I was 11 years old when I saw "Top Gun" in the theater in San Antonio, Texas, during the summer of 1986. That experience blew my young mind away. I dreamed of fighter jets and death-defying air battles. As an Air Force kid in a military town, seeing aircraft trainers flying overhead was a daily occurrence.

It was the era of the technothriller, and I was hooked on Tom Clancy novels such as "Red Storm Rising" and "The Sum of All Fears." Then came the catalyst, the main event. In 1990, I was 14 when "The Hunt for Red October" was released in theaters. I was mesmerized by the action, dialogue and visuals that splashed over my impressionable eyes and ears. The seed was planted.

I made an attempt at the Naval Academy, but it didn’t pan out. So I visited the local Navy recruiting office in November 1992. The recruiter said my ASVAB score was high enough for any rate in the Navy. He pushed hard for nuke, but I was intimidated by math. Then he suggested cryptologic technician (Interpretive), and said I could learn a foreign language and spy on enemy communications. Thoughts of Tom Clancy and his character Jack Ryan danced through my head. I was sold! Finally, during Christmas break of my senior year in high school, I entered the Delayed Enlistment Program, and shipped out to boot camp in Orlando, Fla., in October 1993.

David G. Dvorak, Missing Man American Legion Post 667, San Antonio