It happened many years ago, but I remember the experience as if it was yesterday. It was late September and I was in the first grade. The teacher assigned an art project. “Draw a picture of a boat. Do your very best,” she instructed.

I was excited. I specialized in drawing boats, particularly the ships of the United States Navy. My mother always praised my boat pictures.

With the precision ordinarily reserved for the drafting tables of the shipyard at Norfolk, Virginia, I crafted what I believed was a perfectly scaled drawing of a U.S. Navy battleship. The pictures with which I was familiar showed battleship decks lined with waving sailors, I decided to do the same. That added touch, I concluded would certainly result in extra credit for my art project.

Before returning our artwork, the…