With Father's Day coming up, it has reminded me who got me into shooting in the first place. Maybe we can all share our Dad stories.
My dad is a retired Navy Chaplain. He spent 38 years in the Navy, but in his words, "I didn't make a career of it." He enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 years old. During his high school graduation ceremony, his step-dad asked him where he was going when he left home in two weeks. With a deer-in-the-headlights look, he responded that he was going to enlist in the Army. As a result of getting off the elevator on the wrong floor, and a silver-tongued recuiter, he wound up in the Navy.
He served as a "Nuke" for a year and a half before the Navy sent him to college. After college, he was commissioned and sent to Vietnam. He served with the "Brownwater Navy" on PBRs for nearly 3 years. Before he left, he promised his girlfriend that if he made it back, he'd marry her. That's kind of a sore subject with my mom (his girlfriend), because he volunteered to stay for the 2nd and 3rd years.
When he returned to CONUS, he married my mom and served as a counterinsurgency instructor at a Navy school in Coronado, CA. He seperated from the Navy a few years later and went to seminary at Dallas Theological. Both my sister and I were born while he was in seminary.
He stayed in the Navy until he was forced to retire after 38 years. He had wanted to stay his full 40. He currently lives in OKC with my mom. They've been married for 32 years. He is a pastor and sunday school teacher.
He bought me my first gun, a Remington .22LR rifle when I was 8 years old (and in CA, for that matter.) I got my first pistol, a Ruger MarkII, when I was 12. He taught me how to shoot, and always wants to know what's the latest in gun stuff going on. He doesn't shoot as much as he should, but he still carries his Browning HP everywhere he goes. He's been carrying that pistol legally and illegally for close to as long as I've been alive.
One of the more memorable things he's told me was when someone was on the news talking about hearing a noise outside her window. He said "When some people hear a noise outside their window at night, they get nervous, anxious, scared, and consider calling the police. Me, I just double check to make sure there's a round chambered, then go back to watching TV."
I'm very proud to have the father I have, and very lucky, as well. Tell me about yours.
My dad is a retired Navy Chaplain. He spent 38 years in the Navy, but in his words, "I didn't make a career of it." He enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 years old. During his high school graduation ceremony, his step-dad asked him where he was going when he left home in two weeks. With a deer-in-the-headlights look, he responded that he was going to enlist in the Army. As a result of getting off the elevator on the wrong floor, and a silver-tongued recuiter, he wound up in the Navy.
He served as a "Nuke" for a year and a half before the Navy sent him to college. After college, he was commissioned and sent to Vietnam. He served with the "Brownwater Navy" on PBRs for nearly 3 years. Before he left, he promised his girlfriend that if he made it back, he'd marry her. That's kind of a sore subject with my mom (his girlfriend), because he volunteered to stay for the 2nd and 3rd years.
When he returned to CONUS, he married my mom and served as a counterinsurgency instructor at a Navy school in Coronado, CA. He seperated from the Navy a few years later and went to seminary at Dallas Theological. Both my sister and I were born while he was in seminary.
He stayed in the Navy until he was forced to retire after 38 years. He had wanted to stay his full 40. He currently lives in OKC with my mom. They've been married for 32 years. He is a pastor and sunday school teacher.
He bought me my first gun, a Remington .22LR rifle when I was 8 years old (and in CA, for that matter.) I got my first pistol, a Ruger MarkII, when I was 12. He taught me how to shoot, and always wants to know what's the latest in gun stuff going on. He doesn't shoot as much as he should, but he still carries his Browning HP everywhere he goes. He's been carrying that pistol legally and illegally for close to as long as I've been alive.
One of the more memorable things he's told me was when someone was on the news talking about hearing a noise outside her window. He said "When some people hear a noise outside their window at night, they get nervous, anxious, scared, and consider calling the police. Me, I just double check to make sure there's a round chambered, then go back to watching TV."
I'm very proud to have the father I have, and very lucky, as well. Tell me about yours.
