We Stick Together Lessons Learned from Commanding USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG-68)

"We Stick Together" is a story for anyone interested in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Captain Tony Parisi provides readers with insight into what it is like to serve aboard a historic U.S. Navy warship, USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG-68), and delivers sage wisdom and valuable lessons learned from a life at sea. "We Stick Together" is a sea going leadership memoir that explores the Mediterranean and Black Seas as well as the inner self. The theme of this entertaining and detailed book revolves around the ship's motto We Stick Together and focuses on how the sacrifice of the Sullivan brothers continues to motivate sailors to strive for excellence as they prepare for war by focusing on what is most important in life. Love, learning, and happiness flourish aboard USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG-68) guided by the spirits of real American heroes, George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan. This is the story of average selfless Americans doing extraordinary things and in the process finding meaningful purpose in life. It is a true story about winning at sea and in life.
We Stick Together is a positive, entertaining, and enlightening journey aboard a modern warship as told by the captain, the son of a fisherman and a simple kind of man, who believes in critical thinking, rock and roll, the American dream, and the importance of family. Captain Tony shares his personal journal entries and inner thoughts, taking the reader on a journey across the sea and into the soul.
Navy traditions and customs are explained through pop culture, Ancient Greek philosophy, and humorous sea stories that involve UFOs, rock music, Magellan, the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders, and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is a story of the pursuit of truth and excellence that illuminates the meaning of true happiness, or what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia. We Stick Together is a story for everyone who seeks fulfillment and purpose in life. Get underway and shift colors with the crew of USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG-68) on a rock and roll voyage of happiness, self-realization, and enlightenment.

Captain Anthony "Tony" Parisi, USN (Ret) was born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The son of Sicilian and Portuguese parents, he was raised in a strict Roman Catholic fishing family that provided the strong foundation for a life of service at sea. In 1984 he graduated from Gloucester High School and attended Norwich University, the Military College of Vermont on a three-year NROTC scholarship. Captain Parisi studied International Studies and Spanish and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1988.
Commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in May 1988, his first ship was USS FORRESTAL (CV-59) based at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. Captain Parisi earned his Surface Warfare qualification in 1990 and served in many subsequent at sea billets including USS JACK WILLIAMS (FFG 24), USS JOHN RODGERS (DD 983), USS HIGGINS (DDG 76), and Commander Carrier Strike Group 8, USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69). Captain Parisi had the good fortune to command two ships, USS ZEPHYR (PC 8) 1996-1997 and USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG 68) 2006-2007. He made numerous deployments to Mediterranean and Black Seas, North Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, Caribbean, Arabian Gulf, and circumnavigated South America.
Ashore, Captain Parisi served as a NATO intelligence analyst at AFSOUTH in Naples, Italy during the war in Kosovo 1999-2000 and a senior course instructor at the Surface Warfare Officer's School in Newport, Rhode Island from 2002-2005. He also had command ashore at Afloat Training Group (ATG) Mayport, FL 2009-2011. Captain Parisi also served as the Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché to the Republic of Italy and San Marino from 2012-2015. Captain Parisi's last active-duty assignment was Chief of Staff, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA from 2015-2017.
Captain Parisi's awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. In 2018 Captain Parisi was bestowed with the title of Cavaliere al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic).
Captain Parisi is a graduate of both the Naval Postgraduate School and the U.S. Naval War College and holds two Masters of Arts Degrees in National Security Affairs. He has published several articles on Surface Warfare, national security, and Naval education and training. Captain Parisi retired from the U.S. Navy on 31 August 2017 after more than 29 years of dedicated, focused, and honorable service. He currently works at the Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility at Naval Station Mayport, FL where he continues to teach and train U.S. Navy Sailors to fight and win at sea.