IN AUGUST 1966, WITH THE VIETNAM WAR RAGING, I ENLISTED IN THE U.S. NAVY. I DID NOT KNOW WHERE THIS WOULD LEAD ME, BUT IT WAS A CHANCE TO EXPLORE MY CAPABILITIES AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN A SKILL.
My first stop was boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois. I remember using pieces of rope to hang out my laundry, standing inspection every morning, competing in group activities and learning to be an independent, responsible person. After boot camp concluded in late October, I became an “Airdale” (aka brownshoe), with my first set of orders sending me to the Naval Air Technical Training Center at Naval Air Station (NAS) Memphis, Tenn., for a 26-week electronics technician curriculum. Following completion of the course in June 1967, I took a couple weeks of leave and then departed on July 18 for three weeks of counterinsurgency training in Little Creek, Va.
As part of the Little Creek training, we endured a week surviving in the rugged outdoors during a very hot August. We ate whatever we could find (snapping turtle soup and smoked copperhead snake) while being hunted by an enemy (group of Marines) who eventually “captured” us (smoking the copperhead was a big mistake) and put our squad in a concentration camp for interrogation. At the end of concentration camp we were given some C-rations, which never tasted so good. After that I received my orders to report to Airborne Early Warning Squadron 1 (VW-1) in Agana, Guam. This is where my story really begins.
I departed Travis Air Force Base, northeast of San Francisco, in August 1967 on a chartered Boeing 707 jam-packed with military personnel for a 17-hour flight to Andersen AFB
