USN '55-'59. Home ported at the Destroyer piers in Norfolk..........
........... would not trade my Navy time for any other facet of my life. Also, my Dad was exNavy (a pharmacist Mate) and was very proud of me for joining the Navy as I did.
Bob it appears we were in the Navy during the same period of time, but oceans apart. The young lady with her hand on my knee had black hair.
Your mention of the pride your Dad had in your Naval Service brought a humorous (for some) memory back to mind..........
My mother had six brothers;
five of whom were regular ARMY with considerable battle experience in Europe during WWII. To that poor southern Illinois farming family, any reference to Americas Fighting Forces was synonymous with the word
ARMY. When a much younger brother later joined the Navy, my mother asked him why he had joined the Navy, and his answer was,
"to stay out of the Army".
I'm sure he was simply stating his preference to serve in the Navy v/s the Army, but my mother apparently saw his actions as less than a sign of bravery, since years later, when I joined the Navy and my own brother joined the Marines, I recall hearing her tell anyone who asked, that she had "one son in the
Armed Forces and one in the
Navy".
I suppose I should have corrected her, but I never did. It hurt a little at the time, but makes for a funny story now.