What was the highlight/most cherished memory of your military career?

LMFAO great question.

Mine is the fart that killed Ssgt Q.

We were were out in the field in 29 palms (the stumps) in our hummer and our plt sgt Ssgt Q Quirindongo was in our vehicle. I don't know what the hell did it but I had to fart while in the turret and Ssgt Q started screaming WHAT THE FUCK THOMPSON?!!!!! He made our driver pull over and told me to get the fuck out and don't come back. Basically my fart gave my plt sgt. some road rage and I still laugh about it today.

The brothers i deployed with and fought with side by side together. No better feel when you know they have your 6 all the time any time!!! Would do it all over again in a heart beat! No better organization than the us military!

I would have to say the highlight as well as the most cherished memories that I have about my time in the Services were/are centered around the People I served with!

Each of them, highly dedicated and most... extremely competent individuals, that often selflessly put aside their needs and the needs of their respective families in order to do their duty... People that as a rule gave 120% of themselves both mentally & physically in their day to day service participation and more often that not well exceeded expectations.

We as a Country are lucky to have had them in our service and the amount of good we were able to accomplish, the lives we were able to save or otherwise positively impact is beyond any power to estimate.

Without them I would never have enjoyed the success I have both in and out of the Service... I owe them all a debt that can never be repaid!

I was lucky to have a lot of cherished memories involving operations and the brothers I've worked with, but by far my most cherished memory was after the Crucible when my Kill Hat handed me my Eagle. Globe, and Anchor, and said "Welcome to the brotherhood." I shed enough tears to last me a lifetime over the next 5 minutes.

For me, it was aboard the U.S.S. Comte De Grasse DD-974 when we ported in Ireland. We were the first U.S. warship to do so since WWII and it is a week I have never forgotten. It would take too long to describe all the reasons why, but I can tell you I am not the only one aboard that ship that felt as I did.. the day we left, the ship even played an Irish dirge over the 1MC as we pulled away from the port very slowly...

I really dont know i was in the Cold War and did my Duty in 62-63 in Germany ! I had a better Job before i got drafted and after i got out !

Well really although it sounds odd but the most profoundly important thing that I remember and I have told over the years is How a platoon from the 198th Brigade near Chu lai, Vietnam was ask to send a platoon to protect a Village from having its Mayor Beheaded All was good until we got orders from stateside to pull out! The VC came in and YES the New Mayor! TALK ABOUT BEING BRAVE AND KNOWING WHAT PUBLIC SERVICE IS ALL ABOUT AND LOVE OF COUNTRY! We did this back and forth thing and it taught me something for a LIFE TIME!! Wow have you heard about ISIS ie. BEHEADING!!! HOW SAD!!! That the DEMOCRATS AND LIKES OF BILL ARES etc. pulled us out to leave the VIETNAMESE PEOPLE to fend for themselves before they were READY! But they fought COMMUNISM TO THE DEATH! Then we had the FIRST refugee crisis ie. BOAT PEOPLE!!

My time in the Berlin Brigade, at Field Station Berlin, and the fall of the Wall.

Most of my memories were small and personal. They were about accomplishment and pride. Each time I went through one of these moments, it gave me a feeling of pride, purpose and accomplishment I never realized I could have. The military was a great place for me, we fit together very well.

It may sound kind of cheesy but to me it was actually BEING in the military. I followed Kennedys speech...Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country..Being in the military gave me a sense of purpose and aim..I knew, with a few exceptions I'm sure, that I could depend on you or anyone else and vice versa when and if the balloon went up....while I wish I could of been a WO-3, O-3, CSM I wouldn't trade my experiences with anything and am glad for the time that I had in the military.....