FOR CITRUS COUNTY SHERIFF
INTEGRITY AND EXPERIENCE
I was a senior in high school when he died and a year later during the Viet Nam era, I joined the Navy also. A high school buddy of mine and I joined together and subsequently were in the same company (#148) in boot camp together in Orlando, Fl. It is no longer a boot camp base. I have many vivid memories, like the water tower we could see from our barracks, it was shaped like a giant door knob. Everyone referred to it lovingly (sic) as the "Door Knob to Hell".
In the military, everyone knew each other by last name or a nick name. For instance, Roby (long “o” sound), aka "Ronnie Rodeo", was from Montana. Spires was from from N.C., aka "Bucky Beaver". We were moving a piano on base one day, in the back of a Navy pickup truck and Bucky was sitting on the side of the truck bed where the piano stool would normally be. He acted like Liberace, cracked his fingers and said, "What would ya'll like to hear?" We all laughed and someone said, "Little Red Riding Hood", which was a popular song of the day. He not only played it on the piano as we drove across the base, but sang all of the words. We were all speechless. In the service, with all of your heads shaved, you look alike and you never know who or what talents you may rub elbows with.
I lost a good friend named Wilson, who was 18 years old. He was crushed under a pallet of inert practice bombs when the wooden shipping pallet split on the fork lift. He had numerous surgeries but died 30 days later. I remember hearing he had set record at that time in the Navy for receiving the most pints of blood (#120) and not surviving. I've been a blood donor ever since.
It is amazing what events in our lives change us for life. The military, the places I went, the people I met, all helped me better appreciate what we have, here in America, and why it's worth fighting for.
Winn was honorably discharged in 1973 at NAS Jacksonville.
WINN’S MILITARY SERVICE CONTINUED