I filled out a form to where I wanted to be stationed when I went to bootcamp, and my first choice was NAS Miramar. I was so happy to learn that I was going there. Home of the movie "Top Gun"
Well, I finally made it through it all bootcamp, and apprenticeship, and now was time to goto NAS Miramar, my duty station. To this day, I am still impressed by the base, even though now it is a Marine Base.
I arrived on the base on Dec. 26,1993. I was amazed on how big this base is, and little did I know that the base's future was very limited due to Bill Clinton, and defense cutbacks.
I reported for duty on the USS Nimitz on Feb. 4, 1993, and went on a 6 month cruise. Life aboard an Nuclear Aircraft Carrier makes a sailor contemplate the lonely seas, and long for being home with loved ones,and people you care about. Daily Life aboard is sort of like the movie "Groundhog Day". :) You do the same job over and over, much like the movie, except it is punctuated by awesome aircraft slamming on the flight deck,General Quarters Drills, (which make a sailor ready for any attack on the carrier), and to tell you the truth, all the drills, and hard work that come with the job, are nothing compared to waiting for mail to come in on the COD(Carrier OnBoard Delivery). The hardest thing that a sailor can handle sometimes is receiving little or no mail, when they call for mail call, and when the call does come, that so many thousand pounds of mail come on board, and there is nothing for one sailor, it decreases the morale. On a more positive light, I went to places like Hong Kong, Signapore, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in the Arabian Gulf, Pattaya Beach Thailand, Pearl Harbor Hawaii, and San Diego, California.
But out of all the sites I went to see, my favorite ones were Signapore for its clean air, and beautiful gardens, Thailand for the culture and the friendly people,as well as the food :). Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for showing me how people can stand living in that hot of a climate, and the good food :) and the most important place for me, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for its lovely beauty and the most important reason of all, The day that was so tragic in American history. I was asked when the USS Nimitz pulled into Pearl Harbor, if I would volunteer to "man the rails" on board the ship. I was more than honored to do it. "Manning The Rails" means that the enlisted sailor stands at attention while his superior officers render the hand salute. It was such a moving tribute to my lost "brothers-in-arms" that I tried to hold back the tears while manning the rails. The Arizona Memorial was a memorial that I will never forget. (Coming soon, my own pictures of the Arizona Memorial taken at the time I was in, as well as a site dedicated to the attack on Pearl Harbor.)The day Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Empire of Japan back in Dec. 7, 1941. Way before I was even born, but a tragic day nonetheless. I do not harbor any hate towards the Japanese people, and understand that it was not the people of Japan who brought World War 2 to America, but, the ignorance and stupidity of the Japanese government back in World War 2, and the other dictators who started the whole mess of WW2, Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini, as well as the Japanese Emperor Hirihito.
We as Americans MUST learn from history, because if we do not, we are doomed to repeat it over and over again at the cost of more human suffering.
If ever called again to serve my country, I WILL HEAR THE CALL,AND ANSWER IT. It is an unselfish love I have for her, and no one can take that away from me.