Reminiscing..........

[Zapato]

Was talking a couple days ago with my wife and somehow Viet Nam came into the conversation. And then realized it was 40 years and a few days since my return to the world. Yet it often seems like just yesterday. Guessing life changing experiences have that effect.

Where did all those years go.............

Zap-

[shopratwoody]

Sure went by fast...

[Ford Blue blood]

Know what you mean Zap, oldest kid is 40, been retired from a 30 year Navy career for 20 years next August, been married forever and don't feel like I'm 66 (almost).

[57AGIN]

Don't know if any of you have seen the "surf film" Big Wednesday, but the seen of reporting to the Draft Board for induction seems like yesterday for me.  Then getting packed onto an old bus and driving down to San Diego past Camp Pendelton on the way to boot camp.  Those memories stay forever.

Bob
57 AGIN

[geraldchainsaw]

to me the navy was the best thing that happened to me,  taught me responsability, all to grow up,  i can  remember every part of what i did from start to finish,  i still talk to alot of my old navy friends,  some from boot camp, thru radioman school,  all my days in  Naples Italy,  one thing i did do was, stop looking for old friends,  the last 3 had passed on,  and them being my age,  so i quit looking,  it was the best time of my life,  i have 4 boys and not one went into the svc,  what a shame,    jerry

[Zapato]

Bob, I flew into San Diego with a group of about 12. We reported into an area for arriving FNGs and were received by one of the scariest persons I ever met. We knew instantly we had arrived in Hell. Our host a ''lady Marine''. Never imagined anyone could muster so many adjetives and make them all work in one sentence. Was grateful for that one idiot in each group that manages to seek out personal attention. He definitely took some of the heat off the rest. Of course we all eventually got our fair share myself sent off to a motivation company for 3 days shortly a chow on our first day as a company as an example to the rest of the guys.

As the song says ''those were the days my friends''.

Zap-

[RICH MUISE]

quote: Bill...."don't feel like I'm 66 (almost)."
well, I sure do these past two weeks....I've been rebuilding the front of my house...stripped the old siding, replaced 4 windows, and the entry door. rebuilt the framing where it was rotted, insulated, added some outdoor wiring, moved the outside telephone wires and tv cable to the inside, housewrap and flashing..have it all ready for the new siding. We're adding a 30 foot covered porch to the house, so putting in beams and footings for that. My young (52) neighbor is taking out the old 6' x 8' concrete porch for me..thank god...
Like I said..these past 2 weeks I've sure felt my age (67 almost)....wish I could add LOL, but it's kinda frustrating. The only thing I'm sure glad of is that I waited until the 100 degree heat wave passed.
I just came in for a cup of coffee and a nap.
Rich

[Tom S]

... somehow Viet Nam came into the conversation. And then realized it was 40 years and a few days since my return to the world.

Almost 42 years for me.  Nam 'class of '69'.
You flew into San Diego? Navy boot camp?
That's where I went.  Got drafted, joined the USN.
Became a full time air crew member flying one deployment in these. 





We lost a crew of 12 in one of those planes.  I flew my first patrol in Nam with that crew. I was subbing for my friend  that was  out sick that day.  I came close to being with them on their last flight.
Then two more deployments in these when the old P5M seaplanes were phased out.  Spent a lot of time flying out of Cam Rahn Bay.







I definitely consider myself one of the lucky ones that came back whole from Nam.  Things could have changed in an instant.

[Tom S]

I should have added that we definitely cruised low and slow.   

[57AGIN]

Geraldchainsaw:

I agree with you.  I joined the Navy to gain some additional education.  I'd spent my first five years after high school going to Jr. College, generally one semester on probation, then taking some easier classes to get off probation.  I spent a lot of time at the beach, scheduling my classes around my surfing.  One does have to establish priorities, don't they? lol.  When I finally accumulated about 120 units of Jr. College, I transferred to Cal State Long Beach and promptly flunked out in two quick semesters.  I was then a very draftable 1A, I joined the Navy in May 1966 and in boot camp I actually received my draft notice and we all got a laugh out of that.  In boot camp I added another two years to my four year enlistment to get Nuclear Power School.  Best decision I ever made.  Rickover's Nuc program taught me more in six months than I'd learned in the previous five years at college.  Thermodynamics, heat transfer & fluid flow, nuclear theory, health physics, reactor kinetics, boiler and reactor chemistry, etc.  Then I went for the six month hands on training in Idaho on the Nautilus prototype.  I was married by then and had my head screwed on straight and they kept me as Nuc Instructor for an additional couple of years.  When I got out of the Navy in Feb 1972, I begged to get back into Cal State Long Beach (they let me) and got a job at the Jet Propulsion Labrotary as a power house electrician.  College came easy for me by that time, and I eventually got into a career, not because of what I had studied, but just that I had a degree.   The Navy was definitely a life changing experience for me. 

Bob
57 AGIN

[Ford Blue blood]

I was raised on a small dairy farm in WI.  Didn't know what I wanted to do but I did know what I didn't want to do.  My dad told me with Nam winding up the Navy or the Air Force would be a good thing to do until I figured out what I did want to do.  He advised to not wait on the draft because in the Army you will live, eat, sleep and die in a mud hole (WW II vet, New Guiney, Phillipeans and northern Australia), sounded like good advice to me.  The Navy offered me the best training, back in 65 if you have vision worse then 20/200 there was little you could do, given that I was 20/400 corrected to 20/20 none of the "special" programs were available to me.  No subs, no nucs, no air planes but I could be an electronics technician so off to 48 weeks of "A" school, and the rest as they say is history.  Stayed in because I was good at what I was doing, loved the work, the crew and they paid me pretty good too.  Made Senior Chief and then commisioned, got my SWO pin on board USS America and drove the ship into combat when we hit Libia in 86, that was my proudest moment because I was getting off watch and the Old Man asked me if I could do another four hours, he liked the job I was doing better then the guy coming on.  Hell yes I told him, the adreanal glands were pumping overtime as I knew what was going to happen because I had to position the ship for the high speed run to launch the A-6 bombers loaded with 12,000 lbs of "HELLO".  Got shot at and missed in Nam, close call in Lebenon, Libia and then a tour on USS Wisconsin BB-64 in Gulf War 1.  Sailed the seven seas, been on six of the seven continents (promoted out of a job in Antartica), circumnavigated the globe twice, am a Shell Back and a Blue Nose and would do it all over again in a half a heart beat.  I am who I am because of my parents, I am where I am now because of the Navy.

[lowrider]

Drafted in 69, showed up at Fort Wayne in Detroit to be drafted in the Army. They had a surprise for me. As I watched guys get processed 1X1, I looked around and there was only a few of us left. Maybe they'll send me home. Wrong. Congradulations, youve been drafted into the Marines. Like Zapato said, it was quite a adjective filled greeting right in the San Diego airport. All ended up good I guess. Fast forward 40+ yrs I had to enroll in VA Health care to treat me for "perexisting conditions" after being denied health care. Basically saved my life & didnt have to go broke to stay alive. So, it was well worth all the hell.