Family
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This story begins in April, 1966. I was 19 and not going in a direction that I felt would lead me to the kind of life that I wanted. At that time I had graduated from Westport High School in Kansas City, Missouri and had completed one year of Junior College. Also I had worked various jobs that really had no meaning or future. I decided to follow a childhood dream and add much needed adventure to my life so I enlisted in the US Navy. My goal was to be a 'submariner'. After boot camp in San Diego, California and Sub School in Groton, Connecticut, I was assigned to my first duty station in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. My first boat was to be the USS Benjamin Franklin SSBN640.
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It was in Hawaii where I met my wife to be, Janet. We met one night at a popular night club called 'The Beef and Grog' on Waikiki Beach. This was in 1967. A friend, Fred Lynch, and myself were out on the town, as we did many times, when we went into the club. We looked around and noticed two girls sitting at the bar with two Marines. It was kind of early and not much was happening here so we left. We walked about one block, turned and looked at each other, and both said at the same time "lets go back"! This was to be fate in the beginning stages. When we went back into the club the two girls and Marines were still at the bar. Fred and I got a table for four. When the band started we immediately got up and asked the girls to dance and to join us. They said the Marines would have to join us too. We took them by the hands and went to the dance floor and didn't let them stop dancing until the two Marines left. At first I was with the girl that was with Janet. However, as the night progressed I asked Janet for the next dance. It turned out to be a slow dance! We fit so well in each others arms that we continued to dance song after song. Janet says that I told her, "I'm going to marry you"! I guess I must have, we were married on July 12th, 1969.
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Now over 35 years later she is still my best friend and the greatest wife I could have ever asked for. We have two great children, David Andrew and Rebecca Jane, both grown and now with families of their own. That makes us Grandparents!!
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