James Erwin:  

I was pulling pictures of all the ships I've been on, when I came across a few names from my past. A very pleasant surprise. Since, I left the Fidelity (MSO-443 "Fido"), I've been to:NAS Chase Field (Beeville, Tx... This place was a story by itself), USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089), EEAP Program in Charleston, USS Wainwright (CG-28), USS Sierra (AD-18... get this, I was the Assistant Career Counselor for the whole crew) and finally the USS Roanoke (AOR-7)... I thought I was going to retire from Charleston, but everything was decommissioning out from under me... I made ICC In 1983. I was in the EEAP when I went up for Senior Chief. I had a friend that was on the board that year and he chew my butt out royally when he got back. I didn't do any military courses while I was going to school. I missed the cutoff, by one point. Never got close again, everything just closed up. So I retired in 1995, when they decommissioned the Roanoke. They only offered me San Diego and I had had enough. I came back home to Houston from Bremerton, Wa. I started working shutdowns in the chemical plants as an Electrician. After a couple of years I switched to overhauling and building oil rigs. Worked dry-docks everywhere from Pascagoula to Brownsville. Then I made two tour...Expand for more