1250041813 (N) by Michael Ritland & Gary Brozek

Author:Michael Ritland & Gary Brozek [Ritland, Michael & Brozek, Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9781250024985
Amazon: 1250024978
Goodreads: 16163769
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2013-04-15T07:00:00+00:00

8

Like me, Aaron grew up knowing what he wanted to do with his life. Living in South Dakota, just outside Rapid City, he couldn’t see Mount Rushmore, but he had a living, breathing example of our country’s greatness near at hand. His grandfather was a member of the Greatest Generation, and, like mine and so many others, he didn’t sit around spinning yarns about his exploits. No one else in Aaron’s family seemed to place much emphasis on Grandpa Jim’s experiences, but as Aaron said, “I was just extremely interested. There was something about the military that I liked, so I started asking him about World War Two. And once he started talking, he opened up and just told me all kinds of amazing stories.”

Aaron’s grandfather was a boatswain’s mate on three different ships and was one of those patriotic Americans who enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor. He was also one of those fortunate Americans who served for the duration, including a lengthy stint aboard the USS Portland, which saw duty in major naval battles in the Pacific. From Guadalcanal to Corregidor to Okinawa, the men aboard the USS Portland served with distinction. Aaron’s grandfather didn’t glorify the war for him, and Aaron recalled some of the horrific elements of naval combat, but mostly he remembered what his grandfather told him about the camaraderie among the crewmen and the lifelong friendships he made.

“Basically, he said that those experiences were the best and worst times of his life.”

Aaron described himself as a rambunctious, semidelinquent kind of kid who frequently found himself in trouble. That lead to his desire to join the military. “I wanted to be sneaky, and I thought Special Operations were cool.” He’d heard about the marine’s Force Reconnaissance from a neighbor who was a part of that group. His plans to join the marines changed when a friend’s brother returned from the United States Naval Academy over the Christmas holidays. Aaron had never heard of the SEALs, but he began to research, and from the age of thirteen on, he knew that he one day wanted to belong to those elite teams. He told himself that as soon as he graduated from high school, he was going to join the navy.

“I was big into swimming. I loved doing martial arts, so as soon as I read about the Navy SEALs, that was it.”

As much as he liked swimming, Aaron wasn’t on the swim team, but he did play water polo. “Play” isn’t exactly the right word. “Because I didn’t have the cardio fitness of the other guys and couldn’t even complete all the practice laps, the coaches just told me to go into the other pool while the other guys practiced and scrimmaged. I kind of realized I was a terrible swimmer.” Eventually Aaron overcame that, but it took some time and a lot of hard work.

“I’m a big reader, and I love to research things before I get into them, so I knew what I was getting into.

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