The Garands above were called "pieces". These were issued to us for a multitude of reasons. We could perform the "Sixteen Count Manual" and the "Nine Count Manual" in our sleep. It took some time, but eventually we all could move through these exercises with absolute precision, each moving his 9-1/2 pound "piece" in unison with the rest of the company.

It was while we were still in Boot Camp that we had first learned of President Kennedy's assassination. We were in stunned disbelief.

Life as a recruit could be grueling at times, but nothing compared to the lifestyle of of a submariner. Vietnam was gearing up, and we not had only that to consider, but the safety of a free world during the ongoing Cold War.

We graduated from Boot Camp as sailors, and were now going out into a hostile world as warriors and men. Most of us were too young and inexperienced at life to realize the full ramifications of what that really meant at that point in time. We simply took all of this one step at a time.

- Chainfall