Lawrence, Brian, RMCS

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY.
It was 1969, I was a Senior in high school, I'd have liked to have gone to college but didn't have any of the numbers for it (ACT/SAT or $$$). Who knew how long Nam was going to last? I sure didn't, and neither did I want to take my chances with the Draft Lottery. My father had been in the active Navy prior to and during WWII, and in the Reserves most of the time since. My older brother had enlisted as a 1-2-3 Reserve; one year Reserve (one meeting a week during high school), two years active duty, then three years Reserve duty (one meeting a month, two weeks Active Duty for training a year). I figured if my brother could do two years of active duty and come back a Second Class, I should excel, as long as I was a Radioman. I wanted nothing else but be an RM, and not get drafted.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BOOT CAMP AND WHAT UNITS, BASES, SHIPS OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I was a Radioman. I got set-back twice in RM"A" school for Morse Code; the second time and third time through 'Code Shout-Week' my voice didn't even change. In fact, it took over a month for it to return to normal. I asked for every RM billet in-country from Riverine Units to Cam Rahn Bay to USNAVFOR Saigon. I had to fill in all the other choices, too, so I picked a Tender HP San Diego, and any Shore Duty, Hawaii. That's how I came to spend the next four months Reserve Duty at CinCPACFlt Message Center Makalapa and 14 months at Wahiawa, Naval Communication Station Honolulu.

At the end of my Reserve Duty, I quite literally had nothing better to do that day, and I sure didn't want to go back to be a copper miner in Butte, Montana, so I reenlisted for four years USN. Got a good school, too, Communication Systems Technician (ComSysTech), then orders to the Tender USS DIXIE (AD-14). Two WestPac Cruises on Dixie, promoted to RM1 and orders Service School Command, San Diego, Instructor Duty RM"A" and ComSysTech School. Volunteered for Submarine Duty, Basic Sub School New London and orders to the Fast Attack USS CAVALLA (SSN-684), HP Pearl Harbor. Three WestPac Cruises on Cavalla, earned my Dolphins, promoted to RMC(SS), the Chiefs initiated me into their midst, and I was up for orders again. Defense Communications Agency, Europe in Stuttgart, Germany was a great three years only to be followed by four more as Senior Chief Radioman (SS/DS) aboard the Deep Submergence Research Submarine DOLPHIN (AGSS-555) HP San Diego as the ComSec Material Custodian and Chief Of The Watch.

IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?
I can neither confirm nor deny my participation in any combat operations. Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

DID YOU ENCOUNTER ANY SITUATION DURING YOUR MILITARY SERVICE WHEN YOU BELIEVED THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY YOU MIGHT NOT SURVIVE? IF SO, PLEASE DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME.
Well, yeah. I cannot discuss the particulars. The outcome? I survived.

OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
Each place I lived and Command to which I was attached had its own particular attraction set of good memories. However comma there was the Transit Unit at NavSta 32nd St, San Diego. Miserable place. At least I got a lot of reading done. Very happy I was there only once.

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
There are so many, and you want me to pick ONE? How about a list?

- Telling then Captain Sam Graverly, he'd made Admiral (LH).
- Being part of several Apollo Splash-down Communication Teams.
- USS DIXIE took the guard (temp.) for NavCams WestPac Guam following Typhoon Pamela.
- Having the Duty and being on watch on the DIXIE, in Yokosuka, Japan, on the eve of the Bi-Centennial 4th of July.
- Earning my Dolphins.
- USS CAVALLA, first U.S. unit on the scene following the KAL-007 shoot-down
- Fatherhood!
- Becoming a Chief.
- As DCA-Eur (E-530/HF) spending an obscene amount of money one weekend in Oct 1985 in support of the Sixth Fleet, the 82nd Airborne & SEAL Team SIX in their efforts to free the passengers of the MS Achille Lauro.
- (well, shucks) Fatherhood, again.
- Earning my Deep Submergence Dolphins.
- Becoming Chief of the Watch
- there are easily twenty or a hundred more to list.

WHAT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?

USS DOLPHIN C.O.W.

- Chief!
- Submarine Qualified
- Deep Submergence Qualified
- Joint Meritorious Achievement
- Chief of the Watch

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
It's difficult to single out just one. Certainly, the Command Senior Chief stands as one of my personal best. I think the number two spot goes to my Enlisted Submarine Dolphins; they were, as Captain Losure said as he pinned them on me, "not a diploma, but a license to learn". The number one spot therefore obviously goes to my Enlisted Deep Submergence Dolphins. My Deep Dolphins opened a world of learning and experience for me and I cherish the opportunities thus afforded me.

Looking back (20/20 hindsight, ya know!), I could have and should have done more.

WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
Aw, shucks, here we go again with the singling-out one of many. This is very difficult; at each critical point in my career came an advisor; at each command there were mentors a plenty, junior as well as senior, Army, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, Navy, Officer, Enlisted, male & female. Each taught me something special, something unique, they may not have even realized that they'd taught me something, I usually didn't know I'd learned something profound until later in life, but I learned from everyone: from RMC Ben Seaberry in 1969 to SKC Scott Wotzka in 1992; Lt Nguyen van Thanh ARVN; RMC Jackie Cody Hughes in Hawaii; RMCS Harold W. Dowe, RMC Rich Legg, RM1 Ray Kurian, RM1 Stephen Stefchak and Captain Dan E. Fenn on USS Dixie; RMC Tom Corbin, RM1 Ray Kurian and RMCS(SS) Daryl Henderson, SSC USNTC San Diego; LCDR David Zusi, CDR Ed R. Losure, CTT1(SS) Lou Tardonna and ETC(SS) Bob Gunnett on USS Cavalla; Sgt Atkinson, SFC Don Smith, RMCM Don Turcotte, Lt Anne Westerfield, Lt Becky Dearborn at DCA-Europe; the whole crew of the Dolphin.

After re-reading that last paragraph, I realize I would like to tell you of one person I met during my 23 years in Uncle Sugar's Canoe Club who had a profound and lasting effect on me. Not a Sailor, not even in the Service; this guy was a Grade "A", MK-1, MOD-0 Civilian. We met in the early spring of 1985. Enroute DCA Europe, Stuttgart, Germany, I'd taken my pick-up to the Bayonne shipping drop-off point and was looking for a ride to JFK. Jack entered my life then and has never left my mind since. Jack Carr was a Bayonne, New Jersey, cabbie. I can't make my tongue twist around Bayonne the way he did, but I can come close to his version of 'Knew Joy-sea'. Jack saw me, in Dress Blues, walking toward a bus stop, spun a U-Turn through a No-Turn intersection in his late 70-something Ford Cab, just missing a semi, and came to a squeaking stop next to me in the slush of the previous night's snowfall. The semi roared past spraying the driver's side of the cab with an extra layer of freezing slush with a matching layer of heated rhetoric from the driver. Not really wanting to ride a bus to JFK, besides I knew I could travel vouch at least half the expense of a cab, I stuck my head in the passenger side of the cab and asked a simple "JFK?" Came the response; "Get your butt in here afore another one of those truck jockeys gets shot at me and (snickering) he's a better aim than that last one. Come-on-now. I'm Jack Carr, how ya doin'?" Well, having just come from Hawaii, I was having issues with what most people around me were calling "Spring". I decided not to get into that subject but just commented that he'd just made an illegal turn in front of that truck, that's probably what spun-up the truck driver. Jack pretty much floored me when he replied, "I'll do just about anything to help out a Serviceman, especially a Sailor". I'd been spit on and called a baby killer in the early '70s, and honestly, I am ashamed of my response back then. Jack's words brought a lump to my throat and near a tear to my eye.

There wasn't a whole lot of two-way communication inside Jack's cab. Jack figured the fare at the first red light, called it into his dispatcher and got it approved by the following red light and was asking me what I wanted for lunch at the third red light. So far all I'd said was "JFK?" & "illegal left-turn." "My wife makes a pretty good sandwich," Jack said as we started taking some back streets that obviously hadn't seen a snowplow all winter, "you'll like it". His "you'll like it" was a cross between a well-conditioned certainty and a suggestion from a Boot Camp Company Commander. Jack suddenly stopped right in the middle of a block, in the one and only track through the snow in the street, left the engine running and, for a portly middle-aged guy, did quite a graceful job of jogging through the snow and leaping onto the front steps of one of the houses. Thankfully, no other vehicle challenged Jack's parking prowess while I was alone in the cab. I sometimes wonder if I'd have tried to move the cab out of the way, laid on the horn until Jack returned, or just given the other vehicle's driver a "Hey, I'm parkin' here," and waited to see what happened (Jack would have been proud of me).

Almost ten minutes elapsed before I caught sight of Jack, a young woman (I presumed was his wife), and a little munchkin as they appeared at the open door of the house into which Jack had earlier disappeared; all waving toward the cab. I felt it only polite to step out, let 'em see the sailor, so I waved back with my combo cover and reentered the cab. Jack plopped himself back in the driver's seat, and slid two brown paper bags my way, saying "Dig in". Jack's wife did indeed make a pretty good sandwich, the second bag contained cans of soda pop.

All the rest of the way to JFK, Jack Carr, the Bayonne cabbie, regaled me with stories of his son, Jack Carr, Jr., the Sailor. Did I know him? He's a big kid, works in the engine room. I was going to Europe, I'd be around European Ports, I'd probably meet him (he was on a carrier, and I'm sorry, I don't recall which one). I could explain to Jack I'd always been in the Pacific so I'd never met his son before, but it was hard for me to try to explain to Jack the size of a carrier, the size of the Navy, and that at my next duty station, I would have little if anything at all to do with ships. But to Jack, I was the Navy, and I realized he just wanted some reassurance from someone he saw as an authority figure (!) that someone would be checking on his little boy. We crossed 'a large bridge' and Jack pointed to a spot off to the left and said, "She's always meant a lot to me, but since Jack Junior's been in the Navy, I get a lump in my throat every time I drive past her. Ya noe?" "Yeah, Jack, I think I do know, ya see, this is the first time I've ever seen Lady Liberty in person". We were both quiet for the short remainder of the trip. As I paid, and tipped, Jack for the ride, I told him I'd keep an eye open for Jack Junior. Then, Jack Carr, the Bayonne Cabbie, was gone, and shortly thereafter, so was I.

What makes Jack Carr, the Bayonne Cabbie so memorable, so impactful? Although memorable and much appreciated, it's not for the way he treated me. It's the way he saw me. And I think it's the way MOST PEOPLE SEE SERVICE MEMBERS! We are the Subject Matter Experts. We know all the rules and we know all the regs and we know all the people. Especially the Chiefs. The way Jack Carr saw me made me want to be a better Chief, a better Sailor, a better example of the Servicemen of my country.

LIST THE NAMES OF OLD FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH, AT WHICH LOCATIONS, AND RECOUNT WHAT YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT THEM. INDICATE THOSE YOU ARE ALREADY IN TOUCH WITH AND THOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE CONTACT WITH.
I'd love for several people to know what kind of man, what kind of Sailor I became.
RMC Benny C. Seaberry
RMCM Jackie Cody Hughes
Nguyen van Than
Wiechinn Maameegate
Vivian Ehmann
Pamela Slaughter
Alison Solander
Barbara Clark West
Yolanda Villaflore
EOC H.K. Lawrence
C. Calendar
D. M. D. L. Ward
et. al.

WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
After retiring from the Navy, I became a Network Engineer for a local middle-school, then for a large regional banking system. I resigned from there in 1999 due to poor health. I remain a house husband, senior-chief cook & bottle washer, doggie doorman, photographer, and occasional tech-writer and editor.

WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
DAV
USSVI

IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
Wow, first off, let me say civvies don't play by the same set of rules as sailors. That was a real culture shock for me. My civilian supervisors weren't prepared for my Chief's take charge and work till the job is done attitude. I wasn't prepared for an 8 AM to 5 PM (yeah - they still use 12-hour clocks, go figure!), you will take an hour for lunch with your fellow workers, civilian work world. However, comma my willingness to work till the job is done attitude has won over many a supervisor over the years. I've even convinced a few to switch to a 24-hour clock.

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?
Don't trust your memory; keep a journal/diary/wheel book/whatever with names, hometowns, daily events. In this era of 'everyone's got their own computer', it should be easy to log specifics that won't become muddled in the minds of the elderly.

Set your goals then achieve them.

Realize now that failure is a part of the learning process; this is one reason we train, so we can fail while there's still a reset button on a shipmate's life. Once you say "I have the watch," people's lives depend upon YOU.

Realize now that life is the toughest teacher you'll ever have; she gives you the test THEN teaches you the lesson.

Realize now only a small fraction of those hundreds that graduated Boot Camp with you will go on to make the Service a Career. It isn't for everybody. And there's some with bright careers ahead who choose a family life without the interruption Sea Service normally brings.

Periodically, like every six months if a lot is happening, review your personnel, medical, dental and training records for accuracy, legibility, completeness, correct and timely entries made, all inserted pages are actually yours, etc. It makes going up for a Chief or an officer program a whole lot easier and preparing for the VA at least a little less tense.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.

TWS and the US Navy

TWS has helped me reconnect with people I've not seen in 20, 30, even 40 years. Civilians too, not just other service members. Just a couple of weeks ago, as I write this, I connected with two guys off my last submarine, the USS DOLPHIN (AGSS-555) and was reminded "once a Brother of the Phin, always a Brother; you make the call, we'll be there for you".

As a way of repaying TWS for the re-connections I've made, I am assisting older vets, unable by themselves, build their profile page and tell their stories. A recent widow lamented it was a shame I hadn't met her husband before his passing. Putting my arm around her shoulder, I told her between her late husband's "war-wall", papers he'd kept and her memories of his stories, we could still build him a fitting memorial.

Thank You, TWS, for the opportunity, not just to tell my stories and make re-connections, but to help others do the same.

DS 8/21/2019