I enlisted in the Navy with five of my buddies at Texas A&M In January 1951.

We all agreed that since the North Koreans had no Navy, that was the safest place to be.

The first shock that I had was my first breakfast at San Diego Naval Training Center. It was pork chops and Boston baked beans.

The second shock was when my hometown buddy was killed, a month after boot camp, when a five inch shell, from shore, landed on deck while he was serving the mid-watch on a destroyer in the Korean Sea.

I wound up at the USNA as a midshipman.