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Chat with a veteran Mark Northcutt

The Daily Commercial - 3/18/2018

Town: Clermont

Branch of service and rank: Navy, MM3, petty officer, 3rd class

Enlisted or drafted? I enlisted for the education, the training and, of course, to join the Navy and see the world.

What did you do in the service? I specialized in the operation and maintenance of a nuclear power plant on a ship.

Why was it important? We made the ship go through the water and we made the electricity. Without us, the ship just sat there, in the dark.

What is your most important memory from service? Probably all the really cool places I went to. I had a few extended Pacific deployments and I pretty much got to see the entire Pacific rim

What did you like least about service? When the ship is at sea, you're working seven days a week. We were basically working 16 hour days, seven days a week, sometimes for weeks at a time. We'd sometime go for weeks without seeing land.

What do you want people to understand about war? That war is a very serious business and not to be entered into lightly. Lately we have entered at least one conflict without a good reason.