JOC JoAnn Hellmann, U.S. Navy (1973-1996)

A habit is defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

According to that definition, I d have to say the habit I picked up during my military service that I still practice today? My husband John! I met him during recruit training in Orlando, Florida in 1973 and we married in 1974. I often wonder if we re the only ones that went from boot camp romance to golden wedding anniversary, which we celebrated earlier this year.

It must have been fate we met. That Kentucky boy wasn t sent to nearby Navy boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois but to the only Navy boot camp for women then, where he met this New Jersey girl. Coincidence we arrived at boot camp on the same day: May 25, 1973? I think not.

Boot camp romances were nearly impossible in the military pre-coed 70 s. Men and women didn t share classrooms, gyms, chow halls or even church services. There isn t room here to explain fully how we met. Suffice to say it started when some of my company buddies and I used what little free time we had before lights out to send out post cards in search of pen pals aka male recruits. All we needed was a company number, which we spied on the hand-held guide-on flag as a company went marching by and so addressed a few post cards willy-nilly. As our company cadence caller, I could help slow down our marching tempo if needed for a good solid look at those numbers. By luck or fate, one we sent was to Company 117.

Within a week we had plenty of replies, most from recent high school grads. This 23-year-old wasn t interested until a letter arrived from a 22-year-old Company 117 Master-At-Arms who happened to be idly checking the bulletin board one afternoon. After luck, what followed were almost daily letters, a couple with photos, as we got acquainted. About two weeks later we two Catholics met at a Jewish service (too small to segregate the sexes) enjoying bagels and lox and watching a film on Israel. We exchanged several letters a week, culminating in a day of liberty together. John asked me to visit him in Louisville and I did before heading off to Naval Station San Diego and he to Avionics A School in Memphis.

The next two months were a flurry of phone calls and letters and on October 20, 1973 we were engaged, marrying the following February. Surprisingly, we were only physically together all of ten days during our courtship! For years afterwards we were often hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles apart. But for us, Absence makes the heart grow fonder. held true. And we both became a habit neither of us has ever wanted to break.

Read the Military Memories of our Runner-Ups.