#100—Milestones — A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

Who said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn men who have died. Rather, we should thank God such men lived.”
From what movie is this tagline? “Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.”
In what song (and who sang it) did we hear the following?
Crawlin’ through the trees
Stuck in mud up to the knees
Fightin’ this damn war
Wonderin’ if the Lord knows what it’s for
Six long years stretch
And we boys was in a hell of a mess
I gotta keep my mind; take it slow
Fightin’ hard for what I don’t know

Blog #100 (Audio)

Listen to the audio of this blog, read by Andy Adkins. Click the “Audio” button below.

Published: October 3, 2021

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This week, I’m posting Blog #100… triple digits… WOW!

It’s hard to believe I’ve been writing this weekly blog for almost two years (Blog #1 posted on Veteran’s Day 2019). I actually started writing this blog as a way to continue writing (I need a lot of practice); that was BEFORE the pandemic. It helps to keep me sane.

It’s been a blast and as I continuously tell my wife… “it keeps me off the streets.”

Blog #100 is a milestone, at least for me. I know other bloggers who post daily. I don’t think I could do that because after a while, I’d be spitting out—as my darling daughter often says—“thought vomit.” That, I want to avoid, and I assume if you’re reading this, you would wholeheartedly agree.

But this—my 100th—got me to thinking about personal major milestones I’ve experienced in my life’s journeys. You know, things like marriage, children, and for my wife and I, grandkids. Those are all memorable milestones and thank the good Lord for photos, images, and (I hate to say it) social media, where we can continue to celebrate those milestones and memories.

Otherwise, at my age, some of those things may tend to “slip away.” I love looking at old photos and if I see one of a much younger “me,” I may ask out loud, “who is this strange guy?” and my wife doesn’t know if I’m kidding or serious… until I wink at her. It helps keep her on her toes.

Navy Milestones

Even during my short 4-year Navy “career,” I experienced several milestones. I don’t think I’m much different from other Navy veterans—heck, as I think about it, almost any military veteran.

Remember way back when… when you first enlisted? Or perhaps you were drafted in the late 60s. After you signed on the dotted line (“press hard, the third copy’s yours”), you swore an oath for your service.

In a few seconds, I went from being a standard issue civilian to a member of Uncle Sam’s Sailing Club, a United States Navy sailor. It’s hard to remember the specific details of that particular milestone because I was only 18 years old and it was all a blur to me back in July 1973. I wrote about that “experience” in a post titled, “From Civilian to US Navy.”

Then came boot camp. For me, Orlando Recruit Training Command, Company #163 (ADJ1 Louis Wright was our company commander), from mid-July through the end of August (our class only had 6 weeks of basic training).

From there, to ABH “A” School in Lakehurst, NJ. Again, another 6-week course that taught me how to be an aircraft director (Yellow shirt on the flight deck) and an aircraft crash firefighter (Red shirt). That was one of my favorite posts titled, “You Light ’em, We Fight ’em.“

Both “classes” quickly flew by and I think the main reason was that we all knew it was initial training and while I learned the basics, I knew I’d learn what the real Navy did on my duty assignments. From what several of my close Navy veteran friends have said and also shared with me, I’m not far off—many had similar experiences.

My First Duty Station

My first duty station was NAS Agana, Guam, assigned to Crash & Rescue. We worked 24-hour shifts every other day. We called them “Port” and “Starboard” Sections (I was Port) and we worked those shifts for 15 months straight while I was there (’73-75). I wrote about that earlier in a blog called, “You Always Remember Your First…”

My First “Crow”

While in Guam, I made Airman (E-3) in March 1974. All that really meant was that my monthly pay went from $363 to $377. I’d taken the exam while in “A” School and this would be an automatic promotion. That also meant I was eligible to take the E-4 exam (Third Class Petty Officer) in August ’74, which I did.

It took a few months, but I learned I’d passed and would become an ABH-3 mid-November 1974. My good buddies, Gary Borne and Glenn Law, also passed. All three of us headed to the base PX and bought standard Navy issue ABH-3 patches for both our utilities and whites, ready to sew on at midnight.

And if you didn’t think three close friends could stitch on a crow after drinking most of the night, you’d be wrong. Somehow, we did without screwing up. And we were three new proud Navy petty officers.

Of course, the next day we had duty and a hangover. But that wasn’t the first time… and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

There were rumors about what some senior sailors did to newly minted petty officers and I’d even took part in several of these. You know, “welcome to the club!”

My arm still hurts when I think about all the “punches” I received when other fellow petty officers “nailed” the crow on my arm.

That was a major Navy milestone.

My second “crow,” or promotion to ABH-2—second class petty officer—would happen in June 1976, one month shy of my three years in the Navy. I’d taken the E-5 exam on Westpac ‘75. Apparently, my one year in college—even though I had flunked out—counted toward my time in service. I didn’t mind, though. We were in the Bremerton Shipyards and had plenty of time to party.

My First Ship

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), was my first and only ship. I reported aboard in March 1975, right after she returned from RIMPAC, a one-month naval training exercise in the Pacific that prepared the ship for overseas deployment. I spent 2½ years aboard Kitty Hawk, including the Westpac ’75 six-month cruise and a year in the Bremerton Shipyards.

Sometimes, I think that year in the shipyards was another “tour,” but I know others will argue that.

Since I’d spent 15 months in Crash & Rescue on Guam, it was logical that I’d be assigned to Crash & Salvage in the V-1 Division. That was fine by me. It was my comfort zone. However, driving the Crash trucks around the flight deck with 50+ aircraft was a little more challenging than on the NAS Agana, Guam airfield, but like most veterans, I learned to adapt.

Later, after the shipyards, I would, however, venture out onto the flight deck as a Yellow shirt director. I wrote about that too: one of my favorites, “Flight Ops: Another Fine Day in the Navy!” Another fine Navy milestone.

Honorable Discharge

And then, three years, eleven months, and 29 days later… just like that, it was over. After signing all the paperwork, I grabbed my seabag, my Greco 11-string guitar, and walked off the after brow one last time, even saluting the flag and “requesting permission to go ashore, Sir.” Check out my earlier post, “From Sailor to Civilian.“

That was it. I’d served my four years, and in my personal professional opinion, I made the most of it. I was ready to move on… on to my next journey in life, though back then I didn’t call it that. The term “journey” came later with age… and wisdom.

I was 22 years old and had goals: return to college, get a degree in Electronics Engineering, find a job, and along the way—get married. And… not necessarily in that order.

Winding Down

As I look back on these personal milestones, I don’t think they’re much different from most veterans. Sure, there are varieties of duty stations and some are better than others, but they are all “building blocks” toward a career, whether in the Navy or in civilian life, or a combination of both.

I now call them “journeys.”

I’ve got a long way to go, but I also know I’ve come a long way. If I could go back in time and talk to that 18-year-old Andy Adkins, fresh from flunking out of college and wondering what to do with the rest of his life, do you know what I’d tell him?

“Follow your heart, Andy. Sure, you’ll make a few mistakes along the way, but follow what you feel is right. There will be people that will try to tell you different, but look at it from their perspective—they’re not you. Stay the course and life will treat you as well as you treat it. And yes… join the Navy and see the world. That’s the right decision for you now.”

The “Dash”

If you’ve followed my blog, you’ll notice most of the above is a rehash of experiences I’ve touched on before in previous posts, though sometimes I’ve been known to elaborate/exaggerate a bit.

Now here’s the important point of this blog… Blog #100.

I know most everyone has visited a cemetery at one time or another. I honestly don’t spend a lot of time there, though there have been some interesting “historical” cemeteries we’ve visited over years.

This is not an original thought, but over the years, it’s stood out to me more than once.

I’ve read in the past that while headstones and grave markers usually have the date of birth and the date of death engraved, a “dash” may separate the two dates. The birth & death are—yeah—milestones, but there’s much more to a life than birth or death.

And that’s “The Dash” — all that stuff in between.

You know, life’s milestones.

I never met my father’s father; he died a couple of years before I was born. But his gravestone reads: “He went about doing good.” I think that’s a good ending milestone, don’t you?

Until we meet again,
Andy

Previous Posts mentioned in this blog:

Answers

General George Patton.
Forrest Gump (1994).
Back to the World (1973), Curtis Mayfield; written by Curtis Mayfield.