As a child, I had always had an interest in the Navy. My parents had been in the Army during WWII, so they couldn’t understand why I was so fascinated by all things Navy. My favorite TV shows were Silent Service, Men of Annapolis, Navy Log, Victory at Sea, and McHale’s Navy. I had a stack of paperback books about the Navy. I liked the idea of going into submarines, but my vision wasn’t good enough. After registering for the draft in 1964, my next stop was the Navy Recruiting Office in Babylon, New York. He wasn’t in, so I went to the one in Hempstead. The SMC in charge was in, so I signed up with him, and at the end of September, I was off to Great Lakes RTC.