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What NTC San Diego ..a shopping center now

Yeah shipmates i have been outt the loop far,far too long ..without checking anywhere beforehand i tripped to San Diego a few years ago thinking i was going to visit the Radioman A School location as a veteran and then head over to Balboa Park (my old neighborhood on 1st overlooking the harbor......what a shock.....found a pic of my old barracks Nimitz but what about that damned missle we used to polish for "character" development where did it tend up ...lol3438925300?profile=original

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HI Dean Hager

Glad to hear from you.  Slowly but surely we make contact with old shipmates.  I am Facebook friends with Kent Garrison from boot campo and with Elaine Carey from Corps School.  I know Ernie Goodwin is on Facebook, I have messaged him a few time with no response.
There are four Facebook pages for RTC Orlando, the largest being Naval Training Center Orlando (NTC) Boot Camp.  There are multiple HM sites and Great Lakes hospital & corps school sites also..
Also FYI, there is a reunion planned for all RTC Orlando alumni this October (Check out RTC Reunion on Facebook).
As you probably know the base in Orlando is gone,but the Central Florida Navy League has erected a Lone Sailor Memorial in the Baldwin Park complex.  They have paver bricks available through their Facebook page.
Glad to hear you and Gloria are doing well and very successful in your careers.  Say "HI" to Gloria for me.
I am working on year 21 of marriage.  I worked full-time EMS qas an EMT-Paramedic in WI for 32 years before I had to retire on disability (Neck and Back).  MY wife and I also did 12 years volunteer work with a K-9 Search and Rescue team covering WI, MN, and IL.  I also did 12 years Naval Reserve in Madison, WI (NRNH 1013 GLAKES).  I was activated for Desert Shield/Storm, went to Great Lakes and worked on of the ER teams and also worked Staff Ed and taught EMT courses.  I also worked part-time with our local tech college teaching and testing BCLS/ACLS, First Responder and EMT classes.
Still live in WI, in fact inherited the house I was raised in, lots of upgrades since you were here.  Currently recovering form neck & back surgery, I now have 2 neck and 2 lumbar fusions.
Again, great to hear from you.

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Blue Jacket Choir

http://blue jacket choir

I was in the Blue Jacket Choir in August-September 1967 at San Diego. What a privilege this was! It was a fun adventure and, at times, a real challenge. I also was on the whale boat who delivered Coronado to the beach of San Diego so he could "discover" California. The press was waiting for him to be delivered to the shore so the could interview him.

I believe the chief who taught us how to handle this boat was quite impressed by our eventually-learned rowing expertise. I think(?) there were nine of us who trained for an hour or so for about a week. Man could we oar that boat thru the water!

Seems I made about 5 or 6 graduations. It's really a little anti-climactic when you sing for your own graduation, huh?

I was blessed to be in the Blue Jacket Choir. Still hum the Navy Hymn every-once-in-a while and certainly "Anchors Aweigh".

God bless the BJC and all you squids everywhere!

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Looking for Shipmates

Looking for shipmates from my boot camp company. My company number was 080 and I was at RTC, San Diego from Jan 1990 thru March 1990 our RCPO was Martin Strozier and laundry Petty Officer was Billy Parker from Russelville, Arkansas other than that I do not remember anything else
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Looking for stretcher bearers

I am searching for anyone that served as a stretcher bearer at NSA Danang. 1965-66.I was stationed in the dry goods dept of the hospital, but frequently volunteered to be a stretcher bearer at triage I/ mass casualties. There was a sign up sheet on the wall at the hospital: it was voluntary.Navy resource center says they have no record of me being a stretcher bearer, so I'm trying to find someone else that can confirm anything to help me.
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SALT AND PEPPER UNIFORMS

Hello to all of my fellow shipmates!  I am in need of information, FAST!!!!  I am a veteran who served between 1988-1995 as well as a current college student.  I am writing a paper on the history of enlisted uniforms and I have some gaps of information that I am having some difficulties in finding answers to.  They all deal with the so-called 'Salt and Pepper' uniforms.  I have seen pictures of some of those uniforms on Google and Bing but there are still questions left unanswered.  The first of which is, did Navy personnel both male and female E1-E6 have a full dress white uniform at that period of US Naval history?  If so, what did it look like?  Did it resemble the jumpers that are currently in use or were they more like the choker whites that CPOs and officers wear?  If so, where were the rating insignias worn?  On collar devices, shoulder boards, or sewn on the left sleeve like they do in the Navy today?  How about service stripes(hash marks)?  Was the white hat part of the dress white uniform or the discontinued combination cover with appropriate enlisted cap device?  Also, I have seen images of sailors during the early 70s through the early 80s in CPO style dress blue uniforms with some slight alterations(silver buttons and a different cap device on the combination covers).  The one aspect of the uniform that isn't shown, however, is did the male E1-E6 sailors wear their rating insignia on the buttoned up dress white shirt by the means of collar devices, soft shoulder boards or sewn on the left sleeve and were hash marks sewn on the dress white shirt as well?  I AM BEGGING ALL OF YOU FOR ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS LIKE AS EARLY AS YESTERDAY, PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE! 

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Smoky Mnt. Submarine Base

The Smoky Mountain USSVI Base in Knoxville, Tn. is currently trying to build a replica submarine to be used as a float in local parades and veteran events. We hope to have it built by May 1 to be used in the Dolly Parton Sevierville, Tn. parade (yes that Dolly). We have set up a gofundme.com/smokymntbasefloat account, please consider donating. Any amount large or small will help us perpetuate the submarine service.

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Back in 1978, I received a Letter from, Pa. Senator Arlene Spector, to get a Agent Orange Physical, well I did, plus four more A/O Physical, did not here from the VA, until 1983, I put Claims in for five years, and every time I was denied, so I did not stop there because that is what the VA wants for you to do, so the VA would save money, but I did not stop there, my wife, and my military friends, kept pushing me, so I kept going, always getting denied, so I wrote a letter to my Congressman from Pa. and He look into this for me, I told him I have been fighting for my Compensation for 33 years, the next day I receive a call from my Congressman, and the VA, telling me that You will receive 100% and that was on December 11th 2011, and that I am still having trouble Breathing, Asthma. I also have my right leg crush, by a Helicopter on the MIDWAY, I have Know feeling in my right foot and Leg (Neuropathy). I am not done yet either, after all these years things get a lot worse. I am not a quitter, my wife and I will survive.

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unearned medals

Why anyone would want to wear unearned medals is beyond me. I don't even wear the ones that I earned. Not that I'm any kind of hero.The most important thing isn't the medals, or who has them. It's the sacrifice made by much better men than me.
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USS Constellation 1964-65 cruise

 I was with VA144 Roadrunners this deployment.  We we involved in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident with the USS Maddox and USS  Turner Joy. We lost a couple of pilots.  One was LTjg Alvarez who was in our squadron.  He was shot down and captured. 

We sure spent a lot of time at GQ during this cruise and long times at sea.  Our cruise lasted 9-10 months.  Anyone else on board then?

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AGENT ORANG

,LOOKING FOR ANY ONE WHO WAS IN VIETNAM 1966 TO 1970 WHO CAN BE A EYE WITENES THAT THE C130 AND THE C123 AFTHER THAY SPRAY THE AGENT ORANG THAY WENT OUT TO SEA AND DUMP THE LEFT OVERS. SOME OF THE MEN WHO SAW THIS TOLD ME THIS. V.A.WANTS A EYE WITETENS. GO BLESS.

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Supreme Court Ruling

Any Veteran that Does not think that the Supreme Courts ruling that wearing of unearned medals is considered free speech  is an insult to all of us does not value their service and must consider their time in the military a complete waste of tims, and I feel sorry for them!

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Helping Veterans relocate

I am a retired veteran so I know what it is like to move over and over again. I have since become a realtor in Florida and I would like to help veterans with relocating, retiring or just trying to get settled in a new and unfamiliar place. I am able to connect to anyone in the real estate industry in any state. Where are you moving to next?
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