A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.”?
2. In what movie, and who said it, did we hear, “I fart in your general direction.”?
3. In what song, and who sang it, did we hear:
   Heaven’s just a sin away, oh-whoa, just a sin away
   I can’t wait another day, I think I’m giving in
   I love to hold you tight, oh-whoa, be with you tonight
   But that still won’t make it right ’cause I belong to him

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This past weekend, I took part in the Sunshine State Book Festival, an annual event for authors and publishers. Over 150 authors were there, including me. Like many others, I had several stacks of my books, ready to sell.

Before I go any further in this blog post, let me tell you… I’m not trying to sell you any books. That’s not the purpose of “A Veteran’s Journey.”

My primary goal with my blog is twofold: one, it allows me to consistently write and hopefully, by writing more, I can expand my writing abilities. Lord knows I need help. And two, it helps me stay connected with other Navy veterans—heck, other veterans around the world.

So, there you have it. Back to the book festival…

This is only my second experience setting up a 2’ x 4’ booth at a book event and sharing a table with another author.

And before you ask… I sold a total of five (5) books and traded three (3). It’s not a money-maker. And besides, I’m already retired and fortunately, don’t need the money.

But the experience… well, that’s the magic.

“Hooks” to Draw People In

Back in the day when I was a legal technology consultant, I attended many conferences (ABA Techshow & LegalTech). I spend many hours walking the aisles, checking out the various software and hardware systems and eventually, when I became a news columnist for Law Office Computing Magazine, I’d spend more time talking with the vendors. I met many great folks who are still at it today… many I still call “my family away from home.”

It was always interesting to see how the vendor(s) would draw you into their booth, or “hook” you into stepping closer for a more informal chat.

“Nice tie,” I’d often hear—many times I’d wear a red, white, blue American tie, especially after 9/11. I also wore a huge black cowboy hat, Not that I’m a cowboy, but when you’re 6’4” tall and wear a big black cowboy hat, people can easily find you.

But when I’d hear “nice tie,” that got my attention, so I’d step in closer, check out the goods and spend a little time with the vendor.

A few times, I’d have my own exhibit booth. While the “nice tie” comment often worked for men, I couldn’t say that to women. Well, except for one or two. So I’d smile and say, “nice shoes.” I’d either get a polite, “thank you” in return and… hopefully draw her in closer to begin my, “I’m one of only a handful of truly independent legal technology consultants in the country” spiel, or I’d get an impolite eye roll.

Yeah… it was a tough business.

Sometimes, It Gets Ugly

Then there was that time at a Florida Bar Annual Meeting/Conference where a couple of really nice-looking women (“ringers”) were manning an exhibit booth. Both wore slim, tight-fitting dresses—one in red, one in blue—and both standing tall in 6” stiletto heels. And, to top that off, they offered warm cookies to anyone and everyone. Needless to say, there was a constant line at their booth. I still can’t remember what they were selling.

What got me, though, was next to the “ringer” booth, was an older gentleman… an expert witness, specializing in pathology. Even though he was well known in the legal industry, nobody stopped by to talk with him. So on Day 2 of the conference, he set up a small projector in his booth and placed the screen on the side next to the ringer table. Everyone who visited the “ringers” would also see his projected images.

Needless to say, a pathologist who displays images of his work (that is, human body organs… in color!), next to a booth that serves warm chocolate chip cookies served by beautiful women doesn’t necessarily draw in crowds. But on Day 2, there weren’t as many visitors to the ringer booth as on Day 1.

Lesson learned!

A Potential Customer

Once the festival opened, people drifted in and out, like many other festivals. With 150 authors exhibiting, people took their time, browsing, reading, and chatting.

When someone passed by the booth and glanced over at my books, I’d usually stand up and greet them, asking if they were looking for anything in particular. If that opened the conversation—as opposed to them saying “no, thank you,” and moving on—then I’d start my spiel.

I thought about tossing out a “nice shoes” comment, but I’m far too old for that. Besides, I didn’t want to show off my knowledge (as opposed to my confidence) of asking if they liked their Pumps, their Sling Backs, their T-Straps, their Mules, their Ankle Boot, or their Wedges, but I backed off.

A side note… I’m working on a new novel and attempting to write better descriptions, both for men and women. So, I turned to Dr. Google to research women’s shoes. The next day, both Google and Facebook began showing me ads for women’s shoes.

Yeah… so much for Internet privacy, right?

Launch the Alert 5!

Anyway, once I began talking about my writing genre—military—I talked about World War II (my dad’s experiences), Vietnam (I’m a Vietnam “era” veteran… ’73-77), and my novel, NEVER FORGET, which combines World War II and Vietnam (a father & son journey). That usually started off the conversation. Over the years, I’ve learned that most people have some sort of connection to the four wars: WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and GWOT, whether it was a father or uncle, a brother or cousin, or they themselves.

It’s always interesting to me listening to others’ experiences, whether it be the war itself, or their family member who served. Most of those who I spoke with whose fathers fought in World War II (like my dad and my wife’s dad), said the same thing: “they never talked about it.” I guess it was just a different generation. I’m fortunate enough that my dad left a diary… a journal… about his war experiences. And I’m grateful I could publish, You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This, back in 2005.

Vietnam War veterans and their families are, from my experience, a little more open to conversation, but they rarely like to talk about the war itself. Unless there’s a common connection. Even though I was not boots on the ground in Vietnam and I enlisted when the war was winding down, it’s still something that affected my generation. And, with the research—both reading and interviewing Vietnam veterans—for my NEVER FORGET book, I know enough to talk about generalities.

Veteran Experiences

There were only a few authors at the Book Festival selling military books. Some were veterans and some of their books were memoirs, while others were fiction or non-fiction. I’d written both.

But the most interesting (and entertaining) thing for me was visiting with those who stopped by my booth. I met many other veterans, as well as veteran families. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines (no Coast Guard this time). It turns out the president of the association is a former 31-year Marine veteran. He is a pirate re-enactor and has written a couple of books about pirates. And yes, at the festival, he was in his pirate garb. He’d rather talk about pirates than the Marines.

I also met and spoke at length with an Air Force Special Ops veteran—27 years. He’d been all over the world, started his career as an enlisted man, then worked his way up and eventually became an officer. He’s worked with all the U.S. military branches and a few allied militaries. He’d spent time on a few carriers (not Kitty Hawk), though we didn’t get into specifics, which I fully understand. But he knew and understood the culture. Frankly, I think he preferred to be on land… Air Force…  

I shared a booth with a woman author, a little older than I, but also local. Interestingly, her husband also attended and spent a lot of time in the booth. He was a 20-year Navy veteran officer. We shared many experiences—his 20 years versus my 4 years. I believe he mentioned he’d been in the Gulf of Tonkin on several cruises during the Vietnam War. He spent most of his time in CIC, which he seemed to enjoy. But me… I worked on the flight deck and appreciated all the hustle & bustle up there.

But whether you’re an officer or an enlisted man, we’re all veterans and still carry many of the same traits as we did years ago.

Comparing Experiences

One thing that stood out to me, as I spoke with these other veterans, was that we all described our military experience as one that helped set our journey through life. After all, most of us enlisted when we were 17, 18, or 19 years old.

These are my words, not necessarily theirs, but we all agreed that the discipline, comradery, training, and teamwork all contributed to success. And I’m not talking about “money” success, but successful in whatever endeavors we tackled. That’s what I call “A Veteran’s Confidence.”

I spoke with several veterans who either served aboard aircraft carriers or who’d been on a Westpac. A few had served on the East Coast, but it seemed more Navy veterans at this festival in Florida spent time on the West Coast. Go figure!

When I talk to another veteran about their overseas experiences, many times we’ll share the at sea experience. But more likely, we turn to liberty and overseas ports. Mine are limited. On Westpac ’75, our overseas forward deployment was PI (Philippine Islands), so that’s where we spend most of our time when not at sea. Other than that, we visited Hong Kong and Japan. And, of course, I’d spent 15 months at NAS Agana, Guam, prior to reporting aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) in March 1975.

The bars, the music, the food, and, of course, the “ladies.”

Speaking of Hookers

Oh yeah… speaking of “hookers…” you were probably wondering when I’d get around to that. To tell you the truth, I used the term, “hooker,” in the title of this blog post to see if you’d read it. Did the “hook” work?

I’m not sure where the term originated, or when, for that matter. But my experience in the Navy… well, let’s just say the hookers in PI, Hong Kong, Guam, Japan, and heck… even Hawaii and San Diego were all “different.” Let’s also “just say for purposes of this blog” that the cost differences between hiring… “Navy Relief”… were similar to the cost differences between buying beer in these different ports.

I’d shared this before…

Back in the mid-70s, a beer cost $1.50 a bottle in Guam, 40 pisos ($.45 USD) in the Philippines, $4 HK ($.85 USD) in Hong Kong, and 400 Yen ($1.30 USD) in Japan. It’s a crude way of comparing currency, but you get the idea.

And… I think I’ll leave it right there.   

Until we meet again,
Andy

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Answers

1. José Narosky.
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), the French Soldier (John Cleese).
3. Heaven’s Just a Sin Away (1977), The Kendalls; written by Jerry Gillespie.

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.”