I left the Hopewell right before the transit to Australia in 1969. I was then transferred to Destroyer Division 52 and subsequently to Destroyer Squadron 15 with Commodore E. C. Kline. Just a few short weeks before I was to leave the service in 1971, Destroyer Squadron 15 was reassigned from San Diego to Yokosuka. My wife of nine months and I decided to extend for a year for the chance to live overseas for a year. We arrived in November of 1971, ready for a year of traveling from port to port showing the flag. Unfortunately, three weeks after we arrived, India declared war on Pakistan and we spent the next few weeks in the Indian Ocean. We arrived back in Japan in late January 1972. No sooner did we arrive home, then the North Vietnamese rolled across the DMZ in tanks. We spent the next few months at the DMZ or running raids against North Vietnamese sites. I was involved in the big raid on Hai Phong harbor immediately before they mined it. Admiral Rembrant Robinson and his immediate staff were all killed when their helo crashed into the sea right before the raid. Commodore Kline took over as ComCruDesPac for the raid. We left Japan a year after arriving and settled in Nashville, Tennessee in Jan 1973. I started work at Aladdin Industries (Manufacturers of those famous metal lunchboxes!) working there until November 1984. Fran and I had a daughter born in June 1973 (Made in Hong Kong!) and a son born in June 1978. Got my MBA in 1983 after three years of night school. I then accepted a position as Director of Engineering of Seaquist Plastics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I ran into Mark Bonady who was the Navigator aboard the Hopewell and left the same day I did. After six years in the frozen Northland, I accepted a position as General Manager of the Tennessee Division of Portola Packaging. We brought a new baby back to Tennessee as well who is 17 and 12 years younger than her siblings. Guess we forgot what causes those little boogers! With some other partners, I started my own company in July 1999, Integra-Seal Industries. It has prospered beyond my expectations. At 57, soon to be 58, we are actively considering life after work. Our nest, however will not be empty for quite a few more years. Marty McLean President Integra-Seal Industries |