The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

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

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

What Habit(s), Good Or Not So Good, Did You Pick Up During Your Military Service That You Still Practise To This Day?:

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.

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QM3 Nicolette (Nikki) Martinez, U.S. Navy (1990-1994)

QM3 Nicolette (Nikki) Martinez, U.S. Navy (1990-1994)

Where did you go to Boot Camp/ Basic Training? What specific memories do you have of instructors, fellow recruits and any rigorous training?:

I went to boot camp in Orlando, FL beginning September 9, 1990. My company was K106. I had a female and male company commanders. She was very hardcore and much harder on us recruits than he was. He was higher rank. The one specific memory I have is not the happiest. We had one woman who had just made it to the age cut off. She was Filipino and her English wasn’t very good. She was an introvert and her age set her apart from the rest of us as we were mostly 18-20 years old. I’m going to call her Maggie to protect her identity due to the nature of her sad story.

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