Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Preston Jarrett | 230112-N-FC991-001 PACIFIC OCEAN - Master Chief Damage Controlman Danielle Gilbert and...... read more read more
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PACIFIC OCEAN - Deeply nested in the green expanse of far northeastern Texas sits the quaint city of Daingerfield, population 2,510. Approximately 130 miles from Dallas, the closest major city, Daingerfield is rural by nearly any metric, with its most well-known attractions being a nearby state park and its lone movie theater.
Breaking away from a small town can be more difficult than it seems, and after making the escape, it can be nearly unimaginable to reunite with a family member on the outside, never mind on a warship more than 2,000 miles away.
Master Chief Damage Controlman Danielle Gilbert and Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuel) 3rd Class Aaliyah Williams are an uncle and niece pair who unexpectedly found themselves stationed together aboard the Nimitz, years after leaving their hometown of Daingerfield.
“The detailer called me and asked me if I’d volunteer to take orders to the Nimitz, and I told him I would talk to my wife about it,” said Gilbert. “I happened to go on FLTMPS (Fleet Training Management & Planning System) after I accepted them, and I found out that my niece was on the ship. I didn’t publicize that I was going to the Nimitz because I wanted to make sure that I surprised her.”
Williams saw an Instagram post from Gilbert saying he was in Seattle, but she figured he may have been on vacation. Immediately after Gilbert checked aboard the ship, he paid a visit to her shop, and she cried tears of joy upon seeing him.
“It was total surprise and a breath of fresh air,” said Williams. “We haven’t totally stayed in touch because I lived overseas for two and a half years, so it’s hard to stay on top of things, but just seeing him made me feel like I was at home again. It made me feel really connected.”
Gilbert played a major part in Williams’ life, especially in her early childhood. Though he may have been stationed far away from their hometown, he always did his best to maintain their close relationship.
“We were close when she was younger,” said Gilbert. “I would babysit her. She would come up to me and be excited whenever I came home from the Navy. Her dad is my nephew, so she’s actually my great niece. Her mom and I had a great relationship before she passed away.”
Williams was 13 when her mother passed, and Gilbert readily helped take care of her during her time of need.
“When my mother passed, he definitely helped take on that role as a father figure,” said Williams. “He reassured me that I’d get through it, and that no matter what, I’d come out and be even better than I was before. I always appreciated him for letting me know that despite being in a hard time, I could still see it through.”
Even now, nine years into Williams’ naval career, Gilbert continues to watch over his niece.
“I call her every other morning,” said Gilbert. “I try to get ahold of her to see how she’s doing. I brought her to church service one Sunday, and we met there again the following week. We’ll go to the hangar bay and have a chit chat and talk about old things back at home.”
Despite working in separate departments with different work schedules, their relationship has actually strengthened since being stationed together on Nimitz.
“If anything, I feel like we’ve become closer,” said Williams. “We’ve been able to share so much more than we normally would. I think it’s kind of eye-opening to see me as an adult at work versus a young kid he sees while on leave. Of course, I’m older now, so we’re able to have more intellectual conversations. He checks on me every day. It’s been great.”
Gilbert explained the importance of having a positive example to follow when feeling trapped somewhere, and he feels others in a similar position can learn from his and Williams’ experience.
“In leaving a town of 2,500 people and then returning to see people still stuck there, then coming on a ship and seeing people from the same hometown who got away, it’s very heartwarming,” said Gilbert. “I don’t want people to get stuck where they’re at and find themselves doing things they shouldn’t be doing or not making enough money to survive. Now, me and my niece on the same ship, that’s awesome. You very rarely see that, especially with both of us from the same small town, so that’s why I want people to know that the Navy does us well.”
Williams said that even as a child, she always knew that her uncle was a part of something greater. Though she didn’t always know exactly what it entailed, she was inspired to make her own jump.
“Him being in the Navy definitely played a part in me wanting to join,” said Williams. “I don’t want to say I had a terrible life, but from a small town, you always want to get out and see something else, and he definitely inspired me to just take a leap of faith and go. He did it, and he made it out just fine, so I felt like I could do it too.”
When Gilbert took his own leap in joining the Navy back in January 1997, he was also influenced by a family member: his older brother.
“I joined the Navy because I did not want to go to college. I knew my family didn’t have the money, and also, I wasn’t ready to go to college,” said Gilbert. “My older brother went into the Navy back in ’85, showed me some pictures and brought me a dixie cup, and it sparked my interest to go into the Navy. Then I found out I would travel a lot, so I said ‘that’s for me.’”
Since making the decision to enlist, Williams has gained a wealth of experience that she never would’ve had in Daingerfield.
“I have definitely gained a lot from the nine years I’ve been in,” said Williams. “I’ve learned how to communicate more. I’ve met a lot of great people. I got to experience another culture besides mine, and of course I got to see the world a little bit more than almost anyone else could say from our small town.”
Despite having been to four different continents throughout his career, Gilbert hopes to eventually retire in his home state of Texas.
“I’m hoping to go either back to Jacksonville, so I can go back to my family because I’m a geo-bachelor here, or get orders to Texas so we can start on our retirement and building our home because we have land in Daingerfield,” said Gilbert. “My future goal is to retire at 30 years and to make sure my wife and I are set up financially so we don’t have to work after I’m done, and to travel the world some more. We own some land in Grenada. My family actually traveled there for Christmas, so we’ll probably build a house up there too.”
For Williams, her time in the Navy is quickly reaching its conclusion, and she also plans to return to the town she was originally determined to escape.
“I currently only have two more months left, and then I get out of the Navy. I’m actually going back to Daingerfield,” said Williams. “I’m excited because I feel like I’ve been on a fast track, and I’m kind of ready to go back to the country and do things like walk outside barefoot. I’m just ready to slow it down a little bit.”
Once Williams is back in Texas, she wants to use her experience to offer guidance to youth in her hometown.
“My biggest goal is to start a small program for teenagers and kids to give them a safe place they can come to and be able to talk about whatever they’re going through, or just take a break from going to school and dealing with their peers,” said Williams. “I want to show them that there’s more to life than just our small town. It doesn’t matter what you do. You can get out of there.”
Both Gilbert and Williams were determined to leave Daingerfield, and joining the Navy helped that dream become reality, but in spite of seeing the world outside, they found themselves dreaming of an eventual return. Though the relationship between a person and their hometown might be a complicated one, sometimes the most important aspect of feeling like home is the meaningful relationships we form, regardless of where in the world we find ourselves.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2023 10:48 |
| Story ID: | 460658 |
| Location: | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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