February 5, 1973, Monday

It’s a sad happy day. We packed our seabags. We got in our dress whites. We smartly tied our silky neckerchiefs. We said our good byes. We promised that we would keep in touch. We promised that we would see each other again. I am going to miss those guys. The CC is nowhere. Rodger is getting us off in the right direction, on the right bus, to catch the right flight to our next duty. Sam is attending the same school as me, except his is in Chicago.

We were on our way to the buses, they were about thirty feet away. “Wait stop, I forgot. Come back everybody!” Rodger was yelling at us. He had a box with him. “Come back I forgot to give you your medal!” I was curious. I went back. “What the hell are you talking about? We didn’t do anything to deserve a medal.” Rodger explained to me. “These are the national defense medals with ribbon. Every military person in every branch gets one in the time of war. Even if you didn’t do any fighting. If you are in the military it is assumed that if you were needed to fight you would. We get a medal for being the back up,” said Rodger. I laughed at the irony.

Guys were helping themselves from the box. Some of them were taking two or three. They wanted a father or their brothers to have one. I said no thanks. Rodger said you deserve one as much or less than these guys. I said, “But, Rodger, that would mean I support the war.”

To which he replied, “Like you can support it any more than you do now you fool. Look around man, you just graduated from navy boot camp. In my book you not only support the war you’re part of it.” He was so fucking right. I took the medal. Before I boarded my bus I went to the base commissary (department store). I bought some civilian clothes. I stashed the dress whites in the seabag. I boarded a bus to the airport. My next post was Treasure Island by way of San Francisco.

The flight up the coast was very interesting. From above the shoreline in the airplane I could see row after row of abandoned WWII navy warships. Eventually they will be towed to Japan for scrap metal. We used them long enough to win the war. Then we turn around and sell them the spoils of the war. Later I hope.