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With the 4th coming up and Flipper's pics got me dreaming of the good old days. There are a few retired swabbies here and this thread is a salute to you. I include a link to my ship which I served i from '61 to '67. I did not serve 20 years but cut it short after 6 years at sea and 2 years shore duty at WSMR New Mexico. In the '60's you were spat upon and called baby killers in airports and bus depots.

I will include a link to my ships home page. Please take a tour of the site. If you click on shipmates and scroll all the way to the bottom you will see a mugshot of an innocent kid so many years ago. I went to school and worked on the tracking radar the missle guidance radar and the missle guidance computer. The radars were all vacuum tubes and the computer was analogue. The training I got in the navy was very advanced and equivalent to an engineering degree. Since I have got a degree in electronic engineering.

We were in Kingston Jamacia and for some reason they granted liberty at noon. About 3 or 4 the shore patrol hauled everybody back aboard. Before we hit the seawall it was GENERAL QUARTERS GENERAL QUARTERS ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS THIS IS NOT A DRILL THIS IS NOT A DRILL. This is a flagship with 5"& 6" guns and missles with nuclear warheads. The captain announced on the 1MC Our mission is an entire blockade of Cuba We a re required to fire a warning shot across the bow of any ship approaching Cuba. If they dont reverse course we are under direct orders to blow them out of the water and we will declare war with Russia.

EDIT: These words spoken over the PA system of an American battle ship are branded in your mind forever.

I had the priveledge to serve under a real commander-in-chief. John F Kennedy. I loved that man. He was a sailor, an officer and a damned good one.

He had a way with words and I share one of his statements.

"Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile. can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction. I served in the United States Navy. President John F Kennedy"

USS Little Rock[

I encourage all vets here to share, boast a bit and post links. THANK YOU

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I served on a submarine from 1977-1982. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything -- it made me a useful member of society.

Well, anybody that knows where my ID came from knows I'm a Navy vet

Eight years...97-05. A year and a half total of school, four years on USS Ogden, then 2 1/2 shore duty here in Fort Worth.

I'd still be in if not for my knee...and I do miss it. I saw more of the world in the four years I was on that ship than I think I ever would have otherwise.

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