(Highlights and a few low lifes)

My name is as you see it in the web page header and I'm a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer, Hospital Corpsman. That would be a "medic" to the uneducated. As a result, I answer to three names. My given name "Keith" or two names I received as a result of my military service. The first name is based on my former rank which was "Chief." The last name "Doc," is my most cherished and is derived from what I did and who I was to thousands of Sailors and Marines. I answer to all three.

I was born and raised in the American Mid-west, the third son and sixth of eight children. With a large family to feed and keep a roof over, my family was not rich and my youth was by no means easy. I wasn't able to take full advantage of sports or school extracurricular activities because I had to go to work to help support the family. I attempted to go to college following high school but found out very quickly that I had not prepared myself while in high school so instead I worked. Looking for something worthwhile to do with my life but with only limited resources in which to do it, I decided to join the Navy.

After that first hitch I thought I new better than anyone else what life and being successful was all about. I left the Navy and entered what I now refer to as my “wilderness years.” I bounced from job to job for the next four and a half years hoping to make it rich. Instead of becoming rich or famous, I wound up just the opposite. Approaching thirty with nothing to show for my life, I decided to give the Navy another try!

After a tour of duty stateside, my first overseas tour was with the Fleet Marine Forces in Okinawa Japan at Camp Hansen. I really enjoyed the experience of living overseas and to my own surprise really liked Okinawa. It was here also that I met and fell in love with my better half. We followed on with another tour on Okinawa and then to Yokosuka, Japan near Tokyo. There I earned the coveted promotion to Chief Petty Officer as well as finished my Bachelors degree.

My final tour of duty brought me full circle where I was assigned to instructor duty at Naval Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes Illinois. During this time I also finished a Masters Degree. It was good to be close to home at this time as both of my parents passed away shortly before I retired from active duty. My father went first after a long illness and mother dutifully followed him into the next world only a month later.

In my over twenty years of active service, I had spent more than half of my military career stationed with or in service to the U.S. Marine Corps and a good portion of that service was spent here in Japan. With my parents gone and with my Japanese wife struggling with American culture, we decided to return to Okinawa.

We reside here on Okinawa by choice. Yes, there are people who actually come here and enjoy it enough here to want to stay! It’s a good mix for us as my wife is much more comfortable in her native land and with the large U.S. military presence still here we enjoy the benefits of both worlds. We have access to on base banking; commissary and exchange privileges and medical right here and the tax breaks for Americans living overseas doesn’t hurt either!