April 1, 2005
Hello Shipmates!
First, lemme say that the above picture was taken in 1999. I probably look pretty much the same except my hair is shorter, now (I attended a Thanksgiving/family reunion this past November and shed that "hippie look" I've been harboring for more than 2 decades). Whenever I get a more recent picture, I'll post it here in place of this one.
- O.K., I changed the pic on February 23, 2008. This more recent picture is from the May, 2007. The picture I first placed on this page is viewable by clicking HERE
I've just celebrated my 60th B/D and am finding the gray to be more in abundance now, 2005, than back in '99.
Leaving Farfan in 1965 was not necessarily my wish, but my time in paradise came to a halt with a tour onboard the USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), 1965-67. We were participants in the immediate aftermath of the Ton Kin Gulf incident, off North Vietnam. I re-enlisted while onboard the Coral Sea.
My next dusta was RM"A" School at the NTC San Diego as an instructor. Pretty good duty. Met the woman I was to marry while at NTC. I've got three kids and three grandkids. Divorced in 1976.
From NTC I went back to Viet Nam, but this time I was in-country. I did a year with the River Delta Forces at the USN Logistic Support Base, Binh Thuy, VN. Binh Thuy is located in what was called IV Corps - in the heart of the Mekong Delta on the banks of the River. I Felt more like a jarhead for that year than I did a swabbie, that's for sure (if it weren't for USN insignia, you'd never know the difference).
I returned to the States and duty called me to the Pentagon, where my 2318 NEC enabled me an excellent Billet in the CNO FlagPlot. Admiral Zumwalt was CNO at that time. My first time ever in Washington, D.C. gave me a new and fascinating world to explore. The Pentagon for two years, then I was off to the Persian Gulf (or Arabian Sea - depending on whether the USS La Salle would find herself on the east or west side of that body of water - Iran or Saudi Arabia).
The USS La Salle was homeported at Manama, Bahrain. Bahrain is an Island State just off the coast of Saudia Arabia (spittin' distance, we'd say) I was on the Commander, Middle East Force staff as LPO for two years. This tour enabled me to see a lot of the Indian Ocean littoral nations and I've fond memories of those travels (including crossing the equator - Yup, shellback time).
In 1975 I was transferred to the USS Blue Ridge, a Command and Control ship out of Long Beach, CA. I didn't have much time on this ship - my military career came to a sudden conclusion after only a short time on the Blue Ridge.
I lost my vision in May of 1976. My right eye is now a prosthesis and my left eye rated as an acuity of 20/1000/3째 Field. I use special screenreader & magnification software in order to use a PC. For mobility I have adaptive Low Vision equipment to get around. I wrote a series of letters to a friend of mine about the low vision equipment that I use for mobility. I'm including these letters, below, in .txt format. Just click on them and they'll pretty much fill in, for you, my life since 1976. The acronym, LVES, is pronounced elvis. Sorry, but I didn't have a spell-checker when I wrote these letters.
I've gotten away from the CW and now spend a lot of time with my new hobby - the WWW. Other stuff I like to do to occupy my time is playing the piano and playing chess. I play chess at http://www.itsyourturn.com under the handle of tuckchess. It's a free site so if you'd like to take me on over the net, go there, sign up, and envite tuckchess to play a game.
I now live in the bautiful Sacramento Valley of California and am well and happy...even happier since I've been able to renew long-lost friendships.
Thank you Mark Anton for getting us together again!
