Posted by don purinton lcdr on January 19, 19103 at 21:37:19:
In Reply to: Thirty years ago........BREWTON's Commissioning posted by John Kinnier, Capt, USN (Ret) on July 16, 19102 at 23:11:33:
:In 1974 I graduated from Univ of Oklahoma and the NROTC program then off to gunnery school at dam neck, next thing I knew as an over ambitious ensign I walked aboard the bubba bee. It was midnight I was a day early reporting. The OOD put me in a stateroom which was occcupied by Manny Estrada who was the DCA and on leave. I will never forget how awed and inspired I was by being on an actual ship of the line. The next day, realizing I was in a totally clueless state, I had the pleasure of meeting frank dengler, the WEPS officer. That night, after meeting the CO briefly, I ate in the wardroom and sat down to watch a movie. To my dismay, the only ones watching the movie were myself and
CAPT kinnier (I guess waikiki was more inviting), shortly after I lit a cigarette and tapped it into an ash tray, the Capt tossed the ashtray without saying a word. I then realized how clinically anal cigar smokers were. It was my privilege to serve under him. He would never guess that two years later I was the sea detail OOD. Thank You sir for your leadership.