Joe's Story

I'm using my friend, Joe's story as a guest blog post.  I'm hoping it will help a young man I know.

Serving My Country
by
Joe Ewald

When I was in my last year of high school, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after I graduated. My grades weren’t good enough to go to college so that option was out the door.  So when I went to the local book store, in passing I noticed a sign at a navy recruiting center.  It was enticing  you to join. I went inside to check it out. I talked to the recruiter and between his convincing me with his pitch and me falling in love with the idea, I joined.  At the time, I was only 17, but because it was at the end of the Vietnam War I received a waiver to join at 17 because they needed every man they could get.  Everybody was becoming disenchanted with the supposedly police action.

The day after graduation from high school, I found myself in Great Lakes, Illinois. I caught a flight with two other guys that were going to Boot Camp. Believe it or not, they got me high in the bathroom with smoking a joint.  So when the bus picked me up, I was as high as a kite.  That’s how I started Boot Camp. 

When the buzz started to come down, reality set in.  I was missing my mother big time and I thought I had made a horrible mistake.  I was thinking of a way to get out of basic training like starting a fight or faking an illness but I decided not to do those things as I convinced myself to give it a try. To my surprise, things got better as I went along.  We were allowed to write letters home and receive them back.  This is one of the things that got me through to graduation.

One of the happiest moments I have ever experienced in this life was flying back home on American Airlines United jet.  I had received a two week leave before I had to go to dental technician school, in San Diego.  After my leave, I flew again on a plane to start my training.  School was pretty tough and I was lucky to get A.C. because my grades were average.  After I graduated they assigned me to the Marine Corps for four weeks.  It was like a four week Boot Camp with the so call Grunts. It was definitely tougher than the navy boot camp.  But I somehow made it through.

Most of the training was run, run, run… Besides being tall and skinny, I was able to do that part pretty good. I ran three miles in 21 minutes when all you had to do was 28 minutes.  The obese men had a tough time and were picked on by the drill instructor.  I felt sorry for them because they were crying.  But that is par course for Boot Camp. I myself had found a way to get through Boot Camp due to my ability to run.

After that, I got another two-week leave and it just happened to be Christmas.  Needless to say, it made my heart feel good to just be with my family. After the holidays were over, my duty assignment was to fly to Okinawa, Japan, to start my next journey with the US Marine Corps as a combination dental tech and field corpsman “A Doc,” the nickname the Grunts gave us.

I was at Camp Hanse for 13 months.  The only reason I completed that duty at Camp Hanse was the guys I served with.  They were great. I made a lot of good friends. 

Afterward, I flew home on another leave for a month and an assignment to serve the rest of my active time obligation to the Navy, at Oceanside, California. I was at Camp Pendleton for two years.

San Diego is great. They have one of the best zoos in the world, which everybody already knows. Also, they have a version of Boston Common—Balboa Park. In many ways, my fellow shipmates were awesome all the way through the rest of my active service time. My inactive service was to serve 6 years reserve at the old Weymouth Navy Air Station.

One of the most flattering moments in my life was to receive a wedding invitation from my best friend in San Diego. One of the best memories of my life was what I had serving my three years, then my six years reserves. In hindsight, I would highly recommend to young people that have a hard time deciding what to do after high school is to join the service. It gets you out of your parent’s house. It teaches you discipline and organization. Plus you make friends to have for the rest of your life.

Go Navy!