Michael Ferry:  

My life after high school like many others had a lot of twists and turns. The ride has been a good one and there are many other great roads I hope to travel and see. As many of you know, right after high school I went into the Navy to serve my country and learn a trade. There I trained and worked on avionics for F-4 and F-14 aircraft as well as electronic counter measures for all aircraft. This was followed by a short career with Grumman Aerospace and Grumman Technical Services (now known as Northrop Grumman) as a Tech Rep on the E-2C Hawkeye, Principal Engineer and Marketing Manager. It was during this time that I returned to Florida. After the Challenger shuttle tragedy, Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise wanted to build up his division here in Florida. It was because of him that he moved myself and 11 others to Florida from New York way back in 1987. After, I bought a print shop, International Minute Press, in Merritt Island, where I managed for many years. Following the printing business I took a job as a night auditor in the Doubletree and Howard Johnson of Cocoa Beach so I could stay in the area and live near the beach. Because of Hurricane Irma in 2017, I went to work at another hotel which shall remain nameless per their policy. I was grateful for that opportunity since the Doubletree was under construction repairing hurricane damage. It has since reopened as the Hilton Garden Inn. In 2020, because I reached a milestone in age, I have retired. This is something I planned long time ago before covid19. The time I spent in the Navy and also with Grumman, I had the opportunity to travel extensively. During this time, I was able to go around the world literally. During one deployment, I started in Norfolk, Virginia headed east on the USS Eisenhower, went around the horn of South Africa, and up into the Arabian Sea where I sat for many months. The ship did do a port call in Singapore, which is about half way around the world, but we went back to the Arabian Sea. I eventually flew off the ship on Thanksgiving Day 1980 onto a supply ship by helicopter where I spent the night. The next day we flew again by helicopter to an island off of Oman. I then caught a C-141 to the base at Diego Garcia, where I stayed for the night. The next evening I caught a C-5 for a nine hour flight to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines where I stayed and vacationed for a week. There I saw some beautiful places. After, I flew to Tokyo then flew to Chicago and back to Norfolk. When I got to Norfolk I had completed my round the world journey. Naturally, I also went to many other places including many countries in Europe. I also we...Expand for more