TWS Military Service Page Archives - Page 4 of 18

The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

SSgt Kevin C. Anders, U.S. Air Force (1978-1983)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

I grew up in a large city and yet was near a river and spent a lot of time in the woods and banks surrounding it. I love animals and the outdoors. A training assignment was Survival School in Fairchild, Washington. My team was mostly my age from the South East US and mostly rural communities. To enforce the survival mentality, we were given very little to eat before they kicked us loose in the woods of Washington. I found a Snowshoe Rabbit huddled in the deep snow and quickly converted him into a grocery item.

MUCS James E. Richards, U.S. Navy (1971-1995)

VA Military Memories Competition

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

This photo was taken of a COMNAVAIRLANT Band called “Third Wire” resting on the tarmac at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily in February 1973. We were assigned to Commander Task Force 60.1 (ADM Turner) stationed aboard the flagship USS Forrestal CVA-59. We had flown from Forrestal to NAVSIG for a performance there and other locations in Sicily, but had returned to the Naval Station for our flight back to the ship. When we arrived, they shuttled us out to the Flight Line to our aircraft and dropped us off. Unfortunately, the aircraft was not ready to depart, and we had about an hour to kill before boarding and flying out.

SGT Zach Pierce, U.S. Army (2002-2008)

VA Military Memories Competition

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

This was taken some time in the summer of 2004, FAAAR FAR outside Bagram, Afghanistan. We were on some sort of multi-day mission to explore distant villages from our very remote outpost in the Tarin Kowt region. My unit, A Co (QUICKSTRIKE!) sent our platoon with minimal supervision, to a village that, it was said, had never seen American forces during the entire Afghanistan war, to that point. In this photo, we had just been dropped off and had wandered a few clicks when we came across this village. There were a few camels and me, being a touchy-feely kind of specialist, just had to see the camels. My squad leader and I both got camel rides thanks to my charisma!

CSM Michael H. Sweeney, U.S. Army (1969-1999)

VA Military Memories Competition

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

Well, the Britannica Dictionary defines habit as: a usual way of behaving: something that a person often does in a regular and repeated way. With that in mind, the first thing that comes to mind, really the only thing, is waking up very early every morning. Sort of a given, isn t it? You know, We do more before 0900 than the rest of the world does all day , right? Well, this morning, like every morning, I woke up before 0500, and I have been retired from the uniform for 26 years and completely retired for over two years. That defines a habit that I have had now for over 55 years.

SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)

VA Military Memories Competition

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

Throughout all of my school years and into early adulthood, participation in sports and any other physical fitness activities were non-existent in my life. Little did I know, that by joining the Army in late 1973 at the age of 23, my previous semi-sedentary lifestyle would become a thing of the past.

AX2 Tim Hinds, U.S. Navy (1963-1969)

VA Military Memories Competition

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

This one was easy. It was life-changing for me. I may have posted this already but Im not aware how to enter it. I was chosen to be on what was called the J.J crew. We trained pilots and crew in operations of Antisubmarine warfare. Our air-craft was the P-2V Neptune. I was an AX-2, but we learned how to maintain all the electronics aboard the aircraft. My job was to preflight the aircraft scheduled for early morning missions. I was also an aircrew radio operator. On this particular early morning, I was testing the radio equipment. It failed so I did the obvious and replaced the radio module. That didn’t fix it, so I took the next obvious step, then the next, until I ran out of options. I was kind of a high-strung guy with more ego than brains. But my friend, also on the crew, asked what the problem was. I told him in an irritated , leave me alone manner. So he just went on with his tasks. A little later, as time was becoming an issue, he came over the wing beam and saw I was still struggling to figure it out. He then said “Still stumped in a friendly way?” Then he offered a suggestion and I snapped back, “I’ve got this I know how it works, I’ll get it, I don’t need your help!” He made a face, shook his head and went on, reminding me that the flight was scheduled in a half hour. I was getting nervous, and finally I tried his suggestion. It worked.