I just wanted to say thanks...

mvljog440
Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:04:55 +0000

Z man…its interesting what you wrote about your ring. I did not buy a ring my 2/c year nor as a first class. It was pathetic dipping the fake minature in the water for the picture during ring dance but I was so ****ed that I couldn’t be an aviator that I told myself the ring didn’t mean anything. There was also a rumour that if you did not purchase a ring that you had to meet with the Commandant. I thought that would probably be an interesting meeting and so I waited for the summons…but alas, it never came. I did meet with him as a senior but that is a totally another story.

Upon graduation I went Surface Warfare and then Special Ops and while a diver I didn’t wear my wedding ring either so not having a class ring didn’t really surface. I did lose my first wedding ring…its somewhere in the Hawaiian Islands. But there was something about the possibility of losing a digit and the wisdom of a Master Diver that told me wearing a ring wasn’t smart on the job. On many dives you just can’t see a thing anyway. After 10 years I couldn’t stand it and felt a void that I was missing something form my academy days and finally bought a ring that I now wear on special occasions. I did get two diamond chips put in it that really look great. A shipmate from '77 had that and I thought it looked great. I also think our class crest is exceptional. Anyway, it does hold a special place that I didn’t feel when I was a Mid.