..... That evening I was assigned to the watch on deck and had to take the helm, the little wheel that steers the ship. The officer says keep it at 30 degrees. I’m looking and keep staring back and forth when the officer asked if I was having a problem seeing. I replied, “Yes sir, my glasses were broken this afternoon and I can’t see the instruments.” He hollered, “get this man out of here, he is piloting the craft and can’t see”.

..... We moved back up to the New York area after I had received my orders to report to the ship on July 1, 1964. I was on leave at home and my pregnant wife, Linda, said it was ridiculous that I had to go down to Norfolk to pick up the ship, when the ship was coming to New York for the 4th of July weekend. Why couldn't I just pick up the ship in New York? She called the Pentagon and asked them why they were spending all this money to have her husband report to Norfolk when the ship was going to be in New York that weekend. The Pentagon's response to her was that the Navy did not issue him a wife and he was to report to Norfolk as planned.

..... Another time when my wife Linda was pregnant, she came down to Little Creek to visit me and stayed in a motel. She knew that her Uncle Sam was stationed somewhere in Little Creek and called the Pentagon to find out where he was stationed so she could contact him. He was a chief petty officer. She did get the information and he came to visit her at the motel. He arrived at the motel to ask for her and told the owner that he was her Uncle Sam, the motel owner, just snickered, he saw the sailor leave in the morning and now the chief was arriving in the afternoon. The motel owner didn't believe him.