When I returned from Viet Nam in early 1968 on board the USS Damato DD-871, having provided gun fire support for our troops and other targets, are first stateside port was San Francisco (Pearl didn't count). Leaving the Naval Base in a good old navy grey school bus we were greeted at the gates with signs calling us baby killers and had rotten vegetables thrown at us. There were no Thank You for serving (our ship was hit twice). I joined the Navy rather than being drafted so I didn't have a choice. To this day I have no regrets. The four years I served was little payment for living in a free country. If I wasn't so damn old I do it again.
Michael Atkinson
Fifield, WI