As Boothbay Harbor prepares to celebrate the 64th annual Windjammer Days, this year’s theme proudly honors the past, present, and retired members of the United States Navy who have served our nation with dedication and distinction. Throughout the coming weeks, we will feature a series of profiles highlighting local Navy service members—sharing their stories, experiences, and the lasting impact of their service. These articles are a tribute to the men and women whose commitment to duty reflects the maritime heritage at the heart of Windjammer Days and the deep appreciation of our community. Unfortunately not all current or former Navy service members in the area can be individually featured. To have a Navy veteran or active-duty member mentioned on the Windjammer Days webpage, please email Friends of Windjammers (www.boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org). Please include name and rank. 

By Zakia Thiesen

I was inspired to join the Navy when I was a kid, but I joined at 17 to prevent homelessness at 18. It was fall 1999 and I would watch the weekly episode of the TV show “JAG” with my mom. There were scenes that depicted life on an aircraft carrier in a couple episodes and 10-year-old me thought that was the coolest thing ever. I knew then I wanted to live on one and I was willing to do just about anything to get to do just that. Watching “JAG,” and later “NCIS” with my mom solidified the plan. It wasn’t until fall 2006 and the start of my senior year of high school when I was told I was going to be kicked out at 17 when I graduated high school that I made the decision.

I originally joined the Navy through the Delayed Entry Program as a Store Keeper. And since I was 17, I had to have both my parents sign consent for me to join and that in and of itself was a battle. My mom signed off right off the bat. My dad, however, wasn’t having it. My recruiter spent eight hours on the phone with my dad to convince him, which eventually he did agree. I enlisted in the DEP in January. I found out my dad said yes at the end of Cheer Practice. It was on my 18th birthday that I called my recruiter up and said I need to go early due to personal reasons of wanting to leave Maine. I had a new contract in two days and 10 days later I shipped out to Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago, Illinois on as a Culinary Specialist.

With my rate (job/MOS) as a Culinary Specialist I was I assigned to Ships Company with the USS George Washington, CVN 73. I reported to the ship, the day after Thanksgiving 2007. While attached to the ship we performed a home port shift from Norfolk, Virginia to Yokosuka, Japan. Seven of my “A” school class mates and I all were assigned to the ship, so it wasn’t as scary as it could have been having a few familiar faces around. Believe me when I say this, the ship when fully staffed with the Air Wing, Admiral and staff, housed 6,012 people though we were never fully “racked out.” It’s a scary thing for an 18-year-old to go alone into. In comparison, the population of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport would not fill each bunk that’s available. Now imagine feeding that many people, because that was my job. I worked with a team of roughly 60-90 other sailors, including the Airwing cooks spread over seven galleys (kitchens), a bake shop and a dedicated cargo/food stores team, in charge of feeding all of those sailors three full meals a day. Plus a midnight rations for those lucky few that worked nights. We had two shifts working days or nights and always overlapped at shift changes.

A “normal” work day was 14-16 hours depending on what was needed of each watch crew at sea. In port it was also 14-16 hours but we would only work five days one week and two days the next. Split into a port and starboard watch sections. Every other weekend we had off.

Picking one experience or a moment from my time in service is hard. The one memory that stands out the most happened on May 22, 2008 when the ship had a massive fire. It started in an auxiliary boiler exhaust and supply uptake space on the sixth deck and quickly spread from there up to the flight deck and beyond, traveling through cable spaces. Overall the ship’s company crew spent about 12 hours looking for and fighting the fire and rescuing four of our shipmates trapped in a space adjacent to the space that the fire started. It took three days of overhaul work at sea as we limped to port after losing 1/3 of the ships habitual spaces due to smoke, fire and water damages. As well as millions lost in food stores due to the loss of power to those spaces. All the food was thrown overboard.

My time in the Navy shaped me in ways I never expected. It allowed me to find my own voice. It taught me how to work with people who may or may not be people I would have ever worked with or even met and make friends with people I never would have expected to make friends with. People from different parts of the country and even some from other nations. It’s given me an ability to understand our international workforce and know the struggles they have, because I have also experienced being on the other side of the world, away from everything I had known.

The biggest piece of advice I can ever give someone about serving in the Navy would be to enjoy the experience as much as you can. You are the only one who can make or break your experience with your attitude about how you handle things on a daily basis, in port or at sea.

Being a sailor is an honor and a privilege. Never let someone tell you otherwise. Living on a ship is living in a literal industrial work space. It’s just one that just takes you to places you never thought of going and experiencing things with people you never thought you’d ever experience it with.