Comments

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  JIM COWAN July 24, 2009 at 6:34pm

  NO I DIDN'T FIND EMPLOYMENT IN THE FOUNDRY FIELD WHEN I RETIRED IN '93. I DO HOWEVER HAVE HALF INTERST IN A SMALL PROPANE FIRED FURNACE THAT WILL MELT NON FERROUS. WE CAST SMALL ITEMS. I HAVE WORKED FOR THE BNSF RAILWAY SINCE '94. AS FOR JOE'S COMMENT ON THE LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN THE CIVILIAN WORLD..........AMEN.......I DEAL WITH UNION WORKERS ON A DAILY BASIS......NOT BASHING UNIONS......BUT I DO BELIEVE SOME OF THESE YOUNGSTERS COULD USE A SIZE 11 MOLDER BOOT SQUARE IN THE A**.......I LIVE BY THE IDEALS I LEARNED IN THE US NAVY, BOTH AS A PETTY OFFICER AND A "CHIEF". MY RAILROAD SPENDS A LOT OF MONEY SENDING US TO LEADERSHIP TRAINING EACH YEAR.....I FAITHFULLY ATTEND, SMILE POLITELY AND NOD......THEN TAKE EVERYTHING THEY TEACH US AND TRANSLATE IT TO USN TERMS AND GO BACK TO WORK......MOVING FREIGHT AND REPAIRING CARS....REAL LEADERSHIP CAN'T BE TAUGHT IN A CLASS ROOM....ONE HAS TO EXPERIENCE LIFE, ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES AND GET TO WORK....IF YOU ARE NOT A PART OF THE SOLUTION YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
  CATCH YOU ALL LATER.....CHIEF "C" OUT
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  Craig Lami July 24, 2009 at 5:11pm

  I went to work for Green Foundry in St. Louis. It was a small gray iron shop that made brake cylinders and glass bottle molds. They went belly up in the early 70's. Since then I worked in rubber extrusion, plastic injection, and assembly of home furnaces and planetary gear boxes. Now I'm out pounding doors in the Kansas City area looking for work again. I hope this economy gets better soon.
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  Joe Rhea July 24, 2009 at 4:24pm

  When I retired in 06 I looked into a few foundry opertunities, however it was not the right situation. I went to work as a Plastic Injection Molding supervisor for a couple of years. Ended up getting that department squared away and then was assigned to supervise the receiving department to get that department fixed. Not a bad company, VP of Ops is a West Point guy and I have a old Navy LT just below him so the love having a Chief that they can send to do what Chiefs do and unf*ck things. I am still amazed at how little leadership there really is in the civilian world.
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  bill coffman July 24, 2009 at 2:57pm

  Hey Guy & Gal:
  How many of you worked in the sand box after leaving the navy? I worked in a small founderyin Gold Beach Or. making hatch covers for fishing boat, for about 3 years in the late 70.
  made my own small sand box in the 80, and made beilt buckel for friends. let me knows what you did?.
  Was a heavy equipment operator as my main sores of income.
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  Anne Jenkins July 15, 2009 at 11:04am

  It was Mr. Denbow when I knew him in the late 80s. He was a great guy- very knowledgeable and always very interesting. I was on the McKee and we'd go over to SIMA sometimes. Sometimes to do jobs requiring a bigger furnace, anytime we were over getting tests done on anything else (I loved the spec. lap) and, I suspect, even when we didn't need to be there- just to visit! One of my favorite things about being a molder was that no matter where you went- if there was a foundry- you automatically knew someone! With such a small community everyone knew the same people- just at different times in their careers.
  
  George- you were looking for John Glenn. Maybe someone remembers- I'm hoping that he wasn't the John that was killed in a motorcycle accident ~86.
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  Craig Lami July 15, 2009 at 9:04am

  Hi. This is my wife and my youngest grandchild. I have just signed on to this site. Asche got me here. I was a molder from '70 thru '79.
  Anne was asking about Denbow. He converted to civilian in about 78. I was there at the time. He left in his travel trailer one day in uniform and come back about 3 days later in civvies at about 3 time the pay.
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  Anne Jenkins July 14, 2009 at 10:05pm

  Hi! I've browsed the site but finally registered. I was an ML from 87-93 and know a few of the same people! Glenn- Jerry Barbon was my CA dad! He tried to keep me out of trouble. David- was MLCS Denbow the same person who was a civilian at SIMA San Diego!? Jim- the only time I really got burned they were so WHINEY in Medical that I scrubbed it out myself.... There are a bunch of people I'd like to catch up with- including ML1 McMillan. He retired to TX while I was on the McKee. He was a great photography buff and I'm SURE that he has great pics of the shop.
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  bill coffman July 14, 2009 at 6:10pm

  Hi guys, I might be the old sea dog, I'm 76, fathered 8 son and raised 3 step son and a step daugther,had 5 sons in the milatary 3 in the first gulf war, 26 grand kids and 12 great grand kids. a
  grand son who's a Ltjg in naval air, flys hilacoptor, 1 grand daugther in Iraq 2 time and grandson 1 time
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  Dan Brown July 12, 2009 at 2:47pm

  I went to ML-A school in 52, and my sea daddy was a Chief by the name of Dan Moats. Does any of you retarded gophers remember Dan ?
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  Geraldo Soto June 10, 2009 at 4:09pm

  I was on the USS Acadia from Jan. 1984 - Oct 1987. 2 Westpacs, Shellback, USS Stark repair, pics soon to follow