Great Lakes

August 23rd

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Until 1972 the twenty-third day of that month had no special meaning. However on this day in 1972 I left my home in Arcade, New York drove to Buffalo Airport and boarded an American Airlines Boeing 727 and made an all expenses paid trip to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. I was anxious and my future was … Read more

Rewarding

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At 0730 last Friday morning I found myself riding with my brother and his family through the Illinois Street Gate at United States Navy Recruit Training Command. That morning was filled with excitement for all on board. It was homecoming for one old sailor returning to a place where I too had once served. Once … Read more

Pass in Review

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Division 290 Ship 11 enters Friday Morning at 0900 the Pass in Review ceremony at Great Lakes Recruit Training Command began and after the preliminary review of colors and a short film about life in Boot Camp we got our first look at the graduates. My nephew’s unit, Division 290 Ship 11 was the first … Read more

35th Anniversary

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Thirty-five years ago today I graduated from the United States Navy Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes, Illinois. I was a member of Company 7316 as we were officially known. I was eighth in a class of sixty-eight other new Hospital Corpsman that crossed the stage that day. We were mostly draftees who chose to join the Navy rather than take our chances wandering in the jungles of South East Asia. Some of us would later serve with the Fleet Marine Force as HM-8404’s and many would later face peril somewhere else. I often wondered if any of my shipmates were injured in Beirut in the 1980’s.

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