William Sanders:  

Life After graduation I worked for Tandy Software Assembly in Ft. Worth for 13 months. My sister Cathy and I shared an apartment in Richland Hills for a few months. In August 1982 I decided I needed a change in life. I joined the Navy. I went to bootcamp in Illinois Oct 82 to Jan 83. I reported to my 1st ship, a guided-missile destroyer; USS SEMMES at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, but the ship's homeport was Charleston, SC. There I worked in Deck Dept. While onboard I was fortunate to go to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. I stayed onboard SEMMES until March 1984. After SEMMES came Destroyer Tender USS CAPE COD out of San Diego, CA. The ship provided repairs and support to other ships. I stayed on there for the next 2 1/2 yrs. There I still worked in Deck Dept for an additional 9 months and was finally able to train in another field; Operations Specialist (OS). That is operating the ship's radar, navigation, and communications systems. I got to travel to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Hawaii (twice), and Canada during my tour onboard. In Sept 1986 I decided to re-enlist for 6 yrs. My re-enlistment took place in Pearl Harbor onboard USS ARIZONA Memorial. I left the ship to attend OS apprenticeship school in Virginia Beach, VA. The course was 17 weeks long and I then received orders back to San Diego to USS KINKAID, a destroyer of the SPRUANCE class of ships. I reported onboard KINKAID in Feb 1987 and remained onboard until Feb 1989. I met and married my 1st wife while attached to KINKAID. I didn't get to sea much while on KINKAID. The ship received a major overhaul for 17 of my 24 months onboard. I was married August of 1987. I came due for shore-duty orders in Feb of 1989. I chose to go back to Virginia Beach to teach OS school. My wife and I packed our bags and moved to Virginia. I reported to OS school in March of 1989 and stayed until June 1992. During my tour my wife gave birth to 2 of our 3 children. Chris in July 1990 and Kayla in Nov 1991. After 3 yrs there I re-enlisted again for another 6 yrs and due to return to sea-duty. I received orders to Commander US Naval Forces Central Command in Manama, Bahrain (Middle East) for a one yr tour. I flew over in June 1992 to report for duty. While there I was able to see much of the Middle East; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. Was also part of 3 Tomahawk missile strikes against Iraq for violation of UN sanctions. I was able to come home after 5 months to see my family for 3 weeks. After my tour was up there, I selected orders to a ship in Norfolk, VA. I reported aboard USS WHIDLEY ISLAND; a US MARINE troop transport ship, in July 1993. Immediately the ship departed for a 5 month deployment to S. America and W. Africa. 5 weeks after the ship departed Virginia, my son Tyler was born. I got to see Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Columbia, Panama, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Sao Tome, Guana. Benin, and Senegal. I stayed on this ship for 2 yrs and 10 months. In 1994 after an overhaul, the ship went to Cuba for intensive training. While there the ship participated in retrieving Cuban refugees found floating in the Florida Straits. The ship transported more than 8,00...Expand for more