gitem 12,
"Some sort of maritime life would have been the way I went"
I wish I could remember an old poem, but it starts something like: "Men go down to the sea in ships to tall ships and the sea...."
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on the "North Coast" of Ohio on in a Lake Erie port city, so ships and the water were always part of our lives. My father had sailed for a few years in his younger days so some of that may have rubbed off on me.
I was "invited" to go to work for one of the shipping companies, so took them up on it.
I have always had a fascination for boats and water so that fit right into my mindset for about three years until military service came calling. My very small exposure to a Navy ship was so different from the freighters that I hated it. It seemed that the bullhorn was constantly shouting: "attention on deck - all hands - now hear this....."
I was more than happy to get shore duty in NW Africa for the duration of my service, and I never went back to shipping.
Myron
