I joined the Navy on Sep 19, 1958. I did this for one reason. The reason was so I would get out of the Navy on Sep 18, 1962 and I would be done with my military obligation because there was a ''draft'' back then and if I did not join something, Uncle Sam would come and get me when I reached about 21 or 22. When I went into the Navy we were not in a ''shooting war'' anywhere that I knew of so I figured the odds were pretty good that I would come home all in one piece.
I went to boot camp in Camp Moffitt outside of Chicago and this was the first place I ever seen ice freeze on the inside of a window in the winter time and the first indoor plumbing I was blessed with.
In Navy boot camp you are groomed to be a Sailor. You are taught that there is the ''Right Way'' ''The Wrong Way'' and ''The Navy Way'' to do anything and we did everything ''The Navy Way''. I graduated boot camp in mid December and went on two weeks leave back home. I thought I was hot snot because I had finished boot camp without freezing to death.
My first assignment was class A Radio school in Norfolk Va. It was told that if you graduated in the top 10% of the class you got ''choice duty'' out of radio school. I graduated third out of 64 men and seventh out of 128 men in our total company for that training period. My duty station was the Uss North Hampton CLC-1 out of Norfolk. This was not ''choice duty'' but the Navy will lie to you sometimes.
I never realized it back then but I was being groomed to be a part of a great fraternal or group of men and ladies now called Veterans. I was being put in the ''fire'' and forged into a useful military person that could fulfill a job given me by the Navy. I was a tiny cog in a giant machine that helped make the world safer for those we love back home. I was one of those tiny pieces of nothing that helped make the ''big machine'' work smoothly.
I went aboard the Norton with high hopes and great expectations. I was assigned to the biggest radio gang afloat. We had more than 130 men in the gang not counting officers or chief petty officers.
On the Norton, I learned to be a real ''salt water sailor'' after a time. I crossed the ocean several times thru fair weather and foul. I have seen the ocean literally as slick as a mirror and I have seen it as rough as the Rockies and looking just as high. I have felt it knock around a ship almost 700 feet long like a tea cup and watched waves crash over the bow and up to the 04 level like Niagara falls in reverse. I have seen footprints up as far as two feet on the bulkheads on the chow line deck and, yes, I have strapped myself in bed to stay in my rack. I have stood on the fantail and ''peeeeed'' in the ocean and puked in the ocean once or twice from the fan tail. I have sat out at night on a ''bollard'' and watched the phosphorous glow on the hull of the ship and listened to the screws ''swim us thru the big deep''. I have been on a ship with over 1600 crew men and been all alone watching the shooting stars in Gods heaven. The Norton had a ''heart beat'' and it could rock you to sleep sometimes and sometimes it could literally shake you out of bed in foul weather. On the Norton I became a sailor and when I left her I became a veteran. I joined the ranks of the men and women that have served this nation and I considered myself as doing very little during my tour. I never shot at anyone nor was I shot at by anyone. The most ''action'' I ever saw was two hookers knife fighting in a bar over in Palma, Spain.
Veterans are very special people. I have talked to many vets and we all kinda sing the same song. Our chosen service was the greatest and the ''worstest''. We that served were the bravest and the strongest, the most handsome and we had deflowered literally hundreds of young ladies waiting on our advances. Other services were a bunch of ''sissy pukes'' that were mommas boys and afraid of the dark and ours was the best of the best. If you dont believe this ask any Marine or Soldier or Sailor or Air force guy or a Coast Guard sailor or even someone that was in the ''National Guard'' will tell you the same thing because we are all vets and we are all in the same group. Sure we jab and gig each other about thier particular service branch but let an emergency hit and watch us come together and fight for a common cause. You have to be a vet to understand this and if you are not a veteran, there is no way that I can explain the feelings we vets have for each other. We are one in the same and we have served and anyone that has not ''served'' would never understand. Some of us are still a little rough around the edges and we may be outspoken at times. Some of us see the world thru different eyes and with different allegiances and prospective s that those who never served and this will sometimes get us into trouble with the ''regular world'' but this is the way it is with a veteran. Most have been thru the fire and done and see things that would make the average person lose their lunch. Some have made judgments that have cost lives of their friends and more than one of these guys has watched the light of life leave a buddies eyes and could do nothing to save that friend. Some have been insane with fear and then deliberately run through machine gun to save a wounded buddy. Some have sailed the endless seas between tedium and apathy and back again and done it over and over and over again and seemingly accomplish nothing in their minds eye. Most of us have done things with no visible purpose as we could see but it had to be done and we were the ''doers''..... We were all Veterans serving this great nation and a lot of the time we would disagree with the method or purpose but we would serve because it was our duty to serve.
This is getting really long so I will close with one thought for those of you that were not lucky enough to serve this nation in some form of its military.
When you see a Veteran tell him or her thanks for their service. Shake their hand and tell them you appreciate their sacrifice to this nation. Probably to a person they will tell you that they just did their duty and no thanks is necessary but you can bet your lunch money they will appreciate your feelings for them.Be especially grateful to those serving in the ''big sandbox''. They are the most special as I see it now.
God bless our Veterans and keep them safe because they guaranteed the safety of this nation while most of you slept all nice and warm in your bed. (think about it)
Nuff said for now...........................cj...............
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