Location(s) of Military Service:
Served for 20yrs. as a Seabee. Visited 22 different countries. I joined the Seabees to stay off ships and to my luck I was sent to an Amphibious Battalion my first duty station. Amphib Bees go to sea right next to the Marines. What they do, we do. My first deployment was a North Atlantic Multi-National cruise to Norway where we arrived in a blizzard and the temp was 80 degrees below zero. We were 25 miles from Russia. Russian Badgers(fighter jet) were all over us like flies every day. On the way home I went through my first hurricane at sea. We had to walk the flight deck checking the equipment in 60 to 70 foot waves. You realize how small you are standing on the flight deck of a ship 30 to 35 feet off the water and you have to look up at the waves. My second deployment as an Amphib Bee was to the Mediterranean. We held several beach invasion operations all over the Med. I didn't think so then, but we were having the time of our lives. My second duty station was Sicily. Yep, home of the mafia. I was there to provide support to the air base. When we touched down the base was on lock down because they just brought in the flight that had the terrorists that invaded that cruise ship. After arriving I went to work assisting the SEALs to board that plane. My third duty station was back to Norfolk, VA. to a Unit that did projects for base improvement. Projects that mainly were to raise the morale of the sailors. While there I toured the first Russian Frigate when they came to America. I was there when the New Jersey Battle Ship turret blew up. To see that massive, majestic war ship damaged was heart braking. The old WW2 Vets that served on that ship lined the streets holding American flags as it came into port. Most were crying. What a sad day for America. My next duty station was Gulfport,MS where I was in NMCB-133. While in this battalion I had the unique privilege of going to Iraq for the first gulf war. We were in Zakho, Iraq. Boy did it suck. Every where were murals of Saddam Hussein trying to show his power over his people. Every one of them had the face shot off. So much for the respect of his power. I never shot at anyone ,but we did assist the Brits one night with some mortar fire. My next duty station was back to Sicily. I was single on this trip, so the fun factor was much higher. I was a QAE. I monitored contractor performance and could take money from them for non-compliance of the contract. My last duty station was back to Gulfport,MS. I was an instructor for Basic Combat Skills and the 50Cal. machine gun.
