Aaron Joins The Navy
From James Donahue’s Journal
Aaron joined the Navy one day in a strange act of defiance after he got into a dispute with his employer at the Croswell ladder factory. The next day he called in sick, then got ready to go out for the day. He asked me where the military enlistment center was in Port Huron. I gave him directions and naturally asked why he wanted to know this. His answer: “I am going to join the Marines and learn how to kill people.” Then he left on his motorcycle.
Aaron never had a good sense of direction. And the week he chose to sign up Port Huron was in the middle of its summer Blue Water Festival that preceded the annual sailboat races to Mackinaw Island and back. The city was filled with activity. Aaron arrived in the midst of all of the festivities, became disoriented, parked his bike and started walking around. He ran into two Navy officers in uniform and asked them where the recruiting office was. They guided him to their office and talked him into signing up with the Navy instead of the Marines.
Aaron came home that night grinning from ear to ear. He said they tested him and he scored so high that they said he could have his choice of available positions. He asked which jobs were the best and they suggested going into medicine and training to be a corpsman. He signed up for it.
We took Aaron to Detroit to catch a bus to the Great Lakes Naval Academy near Chicago. He later said while waiting for the bus, he met a strange man who took him out for a meal and told Aaron that he was a special person and that he would find out someday just who he is. We never knew the truth behind this story.
While in boot camp, there was no word from Aaron. But eventually we received an invitation to attend graduation ceremonies at the academy. Even though it was in the middle of the winter, and we were having heavy snowstorms, we decided to make the trip.
It was an interesting visit on the Naval base. We were directed to a large auditorium to observe the graduation ceremonies and watched as the new recruits went through marching drills and then lined up to receive their admission as new members of the United States Navy. After that the recruits all broke ranks and joined their families. Aaron seemed happy to see us. He took us to his room and we spent several hours with him. He had a lot of stories to tell about his experiences getting through boot camp.
It was a long drive home that night. We didn’t arrive until early the next morning and the wind was up. Consequently our road was blown closed with snow and we had to walk about a half mile from the corner to get to the house.
Aaron went on for extensive training to be a corpsman before he had leave time. We did not see him again until the following spring when we picked him up at Detroit Metro Airport. After that he left on his motorcycle for Long Beach where he was assigned his first duty.
It was a very sad day when he left. Aaron had camping gear packed on the bike with him and he said he planned to sleep along the road and ride hard until he got to Long Beach. I had him promise to call me every day somewhere along the way. A severe thunderstorm was looming as he rode off and drove right into it. He said he rode in rain for most of that day before getting out of the storm. He kept his word and called every day. He reached Long Beach from Michigan in three days.
From James Donahue’s Journal
Aaron joined the Navy one day in a strange act of defiance after he got into a dispute with his employer at the Croswell ladder factory. The next day he called in sick, then got ready to go out for the day. He asked me where the military enlistment center was in Port Huron. I gave him directions and naturally asked why he wanted to know this. His answer: “I am going to join the Marines and learn how to kill people.” Then he left on his motorcycle.
Aaron never had a good sense of direction. And the week he chose to sign up Port Huron was in the middle of its summer Blue Water Festival that preceded the annual sailboat races to Mackinaw Island and back. The city was filled with activity. Aaron arrived in the midst of all of the festivities, became disoriented, parked his bike and started walking around. He ran into two Navy officers in uniform and asked them where the recruiting office was. They guided him to their office and talked him into signing up with the Navy instead of the Marines.
Aaron came home that night grinning from ear to ear. He said they tested him and he scored so high that they said he could have his choice of available positions. He asked which jobs were the best and they suggested going into medicine and training to be a corpsman. He signed up for it.
We took Aaron to Detroit to catch a bus to the Great Lakes Naval Academy near Chicago. He later said while waiting for the bus, he met a strange man who took him out for a meal and told Aaron that he was a special person and that he would find out someday just who he is. We never knew the truth behind this story.
While in boot camp, there was no word from Aaron. But eventually we received an invitation to attend graduation ceremonies at the academy. Even though it was in the middle of the winter, and we were having heavy snowstorms, we decided to make the trip.
It was an interesting visit on the Naval base. We were directed to a large auditorium to observe the graduation ceremonies and watched as the new recruits went through marching drills and then lined up to receive their admission as new members of the United States Navy. After that the recruits all broke ranks and joined their families. Aaron seemed happy to see us. He took us to his room and we spent several hours with him. He had a lot of stories to tell about his experiences getting through boot camp.
It was a long drive home that night. We didn’t arrive until early the next morning and the wind was up. Consequently our road was blown closed with snow and we had to walk about a half mile from the corner to get to the house.
Aaron went on for extensive training to be a corpsman before he had leave time. We did not see him again until the following spring when we picked him up at Detroit Metro Airport. After that he left on his motorcycle for Long Beach where he was assigned his first duty.
It was a very sad day when he left. Aaron had camping gear packed on the bike with him and he said he planned to sleep along the road and ride hard until he got to Long Beach. I had him promise to call me every day somewhere along the way. A severe thunderstorm was looming as he rode off and drove right into it. He said he rode in rain for most of that day before getting out of the storm. He kept his word and called every day. He reached Long Beach from Michigan in three days.