They say people from all walks of life join the military. When I was enlisted, we shared our life stories and several were similar to mine. You don’t hear the same origin stories in the wardroom. For Women’s History Month, I wanted to share my story in hopes of encouraging someone in need. I hope my story shows that you can leave behind your past and make a great life for yourself if you desire. The military can help you; the Navy is a great equalizer and offers many opportunities to enhance your life so long as you choose to seek them out and take advantage of them. For any of you who need to hear this, I am proof that you can be accepted to a commissioning program with a GED.
Continue reading “Honoring LCDR Yolanda Gutierrez – An Amazing Story!”
LTJG Norman Elbert Wilkerson
March 30, 1943 – April 15, 1969
Commander Guy Thomas enlisted in the Naval Reserve in Corpus Christi, Texas on 20 July 1965 while attending the University of San Francisco. 18 months later, with only 8 credits needed for graduation, he was called to active duty and assigned as a deck force seaman to the pre-commissioning crew of USS Horne (DLG 30), commanded by CAPT (ADM) Stansfield Turner, being built in San Francisco. During the next year he was able to finish his degree in History and put in for Officer’s Candidate School (OCS), but was turned down. He became the Commanding Officer’s driver who encouraged him to reapply for OCS which he did and was accepted. He was also assigned as the clerk for the Intelligence team and became the acting intelligence officer when both of the other two team members became unavailable. Deployed to Vietnam, he worked closely with the embarked NavSecGru Direct Support (DirSup) team who encouraged him to volunteer for duty with them, which he did.
Continue reading “CDR George “Guy” Thomas, USN (ret.)”
Station HYPO 