The USS Midway and the Eternal Bonds of Friendship Friendships made in the military are unique to any other walk of life. For those who have served, that’s an indisputable fact. More often than not, military friendships are long-term relationships that last a lifetime. “As far as the bond goes, when we speak or when we get together, it’s as if no time has passed,” said Andre Alba, who served in the USS Midway’s aircraft intermediate maintenance department in the early 1980s. “It doesn’t get any better than that.” Alba recently helped coordinate a reunion with 10 of his former Midway shipmates who he served with 40 years ago. All worked together operating and maintaining the ship’s aircraft ground support equipment. Some remained connected occasionally over the years, for others it was the first time seeing each other in four decades. Time may have added a few pounds here and there, and thinned their hair a bit, but their connection to each other is as strong as ever.
10
WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / MAY 2022
“It was a wonderful experience reuniting,” said Carl Shoemaker, who was an aviation support equipment technician on Midway from 1980-1983. “We saw what we’ve turn into from young adults to grandpas. Some of us were not destined to make it as far as we did without the Navy. Most of all, as young men, the Midway helped us with those Y-in-the-road life decisions.” But what is so unique about life in the military that has such a profound impact on building and maintaining friendships? Is there a higher level of intensity to the work and life environment compared to that of the civilian world? It’s well understood that the miliary has inherent hazards that you don’t typically find in the civilian workplace, and life on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is known as one of the most dangerous work environments. There’s an unspoken code that shipmates keep each other safe especially in situations where life-threating injuries lurk around every corner. “When you live, work, sleep, eat and travel together, you know each other in ways that can’t happen on the outside,” said Shoemaker, who spent 32 years working for a utility company after leaving the Navy.“
