I served 20 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring from active service in 1992 as a Master Chief Petty Officer, Quartermaster, with the Surface Warfare (SW) designation. Including USS Rich, I served at sea in five different destroyers or fast frigates and on coastal-river fast patrol boats. I completed seven overseas deployments, starting with Vietnam and ending with Desert Shield/Desert Storm. My two shore tours were as a Navy recruiter in the Chicago metro area and later as a ship control and navigation instructor at the Navy’s Officer Candidate School.
After retiring from the Navy, I sailed for several years as a Merchant Marine Officer in the positions of Chief Mate and Mate on board various commercial vessels. My post-navy experiences working on merchant vessels prompted me to become the founder of my own private maritime training institution. During the intervening years, I have founded two private maritime training institutions and have managed two other major maritime training institutions in the Gulf of Mexico region.
“Striking Eight Bells: A Vietnam Memoir” is my first crossover from a technical writing style to just writing to tell a story. A very different writing experience. My story in “Striking Eight Bells” is one that I have contemplated telling for a long time. In recent years, it has somehow become more important to me to recall the time when young people were raised to be patriotic and to believe in our country; at the same time, a sense of obligation to serve the country was instilled in many of us.
“Fouled Anchor Chronicles – A Sea of Stories” is not a memoir but a fictional autobiography spanning about 8 years of my Navy career. The stories included are a blend of facts and fiction, with some embellishments of events, similar to a series of sailors’ sea stories. All characters are fictional, and I created the dialogue between myself and each character. It will be an engaging and enjoyable read.
I live in Largo, Florida. I lost my beloved wife of 52 years, Janice to cancer in July 2023. I am now fully retired and fill my days with yardwork, hobbies and my long-time passion, writing.
Books By George Trowbridge 