BY ERIC WADE
Voice
Correspondent
Nine stories from the crashing waves
of the Persian Gulf below, the flight deck of the Dwight D. Eisenhower buzzed with
Navy crewmembers prepared fighter jets for flight. Then it happens, in a flash.
Catapulted from the thousand-foot deck, the aircraft launches into the horizon.
“It’s so loud it makes your teeth
rattle, it makes your vision rattle,” Kyle Hamlin said. “It’s so loud you can
feel it.”
This scene unfolded in front of Petty
Officer Hamlin, 27, of Tecumseh, every day of his life on the aircraft carrier,
while he sat in his fire truck, watching and waiting for something to go
terribly wrong.
Everyone on the ship has a job, and
they’re highly specialized at what they do. Hamlin’s job was as a firefighter specializing
in crash and recovery. That was in January 2012, before completing his active
duty commitment to the United States Navy. Now Instead of finding Hamlin at sea,
you’ll find him in the classrooms at Washtenaw Community College.
Hamlin majors in business at WCC,
and attends an apprenticeship machine and tool program at the National Tooling
and Machining Association in Toledo Ohio. His employer, Rare Tool, pays for the
apprenticeship program. The GI bill covers his tuition at WCC.
On the cramped Eisenhower, Hamlin
slept in a room or “berth” with his squadron, which had bunk beds three high, with a small storage area under
the bottom bunk, and a small stand up locker for gear. The Eisenhower is a ship
of over 5,000 souls, so space is limited.
Hamlin spent almost every moment
with his team, sleeping in the same small room, eating and working together. Lifelong
bonds formed.
“You spend a lot of time with these
guys,” Hamlin said “The holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, they become your
family.”
Hamlin stays in touch with the men he served
on the ship with. To him, they are better friends then the ones he made before the
Navy.
John Kelty, 24, of College Station
Texas, majoring in sports management, was as shipmate of Hamlin’s. He shared
the same small room with him and similar experiences with college.
To Hamlin and Kelty, it’s the drive and
maturity that they brought from the Navy that sets them apart from other
students, and gives him an edge when it comes to his education.
On the ship, everything was about
making sure the job is done. In college, if homework is assigned to Hamlin,
it’s going to get done. He admits that he has become a little obsessive
compulsive about getting his schoolwork done.
“In the Navy, they teach discipline,
responsibility and honesty,” said Dr. Edward Hill, an instructor at WCC, who
had Hamlin in his English 111 class and now has him in his English 226 class.
Hill observes all of these traits in Hamlin,
and thinks these traits transfer well into the classroom. With Hamlin’s
positive attitude, Hill makes predictions on his future.
“As a teacher for a number of years,
I predict continued success for Kyle,” Hill said.
Kelty carried the same work ethic
home, but Kelty says being in the Navy has matured him, where a majority of the
students he shares classes with hadn’t.
“The classrooms are full of
18-year-olds disrespecting their professors,” Kelty Said.
Before Hamlin was in the military,
he admits that he didn’t have much ambition. He also confessed to using drugs.
Before the Navy, Hamlin was the same 18-year-old that Kelty and Hamlin feel are
alien to them now.
At a young age, diagnosed with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Hamlin smoked marijuana to
self-medicate. The drug calmed his mind, Hamlin said, which to him was a
relief, but Hamlin’s mother, Marie Hamlin, of Tecumseh disagrees.
“Pot might have mellowed Kyle, but
it took away his drive.” Marie said, “He became lazy and unmotivated.”
At the time, Kyle worked for his parents
at a grinding shop, but showed up for work late or not at all. Although, it was
a tough decision, Kyle’s father had to fire him. After a few failed attempts at
working for other companies, Kyle joined the Navy.
At the time, Marie thought, that there
might be hope for her son, but being in the Navy, and waiting to ship out to
boot camp, are two different things.
Kyle quit his job six months before
leaving for boot camp. He said he didn’t know it was going to be that long
before he left, but Marie knows this wasn’t the truth.
“He knew that he wasn't going to
boot camp right away,” Marie said. “He just wanted to lay around and party
until the day he had to leave.”
Relationships were also tense with
his dad. Hamlin’s father is a Vietnam veteran who thought of his son as a lazy
and an irresponsible kid. Once back, their relationship is much better.
“My dad and I are like best friends.”
Hamlin said, “We talk about what it was like in war, and he tells me stories of
war that he tells no one else.”
Hamlin wasted no time finding a job
after returning home. within a week, he started working at Rare Tool in Tecumseh,
a machine shop that makes parts for high-speed printers. After getting
experience at Rare Tool and giving back to the company for paying for his
apprenticeship, he hopes to return to the family machine shop.
On the buzzing flight deck of the
Eisenhower, Hamlin left behind a boy and learned to be a responsible man. Marie
knew it when she got a letter from the captain naming Hamlin, out of more than
5,000 personnel, “Warrior of the month," because of his excellent work
ethic and attitude.
“It was at that very moment it hit me, that
this is the kid that I knew was in there,” Marie said. “I was very proud of him
and happy.”
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