A picture is worth a thousand words. Here at WCPO Insider, we profile some prominent local residents and moments in their past for our "Throwback Thursday" series by telling the story behind memorable photographs.
CINCINNATI -- Like his father, Henry, David Mann was a Navy man. Yet most people know him as having served in Congress, on Cincinnati City Council and twice as the city’s mayor during a political career spanning five decades.
Much has been written about his civil and charitable service in the Greater Cincinnati community, much less so about his days as a Navy ROTC scholarship student at Harvard University or as an officer in the early 1960s on the USS English destroyer in the Mediterranean and during the Cuban missile crisis.
Today, the 76-year-old Mann is Cincinnati’s vice mayor and a partner in the Mann & Mann law firm downtown with his son, Michael. Their specialty is defending individuals’ civil rights.
Mann and his wife, Betsy, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in October. They have three children, five grandchildren and live in Clifton.
David Mann's law and political careers have spanned five decades. Photo by city of Cincinnati
We asked the Dixie Heights High School and Harvard Law School graduate to throw back his memory to a New Year’s Eve long ago. It didn’t take long for him to recall New Year’s Eve 1961, when he was aboard a ship in Naples, which is internationally known for the thousands of residences that simultaneously light up the year-end sky from one one end of the port city to the other.
Mann: I was a young ensign (age 22) assigned to a destroyer (USS English) on a seven-month cruise to the Mediterranean.
On Thanksgiving Day, while the ship was in Marseille, France, I suffered a fingertip amputation. I was taken to a French military hospital for surgery under general anesthesia. No one spoke English, and I spoke no French. I can never recall being lonelier than as I was being put under.
A few weeks later, I was put aboard the USS Intrepid (the aircraft carrier that’s now a tourist attraction on the Hudson River in New York City) for a few weeks for follow-up work on my hand in the ship’s sick bay. On Christmas Eve, a couple of pilots shared their scotch with me, contrary to Navy regulations.
Harvard University graduate David Mann served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1961 to 1965. Photo provided by David Mann
On New Year’s Eve, the ship was anchored in Naples, though I remained assigned to the ship’s sick bay and could not go ashore. My memory is that at midnight, Naples exploded with fireworks everywhere. These were not organized, official Riverfest-style fireworks but individual fireworks loudly erupting everywhere. I have never seen anything like these fireworks. They went on for a long time, and soon the Bay of Naples was engulfed in smoke from the fireworks.
How did you end up in the Navy and what impact did your military experience have on your legal and political careers?
Mann: I went to Harvard College on a NROTC scholarship and thus owed the Navy four years. My dad had been in the Navy in WWII. My earliest memories include Dad in his uniform; my mom and I following him via train to Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City; V-J Day and so on. My dad was in combat in Sicily and told me only in the year before he died that twice the man next to him was killed.
My four years were in peace time, 1961-65. By chance, my ship was one of the first ships in Cuban waters during the Cuban missile crisis. When (John F.) Kennedy addressed the nation on Oct. 22, 1962, we had been off Cuba since Oct. 19. No shooting, though, and we were home for Thanksgiving.
Kennedy triggered my interest in politics.
The Navy was a wonderful experience. I was on a destroyer with a casual, get-the-job-done attitude. I learned a great deal about relating to and leading a variety of folks from diverse backgrounds. I developed a deep respect for the wisdom and talent of folks who do not happen to have formal educations. I got to travel, principally to Mediterranean countries.
My interest in law was kindled by my attempt to defend a young sailor accused in a court martial of stealing a wallet. These were the days before the Supreme Court required that lawyers defend accused sailors. Five out of 12 officers were involved in the court martial, which took place on a Sunday before we were to sail into Athens on the next morning.
I kept things tied up for most of the day though, unhappily, my charge was found guilty. The officers involved could not stand their normal watches, which really fouled up the normal routine of the ship. Our executive officer (second in authority after the captain) was very unhappy. The next time we had a court martial, he assigned me to be the prosecutor, and things moved faster.
I think this is when I really began to think about going to law school. My previous plan had been to be a doctor.
I often say I carry some piece of my Navy experience with me every day of my life. I had led a very sheltered, innocent life and had to prove myself with the sailors I was charged to lead. I had to earn their respect if we were to be a serious team.
When you have been in charge of a 300-foot destroyer sailing through the night at high speeds while the captain and most of the crew sleep, it is hard to worry too much about other responsibilities that life may present. These experiences gave me a certain calm, I think, as I have confronted challenges of the last 50 years.
