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Hector Rodriguez thinks everything happens for a reason. He grew up in East Oakland, California in a rough neighborhood. He loved sports so he played basketball and dreamed of playing professional sports. He was always bored in school and daydreamed his way to college. His parents payed for him to sit in the cafeteria and BS with his friends.

At 22 things changed and he headed to the mall and found the Navy recruiter and was picking his jobs when the Twin Towers we’re hit on 9/11/2001.

He ended up choosing signalman on a carrier, but switched to machinist mate and ended up on the USS Norfolk.

Hector recounts his time on the sub, the diverse group of folks he met and the way his life was changed.

Great stories!

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*FOR MATURE AUDIENCES*

Lee Ellis grew up on a farm in rural Georgia, but when he saw an airplane, everything changed. Even as a child, he longed to have control of the skies. After going to the University of Georgia, he trained to become a pilot and ended up going to Vietnam. He was captured by the Vietnamese after being shot down and spent many years in a Vietnamese prison camp.

Lee tells the story of his time in captivity and what he learned about leadership and his new book, Engage with Honor.

 Click the link to get access to Lee’s books and some of his media appearances.

http://www.leeellis.us

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Tim Sullivan was an outlier.  He went against his parent’s wishes and joined the Navy on a whim.  He became a striker, which means he started painting the boat.  In fact he painted his name on the fairwater plane and really made a name for himself.

Checkout Tim’s book on Amazon!  Hot Run by T. Steven Sullivan

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Tom Conlon was born and raised in the garden state of New Jersey. As a boy, submarine TV shows excited him so he joined the sub service when he was old enough.

While never good in school, Tom found he loved learning from his shipmates.  He served as a torpedoman aboard the USS James K. Polk and the Francis Scott Key and was discharged in 1973 after 7 years of service.

After the Navy, he continued to learn and take as many classes as his employer, the US Postal Service would allow.

He also wanted to give back to the submarine service and rose to the rank of Sub Vets (USSVI) National Commander.

Tom also gives back to his community, teaching elderly residents how to use computers one morning a week.

Certainly a submariner to look up to!

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Andrew Fletcher went three years in college and freaked out when he had $5,000 in debt.  He ended up joining the Navy and trained as a Sonarman, one of the most important jobs on the boat (read Hunt for Red October if you don’t believe me).

Andrew discusses why surface ships ARE targets for submarines and some cool stuff you may not know about the noisy ocean.

I know you will enjoy this episode!

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Nancy Yockey Bonar became fascinated with submarines thanks to her brother, Captain Harry Yockey.  You’ll love Nancy’s explanation of submarine living is like when compared to a 3 bedroom house with 135 house guests!

Tee Shirt to help the show and look cool doing it.

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Ken Westhaver grew up in the tough streets of South Boston.  He wanted to be on a submarine so bad he could feel it.  Thrown aboard the Minneapolis / St. Paul was the beginning of a career that took him to the Constitution (Old Ironsides), a tank and finally to the Boston Police where he currently serves as a detective.

Enjoy this fun filled interview.

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