It's been 62 years ago, I stood in the Clayton County Courthouse. I raised my right hand and took an oath to defend this country's enemies both foreign and domestic.
I spent the next 10 years and 8 months in defence of this country, from San Diego to Japan, from Guam to Singapore. I can’t imagine how many miles I traveled. I was in training when the Vietnam War began in August of 1964. I’ve flown overnight radar coverage for the 7th fleet, later I taught students in Millington, Tennessee to take my place in the far east and in the Mediterranean sea. I went on two cruises aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and one cruise on the USS Enterprise both back to the coast of Vietnam. I spent my last year working in a repair shop at Nas North Island. I repaired every piece of electronic equipment used in the E-2A aircraft until March 24th of 1974.
On my last day, I went to the records office on North Island where I was mustered out of the navy. As I drove home on Coronado, Ca. and walked into our apartment, I told Joyce “I can’t believe they let me go.” That was on a Friday, on Sunday of that week I received a call from Nas North Island. The voice on the other end said I needed to come in and fill in for another watchstander. It felt great to reply for the first time ever, “You need to find someone else because I had mustered out 3 days earlier.”
It’s been a long time since that happened. It wasn’t always what I expected, but it’s a memory of a time I wouldn’t trade for anything.
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