Navy West Pac

I came across my old military year book when I came across some old boxes this Sunday. When I look through the pages of this book I started to remember the people that I had the pleasure and horror of serving in while in the Navy. It was funny looking at the pictures of the places we were able to go to while I was stationed on the U.S.S. Denver (LPD-9). I know a lot of people want to travel the world at a young age and party, but I was lucky enough to be able to travel the world at a young age. But at the same time I was very dumb to the fact that I was in harm’s way while serving in the Navy. The reason I say this is because we spend three and a half months in the Middle East where they hated military personal.

I remember being a nineteen year old traveling the open sea with a convoy of Navy vessels heading towards our final destination which was the Middle East, but along the way we were able to visit a few ports before we arrived our assigned destination. But before we could hit any ports we had to cross a storm in the middle of the ocean. It was thanksgiving week and our captain volunteered our ship to cross the eye of the storm in order to show the other ships that the passage was a safe one. But once we enter the storm our ship took a beating! The other two ships decide to go around the storm to avoid any damage. But it was too late for us we were forced to ride out this hellish storm. It took us four days to cross that whole storm. We had our thanksgiving dinner while in the center of the storm. I remember this as if it was yesterday, because I was working in the galley as the dish washer at the time. My friend was working the line and while carrying a tray of pudding the ship took a roll and Boo dropped the whole tray pudding all over himself. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Well we survived that hellish trip because I’m here today writing this blog about my event.

I grew so much while being away from my family during my first West Pac. I was a young man entering a world of men. I was scared but excited at the same time. We hit many ports that showed its hidden beauty and horror of the countries. I was able to drink with a monkey and watch a Lakers game in one country, while in another I was able to surf the sand hills. I was able to get drunk in our beer gardens and then go out an party in the awesome clubs from other countries. But I think one of the funniest things I ever did was walk a one thousand step pass that lead people to a temple on the top of a mountain. The legion was that if a person was able to climb all the steps they were wearty enough to enter this temple. Well I and a few friends decided to take that adventure after a night of drinking. So we walked the one thousand steps with a hangover and tempeture rising above 90 degrees.  We made it to the top and the temple was small and not open, what a bummer that was for us. To be young and not realizing what’s going on is such a great thing, but now as I look back at what I was doing I’m surprised I was not injured while being out in foreign countries.

These are just the places I went while in my first deployment Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat Oman, Jordan, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Manila Philippines, Hong Kong, and Hawaii.