In high school I hadn’t thought of joining the military or even signing up for the draft. My parents never said anything to me about it, either - maybe because during World War II my dad served in the Guard because of his eyesight and the fact that he was color blind. That all changed when we moved, and across the street was a Navy warrant officer. His son was Navy enlisted. Since I was in my last year and a half of high school, they convinced me to join the reserve, where one weekend a month I would attend meetings a few miles from home.

So I did that, and also attended a two-week active-duty cruise during my last Christmas holiday in high school, going from Long Beach to Treasure Island in San Francisco and back. After graduating, I puttered around the house for six months, as my parents wanted me to see their relatives one last time before going active duty. With all that time I had accumulated before going active, I got to my first command as an E-3. Because of that, I didn’t have to go mess, cleaning or living space cleaning, as there were plenty of boots to do that. But I did go on the deck force and after a while was made a side cleaner, cleaning the side of the ship and eventually painting the whole side of a destroyer tender.

Between various sea and shore duties on the West Coast, of which two years was “overseas sea duty” in the Philippines, where I met my wife. My detailer, who was in my division on my first ship, told me others wanted the West Coast, so he was going to send my to the East Coast. But oh, what he did. He sent me, my wife, daughter and mother-in-law to Italy for three years. That was a blessing, as I decided to take advantage of my leave time and weekends to go exploring, not only Italy but surrounding countries, as I had my car shipped there from San Diego. This duty was the highlight of my 20 years, and I had to leave with a lot still on my itinerary.

My next and last command was a carrier out of Norfolk, Va., Luckily, a friend I made at my first command was stationed there on board another ship. After a couple years there, it was time to say goodbye and join the civilian world back in San Diego.