To "any sailor"

When I was in the US Navy, Montel Williams had a show that was popular. He asked people to write letters addressed "to any sailor" onboard the USS Independence. We got tons of letters from good people who were interested and concerned for us. Some of the sailors were pretty disappointing and never responded to the letters they got. If I saw someone throwing away any of the letters, I would retrieve them and respond. I stayed up late trying to answer everyone who took time to write to us.

One letter was from a 5th grade girl who had limited mental capacity. Her name was Kaneisha. Her letters never included her last name and the return address was to a school. She wrote me 15 letters in all and each time they included a note from her teacher explaining that every letter returned to her was read in front of her classmates. Sometimes they weren't easy to decipher but I did manage with help from my shipmates. Every time I answered all of her questions. Her last letter included a photo of her and her classmates.

I also became friends with Dave and Patti Hammett from Portland Oregon. They sent me T-shirts and even came to see me while I was checking out of the Navy in Bangor Washington. They sent cookies which I shared with the guys from my squadron too. Patti was a huge Nascar fan...#3 Dale Earnhardt at the time. Damn fine people.

A kid that I worked with wasn't very bright...and he was getting letters from a woman in Connecticut. I helped him write letters to her and included one from me, I explained that he was just a young guy and he needed a little help. Samantha started writing to me as well. She sent a few pictures as well and damn if she wasn't a knockout! Samantha was well above my social class but we did have a lot in common. We exchanged letters for 3 years.

I corresponded with about 40 different people as a result of Montel's show. I got more mail from those people than I did from my own family. When you are out at sea and you don't have much to look forward to, other than more work...it's great to get mail! That's what "supporting the troops" is all about! It was an experience that will forever be close to my heart. Not everyone that received those letters responded, but if you did...you got to know some very good people!