I enlisted in March 1978, delayed entry until November 1978. I spent Thanksgiving & Christmas at Boot Camp. The Navy was very special to us, we had Thanksgiving & Christmas Days off. You had to schedule time to call home and you were limited to 15 minutes. There were only so many phones and a whole lot of recruits.

I remember standing duty one night at the Quarterdeck. One of the recruits, in another compartment, got out of control and it required the attention of the SP's, Medical and of course the OOD & CDO. When I called the QD to attention for the CDO, she said screw it and just record my arrival time in the duty log and ran past me. What a night that was, but it sure helped the time go by.

Christmas Day we had the normal chow times and awesome chow at that (right), most of us went to Chapel Services that morning and then back to the compartment for personal time (letter writing, shoe polishing, etc.) Our Company Commander was kind enough to bring in a portable radio for us to listen to for the day. What a treat!

If I had to do it all over, I would keep it the same, what an experience.