Comments:
Before The Commissioning I Served On The Master At Arms Force In Bremerton....Doing Military Funerals Etc.....Waiting For The Yarbirds To Finish Up The Seattle And Let Us Come Aboard (The Detroit AOE4 Was Being Built A Few Drydocks Down From The Seattle)....Shortly After Commissioning (Say Two Or Three Months) The Navy Saw Fit To Transfer A Few Of Us...Having Never Been To Sea On The Seattle...I Went To River Patrol Boats In The Mekong Delta....9 Months Later I Was Wounded And Sent To The Hospital Ship...From There To The USS William C. Lawe DD-763 (Home Ported In Mayport Fla)....I Made Three Caribbean Cruises And A Red Sea Persian Gulf Cruise Aboard The Lawe....We Also Did Surveillance Of A Russian Task Force That Took Nuke Subs To Cuba And Left Them And A Sub-Tender In Cuba When Returning To Russia...Replacing The Missles Kennedy Got Out Of Cuba....We Were Told It Was Classified....But Ive Seen Stories In Time Magazine....So It Must Be De-Classified Now...I Was Honorably Discharge In 1971 As An MM1....While Serving On The Master At Arms Force In Orlando Fla....After Being Discharged....I Returned To Chariton,Iowa...My Home Town...I Served As A City Police Officer There For 3 Yrs....Then I Moved To Rockford Illinois And Started As A Union Drywall Finisher (My Second Wife's Hometown)....Later Serving As The Harlem Township Highway Commissioner In Rockford,Illinois For One Term....Moved Back To Seattle And Working As A Finisher And Bail Enforcement Offcer (Bounty Hunter) There For Several Yrs...After My Second Wife Passed Away In 1998 I Moved To SW Missouri And Married My Third Wife Elizabeth....She Is 18 Yrs Younger Than Me....And Yes.....I Am Now 61 Yrs Old With An 8 Yr Old Daughter!.....Yes...My Daughter Is A Great Aunt By Blood Twice!....Ive Had An Interesting Life,To Say The Least.....Although Not On The Seattle....Ive Seen Many Places And Experienced Many Things Such As Safari Through The Kenya Game Preserve And Lodging At The Base Of Mt. Kiliminjaro....Softball Game And Beer Drinking With The French Foreign Legion In French Somiland....All In Africa.....And An Actual "Firefight" With Radical Muslems In Bahrain (Ya....Way Back Then We Had Problems With Them And I Was On The Lawes "Landing Force"...Carrying A B.A.R....Believe It Or Not)......Now I Live In Monett,Missouri...Between Joplin And Springfield...About 45 Minutes Away From "Silver Dollar City" In Branson,Missouri.....(An Excellent Place To Hold A Future Reunion)....I Have A Loving Young Wife....The Best Daugters,Grand Daughters,And Great Grand Daughters In The World...My Wifes Family Are All Here So At Last Family Reunion....There Were 54 Nephews,Neices,And Cousins....Not Counting The Adults Or The Multitude Of Great Nephews And Great Neices!......I Had Open Heart Surgery In 2002 To Replace My Mitral Valve And Do A Bypass....As A Result....Im On Social Security Disability....But....I Feel Fine And Plan On Sticking Around For A Few More Years....And Im Very Happy With My Famiy And Friends....I Also Own The House I Grew Up In....In Chariton,Iowa....Im Very Proud Of My US Navy Experience....And......I Feel.....A Much Better Man,Husband,And Parent.... As A Result Of My Military Travels Etc.....Hello To All My Fellow Shipmates....I Hope Youve Been As Blessed As I Have.....Richard (Rick) Morris
