complete picture of how much your completed project cost. Also, judges like seeing this cost summary. Photos of your project before, during and after will also add to your write up but are not required.
Diving Past Barriers: Carl M. Brashear
Brandt Reints
Senior Individual Exhibit
Student composed word count on Exhibit: 304
Student composed word count on Process Paper: 500
Student composed Annotated Bibliography
I wanted to do my project on a person that had an impact on the United States. So, I started out looking up people that had a historical impact. That is where I found Carl Maxie
Brashear. I knew nothing about him and what he did so that is when I researched the things that he did and what Impact he had. I found that he was the first African-American Master Diver and amputee to be back to active duty in the U.S. Navy.
After I found out what he did and the jobs that he had, I began to write an annotated bibliography so I could keep track of my sources. I cited my sources and then began to write down the information from the site under the source. I continued to do more research and to learn more about him. Then I watched the movie “Men of Honor '', a movie about his life and what he had to do to get into the Navy, how he overcame racism and discrimination, how he became a Master Diver, and finally, how he became an amputee. The movie showed me a visual to all of the things that I had been learning before. I felt confident that the movie was accurate because Carl Brashear was on the set of the movie while it was being made .I worked on the annotated bibliography until I got it finished and cited correctly.
For this project I decided to do an individual exhibit. After finding all of the research, I printed out all of my quotes and my pictures. I then had to figure out how I wanted to crop the pictures. After all of the pictures were printed out and the quotes resized, I then put the background on them to make them pop more on my board. Next I put the background on my display board using thin paper and spray glue. I then worked on the heading, which I put the words on and decorated to go with my Naval theme. I also included a diving helmet, a Navy hat, and a prosthetic leg which I made from a pool noodle, a Pringles can, tape, and receiving blankets.
My topic is relatable to the topic of “Breaking Barriers” because Carl Brashear broke the racial barriers by becoming the first African-American Master Diver. He suffered through racism, discrimination, and threats. He was also the first amputee to be released back to the full, active military duty after he struggled with healing following an accident which severed his left leg. He broke the barrier of being the first amputee to dive and be sent back to active duty. It is also important to the world. He did things others wouldn't. He crushed the barriers and everyone should learn about what he did, and crush more barriers.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources
Bibliography, http://honorbrashear.com/Pages/bibliography.html The source was a bunch of quotes that came from the crew that he had, the people that he met, and others that talked to him. There were also newspaper articles that had him talking in it and much more primary quotes too. It was quotes from podcasts, newspapers, and from the people that he knew.
Horvath, Damien, and Fleet Public Affairs Center. “USNS Carl Brashear Christened.” USNS Carl Brashear Christened, 19 Sept. 2008, www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=39858. This source is reliable to me because it tells me that after his death, the US Navy named an Lewis and Clark-class of dry cargo/ammunition ship after him. This source is about the naming of the USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7), the ammunition ship named after him. It also has one of his boatmate and officer talking about him and what he did. I plan to use this source to tell about what happened after his death and how the Navy dealt with it.
“Men of Honor.” The Movie “Men of Honor '' to the entire story about Carl from start to finish. This is a primary source because he helped make the movie and what happened. They had to use history to make the movie but he was there and told what happened in his eyes.
“Oral History: Brashear, Carl M., Master Chief Boatswain's Mate, USN (Ret.).” U.S. Naval Institute, 25 June 2019, www.usni.org/press/oral-histories/brashear-carl This was a podcast from Carl. This is reliable because it was him talking but how he lost his leg. It is him talking about it to a reporter from the US Naval Institute. This source was Carl talking about how he lost his leg. He lost his leg to a pipe that broke when trying to recover the bomb. I plan to use this site as mostly quotes because it was him talking to another person.
“Overcoming Hurdles – The Legacy of Master Chief Carl Brashear.” The Sextant, 16 Jan. 2018, https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/01/16/overcoming-hurdles-the-legacy-of-master-chi ef-carl-brashear/ Phillip Brashear is the son of Carl Brashear. This is a reliable source because Phillip Brashear is the son of Carl and he went through his life as his son. He talked about him and what he did . He talked about and described his father in great detail. I will be using this source to put more quotes onto the exhibit. It told me alot about Carl through the eyes of his son.
Secondary Sources
ARTICLE: Pioneering Navy Diver Carl Brashear Dies in Portsmouth (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com), He was born in Kentucky in 1931. Brashear was aboard when a stern mooring line of a landing craft pulled a steel pipe out of the salvage ship’s deck. As the pipe flew across the deck Brashear pushed another sailor out of the way, but the pipe struck Brashear’s left leg.“I can’t be tied that long,” he is quoted as saying in the interview. “I’ve got to go back to diving. They just laughed. 'The fool’s crazy. He doesn’t have the chance of a snowball in hell of staying in the Navy. And a diver? No way! Impossible!’”
“MCPO Carl Maxie Brashear.” Military Hall of Honor - Honoring Those Who Honor Us, https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honoree-record.php?id=211921 This source is reliable because it tells the story of him and what he did. It was my first source and it started my project off. I plan to use this on my information on how he is and what he did.
Fox, Margalit. “Carl M. Brashear, 75, Diver Who Broke a Racial Barrier, Dies.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 July 2006,
This was a New York Times paper that told about his life. At 17 he tried to join the US Army. The Navy welcomed him in 1948. He was placed on the stewards’ branch in Key West, Florida. In 1950 he was assigned to an aircraft carrier called Palau. He became a Naval Diver in 1953. He graduated in 1955 where he became a salvage diver. In 1960 he got his high school equivalency diploma and entered the Naval deep-sea diving school. He graduated in 1964 where he was a first class diver, he was third out of 17. In 1966 he and many others traveled to Spain where they went off the coast to find a hydrogen bomb.
MCBM Carl Brashear, USN, https://web.archive.org/web/20071030121832/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq105-1.htm This was a secondary source because it was a timeline from someone else. I plan to use this source on my timeline so I make it better.
“Carl M. Brashear.” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/trailblazers/Carl-Brashear.html When he was in training for the Navy, the training was in the Great Lakes in IL. Then he was transferred to Key West FL. Other duties were on USS Opportune ; Naval Air Station Quonset Point, where he escorted President Dwight Eisenhower; Ship Repair Facility Guam; Deep-Sea Diving School; the submarine tender Nereus, and Fleet Training Center Pearl Harbor.
Carl Brashear, https://www.nndb.com/people/604/000118250/ This source helped my project out by giving the name of all of his family and family members. It also had a timeline in the source too, so I can add the information to the board.
PeoplePill. “Carl Brashear: U.S. Navy Diver (1931-2006) - Biography, Life, Family, Career, Facts, Information.” https://peoplepill.com/people/carl-brashear/ Brashear married and divorced three times: Junetta Wilcoxson (1952–1978), Hattie R. Elam (1980–1983), and Jeanette A. Brundage (1985–1987). He had four children: Shazanta (1955–1996), DaWayne, Phillip, and Patrick. Brashear's grand-nephew is professional ice hockey player Donald Brashear. Cuba Gooding, Jr. played the role of Brashear in Men of Honor, a movie inspired by the life of Carl Brashear. Brashear died of respiratory and heart failure at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia, on July 25, 2006. He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jul, 26 2006 (All Things Considered). “Pioneering Navy Diver Carl Brashear Dies at 75.” NCPR, https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/5585788/www.cloudsplitter.org After more than 30 years of service, Brashear retired from the Navy in 1979. He is also the first Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee -- he lost his leg during the salvage operation of a hydrogen bomb in 1966. Brashear died of heart failure at a Navy Medical Center in Portsmouth Virginia. NPR's Michele Norris talks with retired Navy Capt. Hattie Elam. Elam and Brashear were married for four years.
“Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, USN (Ret.).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/divi ng-in-the-u-s-navy-a-brief-history/master-chief-boatswains-mate-car-maxie-brashear.html This source helped me out by giving me a timeline of his life. I plan to put this timeline into my timeline so I can get more info onto my board. This source helped me out by giving me his life in on source, but I will use others to put it onto my exhibit.
“Carl Brashear - Recipient.” https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/305489 The citation that the United States president gave him talked about the medals and all of the honors that he got. It also talked about the boat that was named after him.
Imgur. “Navy Master Chief Carl Brashear. He Overcame Many Challenges to Be the First African American Deep Sea Diver and Master Diver in the Navy's History.” Imgur, 27 Apr. 2019, https://imgur.com/gallery/hQQzkQU It gave me pictures from when he was in the suit and when he was helping with the film, Men of Honor.
Carl Maxie Brashear: One of Kentucky's "Men of Honor", https://kentuckyguard.dodlive.mil/2013/03/12/carl-maxie-brashear-one-of-kentuckys-men-of-ho nor/ Brashear enlisted in the U.S. Navy on February 25, 1948, shortly after the Navy had been desegregated by President Truman. He graduated from the U.S. Navy Diving & Salvage School in 1954, becoming the first African-American to attend and graduate from the Diving & Salvage School and the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver. Brashear was also the first African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver and the first amputee diver to be certified or re-certified as a U.S. Navy diver. It gave me a recap on what happened to him.
Carl M. Brashear, www.divingheritage.com/brshearkern.htm. This source is reliable because it gives me pictures of him to put on my board. The picture are real and they will help me out.
Phillips, Riley. “Legendary Navy Diver's Son Recalls Father's Legacy.” WVNS, 12 Nov. 2019, https://www.wvnstv.com/news/veterans-voices/legendary-navy-divers-son-recalls-fathers-legacy / Riley Phillips is the son of Carl and again helped me out giving me another personal experience with his father. It gave me quotes from him and Carl.“It’s not a sin to get knocked down, it’s a sin to stay down. My dad believed whatever life gave you, you used that to make you stronger. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Whatever hand you’re dealt, use that hand to be whatever you want to be. He just felt that if continued and pressed on, ignored some of the backlash and racism that was thrown his way, then he could overcome. My father never thought of himself as less than a person,” Phillip said.