CREW'S STORIES
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Those 4 years were some of the best years of my life
Terry Oquinn GM2 (1959-1963)
Subject:
"Thanks for a great website!"
Date:
Thu, 31 Aug 2000 16:58:45 -0700
From:
Terry & Carol Oquinn - oquinn@aini.net
To:
bennington@uss-bennington.org
I spent almost 4 years of my life aboard the Bennington, arriving on board as a lowly Seaman Recuit.
I was a GM2 during my last year aboard and was in charge of the ship's armory and forward magazines.
I can honestly say that those 4 years were some of the best years of my life and for the most part very memorable ones.
I have a piece of the old wooden flight deck. Picked it up when they put the new one on in late '62 up in the yards in Bremerton. Had one of the machinist mates glue two pieces of oak and teal together to form a desk weight and a metal plate with my name, rate and Benny's name etc. on it. It sits proudly to this day on my desk and gets a lot of questions from those who see it.
Seeing the pictures of our ship being dismantled and towed out to sea, headed for some salvage yard in India, brought a major lump in my throat and a sad, almost lost feeling, that I didn't expect to have after all these years. All the pictures and memorabillia I have are of her in her glory days and to see a rusted, torn apart resemblence of her was not a pretty sight for these eyes.
But that was then and now is now and at least all of us who served on her can have, save, and share those memories along with all the sea stories each of us can tell. (If we can still remember them after all these years).
Those of you who have brought this Bennington website into exsistence deserve a lot of credit and appreciation from all the rest of us who served aboard this ship.
Too many memories and too many stories to expound upon but rest assured they are the ones that will go with me to my own grave.
Thanks again for making me feel like a part of the crew again. I am planning on attending the 2001 reunion and will look forward to hopefully seeing some of my old shipmates from the crew of '59 - '63.
All the best to everyone involved in this site.
Terry Oquinn GM2
G Division - '59-'63
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