A Veteran's Journey

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First of all, Merry Christmas to all from Gainesville, Florida. If you don’t know where that is, it’s about 1½ hours from each coast, an hour south of Georgia, and two hours north of Orlando. Right smack dab in the middle of North Central Florida. I was born & raised here.

And, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, like many of my friends and shipmates, I wish you a warm, healthy, and peaceful Happy Holidays!

I have friends and extended “families” all over the world. Many are veterans, many are classmates, and some are business associates. But all are friends. I often call these wonderful folks “my family away from home.”

Traveling as a Consultant

Thank goodness, I don’t travel like I used to in my consulting business. There were times when I’d be flying out 5-6 times a month to different parts of the country. I was a legal technology consultant for 25+ years, working with lawyers, law firms, law schools, and government agencies. It was a great time to be in that up and coming field; there were only a few of us “independent” consultants. I loved the conferences, loved most of the clients I worked with, and for a while, loved the travel. I racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles, too, which certainly helped with family vacations.

Yet, there was a time when traveling got to be a bit too much.

Like the time when I drove to the local airport to catch a 6am flight, only to get there and realize my flight wasn’t until the next day.

Or the time I was in New York City after spending a few days in Chicago. I’d been out “entertaining” with clients and returned to my hotel room. Only, my key didn’t work. So, I rode the elevator down to the lobby and explained my predicament to the night clerk. She kindly asked to see my room key. After I handed it to her, she looked at me with a kind smile… “Sir, this is a key to the Chicago Hilton. This is the New York Hilton.”

Yeah… I’ll never live that one down.

But now that I’m retired, I don’t travel nearly the amount I did. Some things I.DO.NOT.MISS!

Navy Christmas

Back in the 70s, travel was quite different. I spent four (ish) years in the Navy as an Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Handler. Basically, that’s an aircraft Crash & Salvage firefighter and, when aboard an aircraft carrier, also a Yellow Shirt director. I had two great duty stations: NAS Agana, Guam (’73-75) and USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63 (’75-77).

We didn’t have email or the Internet back then. The only way to stay in touch with family was by either telephone or letters. A phone call from Guam was quite expensive; if memory serves, it was about $15 for a three-minute call. I think I may have called home twice during my 15 months in Guam. But the letters… my goodness, I wrote and received a ton of letters from my mom, dad, and sister.

Unfortunately, I didn’t keep the weekly letters my mom wrote; I had nowhere to keep them, especially when aboard Kitty Hawk. But my mom kept all the letters I wrote home; I still have them, too. And, to top that off, I have all the letters my father wrote home to his parents during World War II. Quite a collection and quite a contrast between my dad’s letters, written during wartime and my letters, written during peace time.

I have to revisit them periodically because… well, at my age, I have the old “CRS Syndrome.” (Google it).

Christmas in Guam

Of the four Christmas’ during my stint in the Navy, two were spent during my tour in Guam. I arrived in Guam the day before Thanksgiving 1973. I didn’t leave until February 1975. But we managed to celebrate the holidays. I can’t recall if I was on duty that day or not.

At the Crash Barn, we worked 24-hours on and 24-hours off. Two duty sections: Port and Starboard; I was in the Port section. But regardless, when you’re away from home, in the service, you’re still with family. So, we celebrated the best we could with what we had.

Anyone and everyone who received goodies from home—I’m sure it’s an unwritten rule for all military branches—you share. I know my dad wrote about doing the same while in Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge on Christmas Day 1944.

There was that time in Guam, however, when I didn’t “share” all my treats. My sister shipped me one of those Hickory Farms gift packages, full of cheese, crackers, and a nice little sample size of wine. You know the kind… that last minute gift you buy in the mall when you can’t find anything for your in-laws, or you waited until the last minute. Yeah… that one.

I opened my “treat” while on duty, looking to share my goodies from home with my shipmates. Yet, when I opened up the box containing that little 2oz sample bottle of wine, there was a little “something” extra in it. I won’t tell you what it was—you can probably guess, though, that it was a marijuana joint.

Since I didn’t smoke or do drugs (I am so thankful for that), I shared only the edibles; carefully hiding the surprise. I actually later gave the joint away when I got back to my barracks. I’m sure if word got out, I’d still be in the brig today. Just sayin’.

Family Christmas

I’m aware people celebrate Christmas (and Hanukkah and all other religions) in various ways. That’s something you quickly learn in the military, no matter where you’re from. Yes, I know they’re different holidays, but hang with me a minute… I’ve got a point.

When I was growing up, we usually spent our holidays with family; I’m sure it wasn’t much different for others. It didn’t matter what race or religion; the fact is, we grew up with family traditions. So, for many of us who grew up in our own individual traditions, our first Christmas (or Holiday) away from home was spent with strangers who were now our new family.

Think about it. Here’s an 18-year-old kid from the south who grew up in a Christian household (or, at least I went to church & Sunday school while growing up) and now I’m celebrating the holidays with others who may not have had the same type upbringing or family traditions I had.

And I knew nothing about the traditions my new family members may have had.

As I think back on those first holidays away from home—in the military—one thing I do remember is missing the time together with my own family: my mom, my dad, my sister, my grandparents, and my aunts & uncles and cousins. We rarely had a “large” family style Christmas dinner, but most of the times I remember lots of family around, lots of good food, and rooms full of joy and happiness.

Celebrating Christmas in Guam was, how shall I say… different from home. If I had duty, I’d celebrate a good meal (trucked over from the mess hall, since it was about a mile from the Crash Barn) with my new family. The food was usually good and there was always plenty of it. If anyone had any home-baked goodies, they’d share with everyone.

I never recall going hungry in the Navy. I know it wasn’t the same for everyone, especially those who were in the middle of a war.

USS Kitty Hawk Christmas

Westpac ’75 was my only cruise with Kitty Hawk. We left in May 1975 and spent several months overseas, based at Subic Bay, Philippines, our overseas forward deployment port. We left PI to return in November, arriving back at San Diego North Island about 0800 on December 15, 1975… the day before my 21st birthday.

Needless to say, the drinking age in California was 21, so “legally” I couldn’t go to a bar. I took duty that first night, anyway. Since I didn’t have family in port and many others did, it seemed like the right thing to do.

I still remember coming back into port and the tugboats slowly inching us alongside the pier at North Island. I could see hundreds of Navy wives and children waving with signs of “Welcome Home, We Love You!” The signalmen on deck were signaling with their wives (or girlfriends… or both). We didn’t have cell phones back then, so everyone with anyone was desperately looking over the crowd until they spotted a familiar face. Then you could see the joy and tears and the frantic waving… “I’m here! I’m here!”

It was a very touching and emotional time.

The new fathers got off the ship first and greeted the moms and their babies with open arms and tears—lots of joyful tears. Even some of the older salts remaining on the ship teared up. It was such a wholesome sight and even though I was still only 20 years old without a wife or girlfriend, it was a touching scene. The reunions were very heart warming. And this early Christmas present back in 1975 was exciting to witness.

A week later, I flew home to Florida to spend Christmas with my own family. The same traditions—good food, good times—then, back to the ship.

Winding Down

Funny thing, though, at least for me. During my four years in the Navy, when I came home on leave, I always spent time with family & friends. But in the same sense, I always looked forward to returning to the ship. I don’t know why, but it was my home away from home. Even when I’m in San Diego and tour the USS Midway museum, it still feels like a “home” to me. It’s hard to explain.

I guess is was my home away from home.

I know a lot of my veteran friends and shipmates have experienced more in their careers and lives than I. Some good, some not so good. But as a veteran and as I’ve gotten older, I try to be more attuned to all veterans and their individual struggles. Especially my combat veteran friends, both old and new; especially at this time of the year.

I learned a lot during my time in the Navy. One of the most important things I learned was that while we all came from different backgrounds and traditions, we all served together, as a team, with the same basic principles and ideals.

And that, my friends, is one of the most honorable traditions I can think of.

During this time of the year, I know you’ll remember that there are hundreds of thousands of service men and women around the world who are not able to spend this holiday time with their own families. Some may have a tougher time celebrating than others. But they are out there, helping to protect the very freedoms we continue to enjoy today.

If you think about it, we are all probably connected to a veteran in one way or another. Our grandfathers may have fought in WWI or WWII; our fathers may have fought in WWII or Korea or Vietnam. We certainly have classmates and friends who joined and served (or are currently serving). I also have several younger veteran friends who served during The Global War on Terror (GWOT).

We owe these courageous men and women a rousing round of thanks for what they do. For in my mind…

WE… ARE… FAMILY!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays from “A Veteran’s Journey.”

Until we meet again,
Andy Adkins

Previous posts mentioned in this blog:

• #87—I Thought I’d Heard it All… Personality Passwords
• #11—Letters from Home
• #53—You Always Remember Your First
• #25—Livin’ the Dream: Live Aboard an Aircraft Carrier
• #49—Westpac ’75: After Six Months, We’re Coming Home
• #20—Port Call: Philippines

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Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books, including You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This-Combat with the 80th “Blue Ridge” Division in World War II Europe, published by Casemate Publishers (2005) and selected as the Book of the Month for the Military Book Club. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness; NEVER FORGET is offered as a FREE (PDF, eBook format) download. Adkins also writes a weekly blog, “A Veteran’s Journey.”