In July 1963, I was in the Navy. I had enlisted voluntarily. However, I remember that first night (or was it morning) just before I went to sleep in a bunk bed at the U.S. Naval Officer Candidate's School in Newport, Rhode Island. My thought was, "Now what have I gotten myself into? Did I really want to do this?" During the next four months, my classification would be Officer Candidate Seaman Apprentice (OCSA).
On November 22, 1963, sometime around 10 or 11 in the morning, I was commissioned a Navy Ensign USNR in the United States Navy. By an act of Congress, I was now a Navy Officer (and a gentleman). Later that afternoon while driving through Illinois on my way home to Minnesota, we heard that our Commander-in-Chief, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.