As a junior in high school, my two best friends, Bob Johnston and Bob Ely (a sophomore), and I were entranced by two Navy shows on TV. , “Men of Annapolis” and “Victory at Sea.” We lived in a small town, Lucerne Valley, on the Mojave Desert, and job opportunities after graduating were minimal. These shows seemed to pique our interest in the Navy as a job that would give us a trade, feed us, house us, and pay us. College was not an option at that time. Besides the distance we would have had to travel, finances played a part in our decisions. The more we looked into the Navy, the more we were convinced that that was what we wanted after graduation. We were so excited about this particular service that Bob Johnston and I decided to form a Navy club. A retired commander who lived in the valley agreed to sponsor us. He suggested calling it the Future Navy Men’s Association. Commander Wickware arranged a weekend for us at NTC San Diego, where we were treated royally. We contacted a recruiter in San Bernardino, Ed Futch, letting him know of our intentions to join.