Veterans

  Today is Veterans Day, "substitute" is how Microsoft informs me as I turned on the computer. The eleventh is Veterans Day. I've written all about that several times, the eleventh hour and all of that. I've written about the Poppies and Flanders Field. I've posted pictures of veterans from all wars where pictures were taken. I've even posted pictures of those veterans that served with my dad in WW2. I do remember and honor them all. 

  This morning as I was reviewing my "memories" page, a habit I have developed over the years I saw some of those pictures. In particular I saw the picture of my graduating company from Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Company 263. The best company of recruits to ever pass through those gates. What caught my attention was how young we all were. It isn't the way I remember that, but a picture is worth a thousand words. We were all just kids. How serious we all looked. I can't speak for anyone else, but I remember feeling all grown up. I entered as a school kid and left as a man. That was the objective of that training, and it was effective. That feeling lasted for a while but eventually faded away as reality set in. 

  While I attended my "A" school, what the Navy called vocational training, to become a Machinist Mate, (steam propulsion engineer) I enjoyed more freedom. With that freedom came a bit of a relapse from the Navy way. I still acted like a kid in many ways now that I was afforded that option. I set about becoming more of the traditional sailor civilians hear about and all that entailed at the time. The only thing I avoided at that time was getting a tattoo, that would come a bit later on. But frequent visits to the enlisted man's club was definitely on top of the list. Sailors drank beer and chased women. The beer was plentiful, the women not so much. It really wasn't like the movies, there were like a hundred guys in there and three women. But we drank that 3.2 beer and talked a big game to our shipmates! No matter that we didn't have a ship or a mate. It became lonely at times.

  The war in Vietnam was winding down as I entered the fleet onboard USS Pawcatuck AO-108. I was now in the company of the old salts. Thing was those old salts weren't much older than myself, I was like a freshman in high school, and they were upper classmen. They all seemed older though. Looking through old photographs today, what few I have of those days, they sure look a lot younger than I remember. We were all young. And that is what entered my thoughts this morning. Serving in the military, going to sea or wherever you are sent to serve, is a young man's game. It is something that most forget about or simply don't understand. We tend to view veterans are those stalwart men fighting in battle, facing the enemy with courage and determination. But that isn't the case at all, not really. All of that experience is what makes men. Some will mature and make it while others will fail. I've seen both in my twenty-year career. I was forty when I retired.

  I served four years and "got out" for two before returning to active duty. Being married and expecting a second child will get you to thinking about returning to the service. I was twenty-two then, still just a kid really. I was certainly acting like one more often than I should have. So, I went back in and stayed another sixteen years. As I mentioned I was forty. On the shadow box I was presented with upon my retirement there is a small plaque. It reads "Father Time" as that is what I was called at my last command. I was that old! Now I understand why that was so. To those in their early twenties forty is old, very old. Like a professional athlete forty is time to retire, you can't cut it anymore. It is a young man's game.

  I've been retired longer than I was active duty. I had a second career and grew old to do that job. I was given the benefit of age during my final years on the job. There were times when the younger guys were asked to do things that I was not expected too. That was so even when I insisted I was more than capable of doing the job. I tried to convince those kids that the old man could still go! But father time was showing his cards. I had grey hair, didn't want to go out to the nightclubs and engage in the activities of those younger men. I just wanted to go home, be with the wife and kids and grandkids. 

  Now I'm a veteran of all that as well. I don't look so young anymore but feel like I am. Strange. When I went to bootcamp I felt old but was young. We were all young then. I think that is what few understand about veterans. I think that is what some veterans haven't figured out yet. I just smile when I see those pictures. I can hear the voices, hear the conversations, and know how naive we really were. At the time of my enlistment the Navy had a recruiting slogan, "It's not just a job, it's an adventure." It was indeed an adventure. The adventure lasted longer more so for some than for others. For me it turned into a job. That's how I see that time. Just doing a job that needed to be done. You're welcome.