"Torii Gates & USS Rainier"

I found this cartoon from another ship’s yearbook, but I can’t remember exactly which one it was. What I do remember was how it reminded me of my third ship, USS Rainier AOE 7 and TP Danaher’s “don’t be industrially dumb.”  The Torii Gate which recalls service in Korea and symbolized combat, valor and zeal with its red coloring was what first came to mind.  I have to say the ball cap we wore with the Torii Gate was not my favorite. But the command by far exceeded any other I had served with. The best shipmates and best ship all around. It might not had been a full on man-o-war but boy was she pretty and the crew really loved her. There was a reason she was dubbed “Legend of Service.” 

I was probably somewhere between number fifty and one-hundred of all the shipmates that checked onboard. I was the second ‘FC’ after Chief Lyell.  I came aboard at the National Ship and Shipbuilding in San Diego, California in April of 1994 and she was commissioned January 21, 1995 in Bremerton Washington.  We went through sea trials, Insurv, deployment work-ups, two RIMPACs and two WESTPAC deployments before I left in May of 1999. Boy what a ship and what memories …