I joined the Navy shortly after I learned that college was not for me. I was placed on the USS Charles S. Sperry DD 697 a destroyer ship, after my training. I was a sonar technician and ship's swimmer. I served the entire Eastern Seaboard, from Nova Scotia to Cuba. I began having symptoms two years ago and was finally diagnosed in March 2012. I fight every day and my grandkids and family will not let me give up. Hopefully we will find a cure! The work the ALS Association does is above and beyond and thanks just isn't enough.