I had always wanted to join the Navy, ever since I was 12 years old.
My uncle was in the Navy and he would always come home with more sea stories to tell.
When my dad went back in the Navy, after 10 years of broken service, we moved to San Diego. I was immersed in the Navy culture and I knew I wanted to become a Sailor. I joined the Sea Cadet Corps and stayed in it for 3 years, until we moved to Minneapolis, MN.
I joined the Minnesota National Guard, while still in high school because the Navy didn’t want me until I graduated. I wanted to serve my country as soon as I could I finally joined the Navy in April of 1987 and went to Boot Camp in Jun 1987.
While in Boot Camp, a Chaplin asked my company why we joined. I was the only one in the company to say I simply wanted to serve my country. It was not popular, back then, to be as patriotic as I was. But I was proud to serve, and I am proud to have gotten as far as I did.