Fighting a war is like any other routine that we get in. There seems to be no other way of life. When this routine is broken it takes a while to get adjusted again. After being back home in the States it sure hurt to go back to sea.

     Everyone knows that men and boys are not suppose to cry. This has been drilled into us from a young age. Even though fifty years have gone by it is difficult for me to write my feelings down. This proves the theory that our programming works throughout our life.

     When I say I hurt as we were leaving, I mean I really hurt. It had been wonderful getting a taste of the civilized world. When we knew that we were leaving for the hell of war it was not easy. The radio was playing the song Don't Fence Me In as we pulled out of the harbor. The words of that song remain with me today.

     When we arrived at Pearl Harbor we trained for a few days. I got to see one of my Mississippi friends that I grew up with. In fact, I saw two of them. We talked a lot about home. This just made us all the more home sick.