I remember you listed places where you'd been and I'd make a guess that you dad may have been Naval Aviation.
...yup, avionics Chief. He made E-7 after 8 years and a few years later made E-9. By choice, he remained at the same enlisted rank for the rest of his career, because according to him, most officers were dick heads. He always said that Sergeants ran the Marines and that Chiefs ran the Navy.
Not long ago I read the biography of one of my favorite actors Steve McQueen. He was only 50 when he died. Cancer which he himself said shortly before his death, was brought on by massive exposure of asbestos that he removed from pipes aboard a ship while serving in the marines. And Steve (Hammer) , yeah you're the baby of the group. 36? damn I remember 36. Oh who the fuck am I kidding? I barely remember what I had for dinner last night.
And my brother and I would both speak from experience and state that Sergeants ran the Army and Air Force.
Mc Queen was pretty damn good, had some pretty traumatic experiences in the Marines til he decided to shape up. I was in Basic Training at Fort Ord while "Soldier in the Rain was being filmed. The man was good in the flicks, did not care for "Bullit" as a movie but that chase scene was 20 flight.
It was hard to believe that he never won an oscar & was only nominated for one (The sand pebbles). I thought he definitely should have AT LEAST been nominated for his role in Papillon, and Hoffman was also excellent in that movie. I also thought McQueen was great in Hell is for heroes & Nevada Smith. And BTW Michael I loved Bullet & yes that car chase was off the charts, but I think it was equaled a few years later by The French connection chase scene.
