As we approach Memorial Day, I find myself reflecting on my service and how much has changed since I was in uniform.   

So, I enlisted in the Navy in 1961. What was happening back then? John F. Kennedy was inaugurated and in his speech he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Shortly thereafter, the US supported effort to overthrow the communist regime of Fidel Castro failed, the Bay of Pigs. The Berlin Wall was built to prevent East Germans from crossing to West Germany.  The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s became the first human to orbit the earth. And the Soviet Union conducted a series of nuclear bomb tests, including a 58-megaton bomb, which remains the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated. In this country, the Freedom Riders were challenging racial segregation.  And the Vietnam war was ramping up. In the 60s and 70s, personal computers were still years away from being available to the public. So, with this backdrop, what was life in the Navy like in the late 60s and 70s when I was serving on board ships in the Pacific?    

One of the “advantages” of being on a ship in the Navy back then was once you left the pier, personal communication with the outside world ceased.  No internet, no cell phones, just letters and tapes that were mailed and you would get weeks/months later when mail found its way to the ship.  We could concentrate on the mission; tough on families though. We got news via what we called “yellow sheets,” the color of the paper coming out of the teletype.  I remember one AP/UPI story that criticized our ship, which was off the coast of northern South Vietnam conducting Naval gunfire to support our troops, for firing on civilians in a city 50 miles inland.  First, the city was in the Southern part of South Vietnam; and, the city was 75 miles inland.  And second, the maximum range of our guns was 15 miles on a good day.  Accuracy of the news hasn’t changed much!  

When I was in-country on an Army firebase, the big event was when the helicopter would arrive with the mail bag, and of course, the Red Cross ladies with their donuts.  Back on the ship, when we wrote the “Plan of the Day,” it was on a typewriter and then “mimeographed” to be distributed.   

When the ship returned after 12 months away from home, you can imagine the homecoming!  So, fast forward today.  Leaving the pier just means you need to be sure you didn’t forget your cell phone charger.  You get live news no matter where you are on the ocean.  Messages home are just a text away.  I know I am probably exaggerating as it has been 46 years since I was at sea, but not much I bet!  I have to wonder just how you keep operational secrets with all the available communications?  Just curious.  Naval warfare was sure much simpler back then!