John Cole:  

Here it is 2010 and much has happened since I left HHS. I went to U Mass as an electrical engineering major. In my Junior year I had a hard time. I talked to my student advisor and became aware for the first time that UMASS did a five year program. I shifted, but failed to consider what that would do to my draft status. I learned that I lost my deferment. Vietnam was going hot and heavy and this was before the lottery. Appeals had a snowballs chance, so I talked to various recruiters. Air force was full up. I had no desire to go in country army or marines. I'd seen rice paddies up close and personal in India when I was a kid. I talked to a Navy recruiter and after I told him what was going on he told me my Navy options. I could enlist for a regular Navy four year hitch, or with my college background, I could go into Navy advanced Electronics or Nuclear Power. If I worked it right, I could have the best of both, but ultimately it would cost me a six year commitment. I went Nuclear Power and as an Electronics Technician and through testing out of basic stuff, I managed to get virtually all of the advaned Electronics training. I went to sea at the beginning of 1970. By this time I was an E-4 (ETR-3) (Third Class Petty Officer). I was on an amphibious assault ship (USS Monticello LDS-35). We went to what is called WestPac, which includes Vietnam. I did not go in-country in Vietnam, but we did get fairly close to things due to the nature of our ship, but nothing like the army or marines. As such, I guess I'd be considered a Vietnam Veteran, but barely. While I was on the Monticello, I was able to take the fleetwide advance exam and was advanced to E-5 (ETR-2) (Second Class Petty Officer) After the Monticello, I went to Nuclear Power Training in Vallejo California and later Idaho Falls Idaho. At these locations we learned all the specific physics of Nuclear Reactors and learned to operate them. Again I'd had most of the physics in college, but the application was missing. From there I reported to Sub School in Groton Connecticut at the end of 1971. We went through the training there, but it was more fun than difficult. My favorite thing there was still the escape tower (Ascending by bouyancy in a life vest throug 112 feet of water.) That was an e-ticket ride. The beginning of 1972, I went to my submarine. It was an old one. It was USS Skate (SSN 578). For those of you with long memories, Skate had been to the North Pole a couple of times when we were all in Junior High. One time they had surfaced at the Pole and played a game of baseball on the ice against people from the Nautilus. (SSN-571). Of course that was well before I was on it, but it was interesting. Skate was in the Shipyard at Portsmouth VA for refueling. This consists of cutting open the ship, and replacing the nuclear fuel in the reactor. An interesting historical footnote was that the same drydock we were in was where the USS Merrimac was drydocked at the start of the Civil War. The Confederates had taken the shipyard and siezed the Merrimac. They iron plated it, renamed it the CSS Virginia and it later went out for it's historic encounter off Norfolk with the US ironclad USS Monitor. Another historical note, is while we were there, some construction by the drydock for an expanded Nuclear Refueling building, discovered some remains of individuals buried there. The Naval and Civilian authorities came to the conclusion that they were de...Expand for more