You know it's funny about the past. I served on board the USS Mount Whitney (picture here) from 1973 to 1975. I hated it. I hated the ship, I hated the Navy, and I hated the town we were stationed in. Today I made a point about going down the the dock to see her sister ship, The Blue Ridge. And I felt nostalgia creep over me like a coating of honey drooling out of a barrel on to my head. What gives? I don't understand it myself. If there are any armchair shrinks out there who can explain it I'm all ears.

But I walked the length of that ship and studied her looking for differences and changes from the old ship that I served in. I looked at the sailors walking the docks and they look so young! Was I ever that young? I can't believe it. I wanted to ask them if their mother knew they were away from home.

And there are women on board now! What an improvement that would have been in the old days. I remember six months away from home and how wonderful it was to see women again when we came ashore.