220110 Sentinel, Navy Times

My navy time shaped my future livelihood.
I enlisted in 1963.
During my navy years there were three guys that greatly influenced me. Charlie Rose ( not the guy who had a long running TV show.) Charlie and I met on the train from Saint Louis to Chicago on our way to navy boot camp. Charlie took me under his wing and showed me how to get through the ordeal. Without him, I don’t think I would have made it through.

This picture was our last day on Guam; we were headed for NAS North Island on Coronado, Ca. Left to right is Me, Ken Vaughn, Doug's girlfriend, Doug Cullwel and Roy Dordick.

I met Fred Comps when I was first at NAS North Island in 1966. Fred did not socialize with many guys there, but he took me and taught me a lot in just 4 months until he was discharged at the end of his enlistment. I was a 3rd. class petty officer at the time and looking forward to ending my enlistment in September of 1967. Fred signed off on my military requirements for taking the 2nd class exams. I was not going to take the exam and just leave the navy in 1967. It turned out that two other guys I mentored were going to take the exam for 2nd class and I would have ended up working under them. So I took the exam and we all made it. The only hitch was I had to extend my enlistment for 8 months to be advanced, so I did it. That led me to another crossroad. I could have gotten my discharge and went on to civilian life. I thought about that and realized while I was doing well in the navy, I had no way to do well as a civilian. Even after 4 years and 8 months, I still had Joyce and I broke, with no savings to carry us until I could find a job. We would have had to live with my family or Joyce’s mother and accept their charity. That was my dilemma.

As providence would have it the navy was still embroiled in the Vietnam war and sailors were ending their enlistments in the important electronics rates. I was eligible to reenlist in one of the top rates. The navy had what they called a variable reenlistment bonus. For me, it would have been the regular bonus and an additional 3 times more than the normal bonus. I thought that would make for a nice nest egg for us, so I did it. And I went to work honing my craft during the next six years so I would be ready when that time came and by that time, I was ready. Those six years prepared me for the rest of my life.
One more person I have to mention is Peso Pete. I don’t remember his full name, just his first name, Pete. Peso Pete was what everyone called him. He was a party animal and a lot of fun to be with. He was not a good man, but he had a lot of wonderful stories about his adventures around the world they were all funny and knowing Pete they were likely true. Everyone liked Pete and he was one of the men that cemented me in my decision to reenlist in the navy. Pete was a wild man, but so much fun to be with. One night we were sitting aboard the Kitty Hawk berthed at North Island waiting for departure early the next morning. He came by my compartment and said, “Let's go over to the enlisted men’s club and have some beers.” I replied, “I’m in the duty section and I have to be here in case they call us out for muster.” Pete said, “I’m the section leader and I’m not calling anyone for duty tonight, let’s go.” I followed the section leader’s orders that night. I’m not proud of that, but we did have a good time. I met Pete years later at the naval air technical training center. We had a few beers together before he left for NAS Jacksonville, a place that he had said, "When I die, I hope God sends me back to Jacksonville."