One Marine’s Life

David Nay

Description

An autobiography revealing how life’s decision’s make your life as pleasureable as possible or provides for an adventure filled life!
“It was a wonderful life, complete with worldly adventures and my exceptional family”

Sujets

• Armada de los Estados Unidos
• Biography
• Travel
• Beaver
• Autobiography
• Navy
• Marine
• Miami
• Aviation

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 05 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781663229588
• Langue: English

Extrait

ONE MARINE’S LIFE








LIEUTENANT COLONEL DAVID R. NAY USMC



One Marine’s Life


Copyright © 2023 David Nay.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.




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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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ISBN: 978-1-6632-2957-1 (sc) 978-1-6632-2959-5 (hc)
978-1-6632-2958-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023934467

iUniverse rev. date: 03/15/2023










DEDICATED TO MY PARENTS
Eugene D. and Mildred A. Nay



FOREWORD
“The Pilot’s Prayer” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr:

I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, -and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space.
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.”



TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
1957
1959
May 1959
1960
1961
Fall 1961
1963
September 1963
February 1964
1965
1967
1968
1970
1971
1972
1973
1975
1980
July 1985
1987
July 1987
Spring 1989
2012
2014
Spring 2019



FOREWORD
I had a stroke 20 April 2019. I spent from that date until 7 July in the New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC), Wilmington, North Carolina, when I was released to go home. During the time in the hospital, I got a chance to meet some great therapists, nurses, nurses’ assistants, and doctors. During one of the visits, by a night nurse, I was told I should author a book. She and I had spent time talking about my varied career. By coincidence, I had already thought of doing just that. I had initially met Howey Franklin, a former steward abroad Air Force One, when they were transporting myself and members of HMX-1 to the western White House, during the Nixon Administration. Mr. Franklin has authored a book detailing with his life and his service aboard Air Force One entitled “Yes Sir, Mr. President.” I have read his book twice. A member of my Sunday School Class sought him out and asked him if he would visit with me at my home. He graciously agreed and he came to the house. We sat and talked for two hours. When he left, I said to myself, “Self, we’re going to write a book.” I at once came up with the title “One Marine’s Life.”
While drafting this book, there were several things that I was not sure about, but it was amazing to me, that as I started thinking and writing about a certain time in my life, so many things popped up, as if it were yesterday. There are instances where I am sure I embellished for affect, so therefore this could be called the Fictious Life of One Marine. I have intentionally not placed certain names in the book, for fear that I would get the wrong name, or because I have not gotten each person’s permission to use his/her name. When I got into the part of life that dealt with the government, I intentionally left out names and exact locations, to help having the book approved.
The most exhilarating experience I have ever had in my life, was flying. To intentionally lift myself aloft into a situation where I had nothing but space all around me, and the ability to maneuver the craft in any direction. The senses received from flying can only be improved upon with more flying. I guess there has always been two things I ever wanted to do in life: 1) go to the United States Naval Academy and 2) learn how to fly. I fell short on the one and succeeded in the other. But as I say in this book, what may seem to be a defeat is merely a step along through the PERT Chart of life. I believe that in life we are given chances to make choices and through those choices we make, our destiny is defined by those decisions or the choices we make or that are made for us. Our life is laid out with defining moments where we must decide, or the decision is made for us. If you look back at your life you too can find these defining moments, which if a different decision had been made, your life would have gone in another direction. For example, while we were on an annual vacation to Cabins, West Virginia, I had always wanted to go to the Seneca Caverns which was near the campgrounds. When mom and dad said they were going to Seneca Caverns, I decided not to go. I would rather stay and swim in the river by our cabin. My choice to stay, resulted in a life being saved. I was there to save a young girl from drowning, when she got cramps and could not swim, and disappeared under the surface and did not come up. I pulled her to safety. She survived. Her parents submitted my name as a potential recipient of the Carnegie Medal. A year later I was awarded the Carnegie Medal.
Throughout my life there have been those decision points where I have made a choice and only in a few have I regretted the choice I had made. I will not go as far as to say my life has been ideal, but everything that I have experienced in my life has been noteworthy. I have lived my life to the best of my abilities. I have a wonderful wife, I have two wonderful children, two remarkable granddaughters and two grand cats to show for it all. I would like to believe that I have touched a few lives, along the way, in a unique way. I have enjoyed all academic level exchanges during my educational experiences, and those that I have had during my years teaching on a variety of subjects in my military/government career, as a Sunday School teacher, and as a coach of various sports during my life and in the lives of my children.
I hope you enjoy this book and that it might leave you with feeling; that you too, can have the life that people will say to you: “You should write a book!”



ONE MARINE’S LIFE
1939
I was born, Stanley Robert Horan, at the Women’s Hospital, in Washington DC on 29 November 1939. My mother gave me up to the orphanage in DC, from there I was adopted by Eugene and Mildred Nay in 1941. My new mom and dad were related to my birth mother. Dad was from a family consisting of 9 brothers and two sisters. He had graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Pa.) as an Electrical Engineer and worked for Duquesne Light Power Company, in Rochester, Pa. Mom was from Pittsburgh (where they met), from a family of 3 sisters. Mom did not go to college but worked as a secretary/clerk. She was a terrific mom. I was taken with them to my new home at 699 6 th Street Beaver, Pennsylvania in Western Pennsylvania. My name was changed to David Robert Nay. Beaver is the County Seat of Beaver County. It is one of the smallest towns in the county but has the rare distinction of having no bars; however, we did have the largest distributor of wines and spirits in the county. Because of this distinction, no bars, we were referred to as the “Cake Eaters”, a rough and tumble name for one of Western Pa. football power houses. I was too small to play football, but I did play drums in the marching band. Our band had a good reputation in the county for being a premier band, having won many awards at band competitions. I have a brother and a sister. We got along quite well; however, there is a significant difference in our ages. My sister, Judy, was adopted in 1950, and my brother, John, was born in 1956. He was the natural son of Eugene and Mildred’s, a real Nay. I did not get to spend much time with them: however, the time we had together was very memorable. There were not periods in high school that are worthy of being noting in this document. However, there is one incident I will always remember: I was working at the scout camp in Marionville, Pa., preparing a campsite for the scouts that were arriving the following week. I saw our family car come up the road to the camp. My family got out of the car, and we met near the campsite. They had come to inform me that they were going to Florida. I had always wanted to go to Florida. It was evident I was upset, and I told them so. Mom in her mild manner informed me that I should not fret because in my lifetime I would travel more and see more of the world than she could ever read about in her National Geographic magazine’s. This did not make me feel any better. What insight! They drove away, I was upset, and nearly cried, but there was work that had to be done. As it turns out that statement could not have more of a predictor of my future than I ever could have imagined. My family got along quite well. We had many good times together. My brother and I