As I was driving home today I was thinking back over my youth and a memory came up that I suddenly realized was a defining moment in my life.

I graduated from High School in 1968 and the draft was a fact of life, so I had pre-enlisted in the Navy. I had good enough ASVAB scores that I qualified for a guaranteed Advanced Electronics school and signed up for the requisite 6 years.

The moment I refer to came about 1/3 of the way through ET-A school in Great Lakes. I was called out of class (Oooooh, this can't be good...) and was directed to an office where an Officer asked me if I was interested in becoming a Communications Technician vs. an ET. After ascertaining that it was indeed one of the group of ratings in the Advanced Electronics field and I would complete my schooling as originally designed, I said "Sure, why not?"

So, entirely by chance (due, I expect, to a clean background check) I wound up in the Naval Security Group. So what, right? Well at that time and with the state of electronics development and physical size of the necessary equipment, 90+ per cent of NSG personnel were on shore duty. You pretty much had to specifically ask to be assigned to seagoing commands.

I wound up on shore duty in the Philippines and Japan and stateside in Maine before my first enlistment was up.

Had I stayed on the ET track, I almost certainly would have gone to a ship, would have mixed with an entirely different group of people, most likely would have bailed at the end of my first enlistment, it's highly doubtful I'd have ever gotten to Maine, and guaranteed I'd never have gotten to Winter Harbor, which means I'd never have met my wife and kids.

If I'd gotten out at 24 and gone back to Michigan there's no telling the path my life would have taken.

All because of one completely random, spur of the moment decision.

An uncle of mine (who is no longer technically my uncle I guess because he and my aunt divorced many many years ago) was helping me with college applications and football because he was somehow connected to the college football scouting world. Simply he asked me, "Have you ever heard of Kings Point?" No I hadn't, and the idea of going to a federal military Academy before that wasn't even on my radar.

Well, I looked into the achool, applied, and the rest is history. My application, nomination, and acceptance to the Academy was all very last minute.

Had my uncle not mentioned Kings Point, there is no doubt in my mind that I would've ended up at Bates College in Maine where I was already accepted. God knows how my life would be now had I gone that route. Two things are for certain. I wouldn't be living in Utah today, and I never would've met my wife.

Yes, a chance conversation in a parking deck in Atlanta in 1994. That's all I'll say.

Birth.

The military has a way of defining things, all right.

I suppose my equivalent was when I was in college, a drilling reservist (RM3). I had enlisted in high school to boost my chances of NROTC scholarship to no avail. They told me I could go to OCS in the summers and graduate with a reserve commission. That sounded ok. I ran into an aviation recruiter on campus, with a similar program. I signed up for that, took the test, passed the physicals, the eye test for jets, etc.

One night, months later, the CO came up to me after colors and told me he had orders for me to OCS and also to AVOCS. Which did I want him to endorse and send in approved?

I told him I would tell him by the end of that night’s drill. Surface or aviation?

I picked surface, but have never been completely sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed aviation. Later, I became a pilot, buying my own gas, paying my own instructors, which the Navy would have been happy to provide, no charge.

It all worked out OK. I’m not unhappy with the way things have gone, but I wonder. Back in those days, young pilots were sent out to get shot at, and that might have changed how things worked out.

I went to a Christmas party with my Mom as a college student. A conversation with one of Mom’s friend’s husbands turned into an internship which turned into a 20+ year career.

The birth of my son.

As a freshman in high school we toured the county Vo-Tech school. The moment I walked into the machine shop my vocational life became defined. What I'd been building & playing with up until that time now had purpose & extreme clarity. I didn't know until then how my skills and way of seeing things would play out in life. I feel blessed to have known from an early age what I wanted to be when I grew up. It all came into focus on that day. For that I'm still thankful.

Hearing these words while sitting on a bus at MCRD San Diego in 1975.

"GET OFF THIS FUCKING BUS NOW!!! FASTER YOU MAGGOTS, GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY BUS NOW!!!
STAND ON THE FUCKING FOOTPRINTS YOU ASSHOLES!"

quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
"GET OFF THIS FUCKING BUS NOW!!! FASTER YOU MAGGOTS, GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY BUS NOW!!!
STAND ON THE FUCKING FOOTPRINTS YOU ASSHOLES!"

I was thinking the same thing. Except it was October 20, 1970 at about 2300. It may well have been the same bus.

quote:

Originally posted by RETTOP:

quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
"GET OFF THIS FUCKING BUS NOW!!! FASTER YOU MAGGOTS, GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY BUS NOW!!!
STAND ON THE FUCKING FOOTPRINTS YOU ASSHOLES!"

I was thinking the same thing. Except it was October 20, 1970 at about 2300. It may well have been the same bus.

Yep, it was about 2300 when we got there too. I think it is planned that way.

Getting off the Airplane in Anchorage after trying to move there permanently for the past decade.

Also, Boarding the airplane to leave China after being there for 6+ years. Saying bye to friends, giving final notice at a job that was quickly turning into a pretty good career so I could pursue a dream id had (moving to AK).

Defining moment?

I could say it was when my mom "suggested" that I join the army at age 17, after my junior year is high school. I did join the army and left town that day.

Or, I could say it was my "dream" to be a tank driver which led me to enlist for the 3 AD in August 1955, or that I enlisted in that division because it was going to Germany. 2 requirements I had to enlist, Germany and tank driver.

Got to Germany in May 1956.

Or, it could be the night I met the love of my life in that little German village, 60+ miles from where I was stationed.

Or, the day I married her, which will be 60 years ago, come May 23.

EXTREMELY long story with which I won't bore anyone, but the time I didn't get hired at my current airline about 2 1/2 weeks before 9/11. Wound up getting hired a little over 3 years later...

Yes, December 22, 2014

I'm in an operating room and sitting at my wife's head, holding her hand as the doctor is doing an emergency C-section on her as our two-weeks late son had gotten stuck after nearly 40 hours of brutal labor.

All of a sudden I hear (there is a curtain up across my wife's chest) "DAD, STAND UP!" and there's this little cry and the doctor is holding this amazing little slippery pink creature, my SON!

I will remember that day always like it happened yesterday.

I was a fat friendless kid from Fresno with no self confidence and no respect from anyone at home. I was the kid everyone told what to do. It took me 15 minutes to jog/walk a mile. I had no muscle and weighed 225lbs.

My family thought I was making a big mistake enlisting in the Marines. Everyone, and I mean everyone, thought I'd be back in 2 weeks. I asked every family member if they though I could make it and not to be afraid of telling me the answer. They all said no. After graduating from Marine Corps basic training, nobody ever preached to me or tried to give me advice ever again.

Most of my friends and family never left Fresno. I've been all over this great country and to roughly 17 different countries. I've never been dependent on anyone else to survive since December 27th, 1991.

It took me 40 extra days to finish basic training but I never quit. I lost 65 pounds and was able to run 3 miles in 22 minutes when I finally walked off the parade deck. I broke the family cycle of being a car mechanic and fixed/crewed helicopters instead. That was my doorway into the semiconductor industry after serving for 9 years.

I have other events, but that was the first and most profound, I'd say.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I was a fat friendless kid from Fresno with no self confidence and no respect from anyone at home. I was the kid everyone told what to do. It took me 15 minutes to jog/walk a mile. I had no muscle and weighed 225lbs.

My family thought I was making a big mistake enlisting in the Marines. Everyone, and I mean everyone, thought I'd be back in 2 weeks. I asked every family member if they though I could make it and not to be afraid of telling me the answer. They all said no. After graduating from Marine Corps basic training, nobody ever preached to me or tried to give me advice ever again.

Most of my friends and family never left Fresno. I've been all over this great country and to roughly 17 different countries. I've never been dependent on anyone else to survive since December 27th, 1991.

It took me 40 extra days to finish basic training but I never quit. I lost 65 pounds and was able to run 3 miles in 22 minutes when I finally walked off the parade deck. I broke the family cycle of being a car mechanic and fixed/crewed helicopters instead. That was my doorway into the semiconductor industry after serving for 9 years.

I have other events, but that was the first and most profound, I'd say.

Tony.

Much respect to you!

Hard to say, there are so many, and often its the little decisions that change your life in ways you cant imagine.

I logged on the internet one day instead of going out and for some reason went into a chat room which I didn't usually do but I was bored, struck up a random conversation and wound up marrying her.

Gave a buddy a last minute ride to drop off a job application at a company, and I figured what the hell, while Im here ill do one too. I got hired and he didn't, and started my career.

I decided to go to Burger King one day for lunch instead of the Subway next door and ran into a tech from work, started to shoot the shit and wound up accepting a transfer to being a tech instead of what I was doing.

Etc, etc etc etc... you just never never know how going left instead of right may impact your life.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I was a fat friendless kid from Fresno with no self confidence and no respect from anyone at home. I was the kid everyone told what to do. It took me 15 minutes to jog/walk a mile. I had no muscle and weighed 225lbs.

My family thought I was making a big mistake enlisting in the Marines. Everyone, and I mean everyone, thought I'd be back in 2 weeks. I asked every family member if they though I could make it and not to be afraid of telling me the answer. They all said no. After graduating from Marine Corps basic training, nobody ever preached to me or tried to give me advice ever again.

Most of my friends and family never left Fresno. I've been all over this great country and to roughly 17 different countries. I've never been dependent on anyone else to survive since December 27th, 1991.

It took me 40 extra days to finish basic training but I never quit. I lost 65 pounds and was able to run 3 miles in 22 minutes when I finally walked off the parade deck. I broke the family cycle of being a car mechanic and fixed/crewed helicopters instead. That was my doorway into the semiconductor industry after serving for 9 years.

I have other events, but that was the first and most profound, I'd say.

Tony.

Much respect to you!

Amen.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Yes, December 22, 2014

I'm in an operating room and sitting at my wife's head, holding her hand as the doctor is doing an emergency C-section on her as our two-weeks late son had gotten stuck after nearly 40 hours of brutal labor.

All of a sudden I hear (there is a curtain up across my wife's chest) "DAD, STAND UP!" and there's this little cry and the doctor is holding this amazing little slippery pink creature, my SON!

I will remember that day always like it happened yesterday.

Families are forever.