Navy Petty Officer First Class Eric Tilford (left), retired Navy Master Chief Carl M. Brashear (2nd from left), Janet Langhart Cohen (center), Cuba Gooding Jr. (2nd from right) and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (right) pose for pictures at a special premiere screening of the Twentieth Century Fox film "Men of Honor" in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 21, 2000. The film was inspired by the Navy experiences of Brashear, who overcame adversity and racial prejudice in the newly integrated Navy of the 1950's, to become the Navy's first African-American deep sea diver. Tilford, a photographer's mate and Navy diver from Lamoni, Iowa, met Brashear while attending Navy dive school nearly 10-years ago, but did not realize at the time he was one of the Navy's unsung heroes. Gooding plays the role of Brashear in the film.