In the Navy

Naval recruits in basic training would joke that NAVY = Never Again Volunteer Yourself.

Jimmy talked about how during the first week of basic training, after lights out, he could hear the sounds of his troopmates crying or trying to stifle their tears, all of them regretting the fact that they enlisted. Hence the joke acronym for Navy.

I think Jimmy's choice to enlist was especially poignant because he'd turned down a baseball scholarship to join the Navy, encouraged to do so by his father.

Then he deferred his entrance about a year in order to take care of his step-mom who was diagnosed with brain cancer. (I may have the specific sequence of events wrong here, so I actively encourage family members to correct me whenever I get things mixed up.)

What self-sacrifice for an 18-year-old, to give up a baseball scholarship and then to defer entrance to the armed services, both for reasons of family. Jimmy always put everyone else's needs ahead of his own. That attitude made him a success in the Navy, well suited to the role of naval firefighter and numerous promotions.

My knowledge of Jimmy's Navy experiences all stem from things he's told me, and I expect to fill in some of the blanks in my mind from talking with family and hopefully tracking down his official military record.

I do remember him talking fondly about the camaraderie, but he'd chosen not to stay in touch with any of his friends from the Navy. I believe it was because he was trying to manage or minimize the pain he felt from reminders of his Gulf War experiences.