11/12/24-My Favorite Veteran

Yesterday was Veteran's Day.  I wanted to write something about being a veteran or my time in the Navy, but I really wasn't inspired as to any particular topic.  As a rule here, if I'm not inspired to write I don't write.  So I didn't write, but am back to celebrate Veteran's Day today.

As I look back on my life one of the things I'm most proud of is my time in the Navy.  I accomplished much in the 10 years and I as I look back the time in the Navy changed me from an immature youth to a mature man.  My time in the Navy was never guaranteed to be a success without the relationships to the people I served with.

There is no way I could ever list all the people who I met in the Navy who made a difference in my  life, but I will always remember fondly the effect of people like Matt Brimmer in boot camp and Preston Hoops in my time as a fellow ELT on the USS Hampton.

When I joined the Navy I was not a great sailor.  I was not ready for what was expected of me.  Boot camp was a struggle.  I actually messed up the first task we had to do, labeling our uniforms.  I was particularly disliked my our company commander because I was one of the worst marchers in the history of the Navy.  Following up boot camp I went to training and things went better for me because I felt more at home in the classroom than on the grinder doing marching practice.

While I felt ready knowledge wise to get to the fleet, I still struggled to make connections with people.  And spending literally 24 hours with the same people for months on end made this a necessary skill just as important as any nuclear chemistry I was responsible for.

Luckily, I met my favorite Veteran, Don Golden.  I don't remember how we met, but I'm quite sure it was he who made the initial attempts at forging a relationship.  To make a long story short, over the next 5 years the time we spent together made my time on the Hampton bearable.  We spent hours talking while on watch behind maneuvering, or on the ladder between our watch stations.  On liberty overseas we planned our time together (except that time when he went across the Straight of Gibraltar to Africa).

There were many highlights. Like the time we got into a random taxi in Naples and our driver, who we nicknamed Mario, weaved through traffic like a race car driver ending up on a volcano.  Or the time in Greece we walked into a bar, only to find out it was not the type of bar we expected.  The smell strange smell made us realize we were not going to be able to get a beer there and if we hung out too long we risked failing a urinalysis if called when we returned to the boat.  You never knew what was going to happen when you spent the day with Don.

It even worked out well that our wives got along.  We could always take solace in the fact that when we were gone for 6 moths at a time, Katie and Cindy were there to support each other.

We both moved on to different duty stations after our time on the Hampton.  I think we both thought we would remain in touch, but as things usually go for me, we drifted apart.  I am as horrible at keeping relationships going as I am at forming them in the first place, so its probably my doing that has left our friendship in the state it is now.  I wish we could be close again.

That being said, I hope Don knows that I still think if him as a friend and thank him for all he has done for me.  Those years on the Hampton could have been some of the longest and most lonely of my life had Don not became my friend.  He was a big part in me becoming the husband and father I am today.  He is major influence on me and the man I am today.

I value every moment we spent together.  I value him as a friend.  I value him as a role model (since he is older than me).

Thanks for being there, Don, my favorite Veteran.