Blast from the Past!!

Hot then, hot now!! Just a little less eyebrow and his hair has somehow changed colors and not as much there :o)??? HMMMMMM


Bobby's input on this photo... This is going to to be a kind of lenghty story, so bear with me. 22-years ago today, March 10, 1987, I entered the United States Navy. 22-years ago this morning, I was in Chicago entering boot camp and what an experience that was! Anyone that has been in the service knows what I'm taking about. As you can see in the picture, my uniform is pretty plain. Only a name tag. I had no rank at the time. I was on my first leave after finishing boot camp. I came home for 16-day leave prior to being assigned to my my duty station, U.S.S. Tripoli - LPH-10. This was a Vietnam-era helicoptor aircraft carrier stationed in San Diego, California. This photo was taken at the Salt Lake airport with my oldest friend, Travis "Big T" Brower, however, he was using his step-father's last name at the time which was Birchamshaw. I was met at the airport by Travis and my son's mother, Shellee and probably a few other friends, I can't really remember. Following the my brief visit home, I had orders to make a telephone call for instructions on where to meet my ship. I was told to report to the Los Angeles Int'l Airport and that I would be flying to Subic Bay, Phillipines to await my ship's arrival. The Tripoli had just left San Diego on a 6-month "WestPac", which stands for Western Pacific. These are standard combat operations deployments for combat vessels. So... I flew from L.A., through Alaska, another stop in Japan and then eventually the Phillipines. It took about 24-hours to make it to the P.I., (that is an abbreviation for the Phillipine Islands). I was in the Phillipines for six to eight weeks awaiting the Tripoli's arrival. I never understood why thy Navy didn't have me meet the ship in Hawaii, Guam, or somewhere else in the Pacific instead of waiting around for two-months in the Phillipines. When the ship finally arrived, I checked aboard. We stayed in the P.I. for about another month before setting sail. This was my first of a series of adventures aboard the Tripoli, which ended with the first Gulf War, but that's another story. After leaving the Phillipines, we sailed to Korea, Hong Kong, Guam, back to the P.I., Hawaii and finally back to San Diego. I was an Operations Specialist, which is radar and weapons systems. If anyone has seen a movie involving the Navy, I worked in the room with all the blue lights... that's the heartbeat of a combat ship. We monitored radar for ships, submarines and aircraft, and if any guns or missles needed to be fired, that's where it happened. Anyway, I just thought I'd give a little history brief about this photo. I don't know where you found this picture T, but wow, it sure brings back memories. More later... Bobby.

Wow....I cant believe I got him to post. Hopefully this will be a first of many more stories from Bobby. Love you honey!! Jenny