Tour of Duty 1961 08/30/61 to 11/21/61 – Boot Camp – Parris Island, S.C. 11/25/16 to 01/24/62 – Infantry Training – Camp Geiger, N. C. 1962 01/24/61 to 12/30/62 – Camp Lejeune, N. C.  Teletype Operator in the H &S Battalion, Communications Section  04/09/62 to 05/06/62 – U.S.S. Francis Marion – APA-249 Landing Exercise for President John F. Kennedy – JFK Visits the Atlantic Fleet (1962) Cruise to Camp Garcia, Vieques, P. R. Liberty Call in San Juan, P. R. Returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C. on the U.S.S. Mountrail – APA-213  (loved the salt water shower) 09/06/62 to 10/23/62 – Montford Point, N.C. Communications School – Teletype Operator  10/26/62 to 12/05/62 – U.S.S. Chilton – APA-38 Cuban Missile Crisis with … Continue reading So You Served – Tour of Duty – March 30, 2023

I recall my early days on a cruise and climbing down a rope ladder hanging over the side of an APA ship. The rope would be hung over the ship and you would climb down the rope and look down at the papa boat below you. The papa boat was going in the motion of the waves, up and down, and it seemed like it would never stop. I was doing a favor for my sergeant because I’m a teletype operator and all my equipment was on one of the communication trucks and the sergeant needed this radio on the … Continue reading So You Served – Med Cruise – Red Patchers – May 19, 2022