Allen Rider:  

Entered Shaw March of 1977, graduated 2 June 1978. I remember the class being so very large - much larger than the one I was part of at Baker - I'd say 4 or 5 times larger. Wasn't really a stand out kind of guy - concentrated mainly on the required subjects, and took DECA as a way to leave class by noon and work while completing both my JR and SR years. I had few friends - though the ones I recall were mostly kids like myself, who stayed to ourselves and were not into the popular scene. Admired a lot of people at Shaw, mainly the teachers. In particular Mrs. Farley and Mr. Wright and Mr. Graves. Once I graduated, within a year I was enlisted in the U.S. Navy. 21+ years later I retired and returned to Alabama, - Foley was my home from Late 2000 until July 0f 2014. I never married, never had children. Played the field to be sure, but knew even in the very early years of my life that I was not living a life that was going to end up productive in the familial sense. The Navy was the best choice I've ever made, and the hardest thing I ever voluntarily signed up for. I learned how to stand on my own two feet, make choices and decisions which helped shape the man I am today. It also kept me from being honest and true to whoI truly was then and who I am today, but that was part of the sacrifice and part of the commitment I had made. In the first years, I had a very hard time adjusting, keeping myself focused; however, as the years passed, as I became higher in rank I learned that the only thing that mattered was serving my country and all of the other stuff in my head was useless. It was the height of the Cold War - real war games were being played and I spent 17 years of my 21 years - on a ship, at sea and loving every moment of it. I traveled the world over, east coast, west coast, Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Arctic Sea, Sea of Japan, Philippine Sea, Red Sea and all the land masses that touched each body of water. Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, Guam, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines - I've dined with Ambassadors, Foreign dignitaries, future politicians, Joint Chiefs, Commanding Officers and my fellow shipmates - learned the cultures of each place I've been and found that in order to love one's own country - it is imperative that one learn to love those countries and cultures it does not fully understand - differences and all. It is very true what they say about world travel - it really is the one thing which can rid us of bias, bigotry and far fetched assumptions about other lands, its people, their culture. Much changed in me while I served my country - the most important of which was getting myself out of the way in order to make everyone else the priority - the mission as it were. The friends I've made, the unbreakable relationships that to this day keep me alive and excited for each new day I'm given - hoping that one day I can be in the presence of these wonderful humans once again. Today, I live in Tampa, Florida. I thoroughly love this place and hate it too. Love the culture, the vibrancy, the total graciousness of it - Hate, the unending heat and the eventual hurricane that is bound to make our lives a collective hell on earth - just as FREDRICK did 5 days before I left for boot camp on 17 September 1979. I moved here in 2014, very shortly after finally ...Expand for more