Previously Held NEC HM-0000-Hospital Corpsman
HM-8404-Medical Field Service Technician/FMF Combat Corpsman
HM-8479-Basic Biomedical Equipment System Technician
HM-9502-Instructor
Service Years
1983 - 2003
Official/Unofficial US Navy Certificates
Operation Enduring Freedom
Order of the Horned Shellback
Iwo Jima
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
What are you doing now:
Joined the Navy in 1983 and just started the adventure of a lifetime.
Wouldn't have changed a thing, 30 some countries, a combat tour, some really good training. I've gone shopping in Hong Kong and Singapore. Been pampered on the beaches of Thailand, Hiked the Great Outback and swam within the Great Barrier reef of Australia. Learned to surf and scuba dive in Hawaii. Walked the fenceline and fished and swam with dolphins in Cuba. Drank uzo and danced on tables in Greece and Italy. Watched a volcanic island forming in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I have saved lives, shot to kill, fought fires and helped to quench the thirst of thousands. I experienced Somalia, Kuwait and Beruit. I have been lonely, and have rejoiced in the reunion with loved ones. I have made friends with people of the highest calibre. In my travels I've also met some pretty impressive people. Senator John McCain, Col. Oliver North, then Vice President George Bush and his wife Barbara, HM3 John Bradley, Medal of Honor Recipiants HM3 Robert Bush USN and Sgt Major Allen Kellog USMC, Admirals, Mike Boorda, Hymen Rickover and C. Everet Coop. if you read this and wonder who these men are, you should look them up.
Well I'm in my 40's now and still act like I'm in my 30's, Hah!� That's actually quite an accomplishment for me since I spent the past 20 years� as a perpetual teenager in the Navy.� I'm slowly adjusting to my new life as a civilian(yuc) but fighting it the whole time.� I'm finally back, living near the coast, it's nice here, but there is just so much I miss about being a sailor.
I miss the salt air. The mist in the morning, mixed with the faint smell of diesel fuel, salt water and fresh paint. The entire base goes silent at 8:00 AM and the bos'uns on all the ships in port sound colors. The flag goes up rain or shine, it's colors contrast the haze gray of the combat ships. Up the brow to the quarterdeck and everyone knows Doc and says hello. Another day begins in a life as a sailor. There's was always something new everyday, some inspection to prepare for, visitors to talk to, shipmates problems to solve. Damn I made some good friends and always, always the gentle movement of the bay. The hum of high� voltage electricity, the hustle bustle of the crew. The boilers are lit and stores have been brought aboard. Sea and anchor detail handles the lines, a slight movement and the bos'un whistle. Underway! Shift Colors! Old glory climbes the main mast and the tugs pull us free. We watch the beach as we cruise the harbor. To the fantail for a smoke the ship rolls and your sea legs insticntively compensate. Breakwater. A sailboat passes on the port side and everyone waves, the ship is making good headway, the ocean air smells clean, the wind and water salts you again. This is where a sailor belongs, another day at sea. The crew settles in, no covers needed at sea. We watch the land disappear over the horizon, friends and lovers left for our misstress the sea. A good days work, drills, flight ops, good Navy chow on the mess decks where you share laughs with your shipmates. Back to work for a while, take a break to watch the sunset, dolphins off the starboard bow frolic in our wake. Darken ship. Take in a movie as you catch up on paperwork or before you stand your watch. The bells sound 7:30PM. On deck eight o clock reports. Work on the schedule for the next day, one last walk around the ship and then the department. 10:00PM taps. Lights out, maintain silence about the ship. You crawl into your rack and review the days events, good and bad. Think of your family and what tomorrow has in store for the crew. The sea craddles the ship and she gently rocks you to sleep.
Coming Home,
Six months away and I'm almost home, I start to count the days.
The times we've shared have been a constant thought as I sailed across the waves.
The days they go so slowly, each one just like the last.
It's not fair when we're together, they seem to go so fast.
The nation says they're proud of me for the time we've spent apart, but I feel that we've been cheated from the very start.
The medals I wear upon my chest for the deeds that I have done, cannot replace the moments lost, forever they are gone.
I tell myself your love for me is stronger than the pain in your heart.
And if you can hold on till I come home, we'll make a brand new start.
So put a candle in the window, a yellow ribbon in your hair.
When you lay awake in bed at night, say a prayer I'll soon be there.
I'll kiss away the tears that form while your waiting on the pier, and together we'll build our hopes and dreams and put aside our fears.
They say that I am crazy, if I thought you'd wait for me.
That there's still a chance that you'll be there after leaving you for the sea.
I've tried so hard to tell you, about the job that I must do, waiting for the world to call.
And when it does, I give my all.
J Connor HM1(SW/FMF)
Off the coast of Somalia, 1993
What Makes a Good Petty Officer?
Good Petty Officers know what their uniform, their Navy, and their flag stands for. they are proud members of the best fighting organization in the world. The United States Navy.
Good petty Officers are concerned with their Sailors' individual welfare and their future. They pat their sailors on the back when they do well, and give them hell when they need it. That way they make better Sailors and make progress. They teach their trade. They encourage. They inspire. They are consistent. They are competitive. Their outfit is the best. They assume responsibility. They give their Sailors responsibility. They pass the word. They create team spirit.
Good Petty Officers put their hearts and souls into their work. They radiate enthusiasm and spark. They know the Navy. They know their rates, and they genuinley appreciate what they know.
Good Petty Officers recognize that success comes from the effort of a larger number of people, not just one or two. The whole organization has to function well, not just a few members.
 ADM Arleigh Burke
Favorite quotes:
Every normal man must be tempted at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
Take the high ground, protect your flanks and move out smartly.
Aim small, miss small.
You don't have to like it, but you gotta show up.
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A young man who does not have what it takes to perform military service is not likely to have what it takes to make a living.
�  John F. Kennedy
A HUMAN BEING SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
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Change a diaper, Plan an invasion,
Butcher a hog, Conn a ship,
Design a building, Write a sonnet,
Balance accounts, Build a wall,
Set a bone, Comfort the dying,
Cooperate, Act alone,
Solve equations, Analyze a new problem,
Pitch manure, Program a computer,
Cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently,
Die gallantly.
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 Author unknown
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Let grace and goodness be the principal of thy affections.� For love, which hath ends, will end; whereas that which is founded on true virtue, will always continue.
 John Dryden
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The quest for the art of love, and the desire for the knowledge of the science of life, are one in the same.
Each in a constant, desperate search
of answers that the other holds.
The key to your happiness is within the equality of all things.
Take the time to guide yourself and others will follow,
you need not hold their hands.
Science is an art?
It takes Love, Faith and Courage.
J Connor 1994
The Man of Life Upright
The man of life upright, whose guiltless heart is free
from all dishonest deeds or thoughts of vanity.
The man whose silent days in harmless are spent,
whom hopes cannot delude, nor sorrow discontent.
That man needs neither towers nor armor for defense,
nor secret vaults to fly from thunders violence.
He only can behold with unaffrighted eyes, the horrors of the deep
and the terror of the skies.
Thus scorning all the cares that fate or fortune brings,
he makes the heaven his book, his wisdom heavenly things.
Good thoughts his only friend, his wealth a well spent age.
The earth his sober inn, and quiet pilgramage.
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   Given to me by an ex-girlfriend 1994� Author unkown
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MASTER GARDNER--means-MASTER IMPROVISOR. Without improvisation, everything in the plant world would be "paint by numbers", and any dimestore artist could do it.
In 1938, the United States Congress appropriated funds for the acquisition of land for the construction of a new Naval medical center, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the present site in Bethesda, Maryland, on July 5, 1938.
Ground was broken by John McShain Builders for the Naval Medical Center on June 29, 1939 by Rear Admiral Percival S. Rossiter, MC, USN, (Ret.). President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Tower on Armistice Day, November 11, 1940.
The original Medical Center was composed of the Naval Hospital, designed to hold 1,200 beds, and the Naval Medical School, the Naval Dental School (now the National Naval Dental Center) and the Naval Medical Research Institute. In 1945, at the end of World War II, temporary buildings were added to accommodate up to 2,464 wounded American sailors and marines.
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ('WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital Bethesda, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a tri-service military medical center located in the community of Bethesda, Maryland, near the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health. It is one of the most prominent U.S. military medical centers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and the United States, having served numerous U.S. presidents since the 20th century.
In 2011, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), named after yellow fever researcher Walter Reed, was combined with the National Naval Medical Center to form the tri-service Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
