We'd all like that heroic military photo to put over the mantle. You know, the one where people go "oh ah" he was such dashing figure! Sadly, this is not that photo. Indeed, this is probably one of the worst military photo in history; it is certainly the "shaggiest" I ever looked in uniform.
The back story is this picture was on the USS Horne, taken for the cruise book two days out of San Diego on our trip to the Persian Gulf. Prior to deployment, between getting the ship ready, fixing innumerable faults, parting, and oh yes, eloping, I hadn't slept in weeks. Apparently I hadn't gotten a hair cut either! I had no notice about the photo shoot, had to run down and jump into dress uniform (or at least the top, missing the whole top row of ribbons, grungy t-shirt and bottom was my work jeans!) to get one shot at the photo.
Amazing, as we age, how even the worst photos of our younger selves start to look pretty good.
