Welcome to my Web site!
(Skip this if you're not interested in my personal history)
A bit of history first. I have claimed the State of Oregon as home for the last 65 years. Most of those years I was out of the state doing my thing in the US Navy.
I graduated from High School in a very small town called Detroit. There was 6 in my High School Senior class. My Dad had always worked in either the Woods or a lumber mill most of his life and I did not want to repeat that lifestyle.
Upon Graduation I worked in the woods as a choker setter but joined the US Navy in October 1956. I did the Boot Camp bit and was sent to Radioman School in Norfolk Virginia. I volunteered for Submarine Duty and was transferred to Basic Submarine School in Groton Connecticut. I then traveled back across the United States to Oahu Hawaii for my first submarine, the USS Stickleback (SS415). I was aboard for a great visit to Tahiti. I was also on board for the collision with a United States Navy Destroyer Escort which resulted in the USS Stickleback sinking in 1800 fathoms of ocean.
From Pearl Harbor I was sent to the USS Rock (SSR274) homeported in San Diego California. I qualified on submarines on the USS Rock. I was discharged in September 1960. I returned to Idanha Oregon and went to work in a veneer plant. I worked hard and played hard and re-enlisted in the US Navy in December 1960 with the rate of RM3(SS).
I served on the USS Razorback (SS394), USS Perch (APSS313), USS Rock (AGSS274 (again), and USS Sand Lance (SSN660). During those tours of duty, I made several WestPac (Far East) deployments.
I was married in 1964 to the woman I had been dating for 2 years and had know for at least 5 years. I was transferred to CincLant/CincLantFlt Communication Staff in Norfolk Virginia in 1965. I left Norfolk for a in country Viet Nam tour in 1968. My year in country Viet Nam was spent in the Mekong Delta serving with ComRivFlot One. They call it the "Brown Water Navy".
I then attended Radioman Class "C" school for 9 months on intense electronic training in San Diego. Was transferred to ComSubFlot Seven in Yokosuka Japan in 1970 were I spent 4 great years and was promoted to CHIEF. In 1974 I was transferred to Service School Command Staff in San Diego California as a Radioman Instructor. 1977 found me at NavFac Adak Alaska until the middle of June 1979. I was promoted to Senior Chief in Adak. In the middle of July 1979 I went aboard the USS Sand Lance (SSN660) (a East Coast Boat) in the shipyard at Bremerton Washington for the year it was there. In 1980 I served 4 years at Central Test Site Detachment in Bangor Washington. I transferred with my family to NavFac Coos Head Oregon in 1984 for my final duty station. I retired from the Navy there with 30 years of Honorable Active Navy Service in 1986.
We returned to Bremerton Washington, sold our home and moved to Portland Oregon and I attended ITT Technical Institute. I received an AAS in Electronics and a BAS in Automated Manufacturing in 1990. I then taught at ITT for the next 7 years.
My wife of 32 years passed away from the effects of cancer in January 1996.
In October 1997, I bought a 1956 Gold Goldwing LTD with 100,000 miles on it and have been riding motorcycle since that time. The 1985 now has over 225,000 miles and my Brother rides it. We do a lot of riding together each year. He and I traveled to Alaska and Michigan in 2002. He and I are both active in the Rose City Motorcycle Club here in Portland Oregon. I have been riding for 10 years now and have traveled over 225,000 on a motorcycle. I have visited all the lower 48 states and Alaska. The '85 is gone now and I have a 1991 Honda Goldwing and my Brother is mounted on a 1800cc Honda Goldwing.
If you are interested in Motorcycles and seeing the country, check out the page on Rose City Motorcycle Club, http://rose-city-mc.org
Please view some of the pictures I've taken on my travels. The most interesting and emotional rides I've been on was the "Torches Across America" in 2002. This ride was in memory of the people lost during 9-11 in New York City, the Pentagon and the Twin Towers. The ride left San Diego California and traveled across the United States, stopping each day at a different city and ending at Jersey City, New Jersey on 9-11-2002, one year after the incident. I met a great group of people on the ride and at each and every one of the stops made on the way east. It was a great experience and I will never forget the reasons for it nor the people that I met on it. I lead the ride across country in 2005 with the help of my Brother and a friend.
I am also a member of the Submarine Veterans here in Portland Oregon and you can check us out on the USSVI Page at:
You can reach me at my email address: ddsnyder@comcast.net. Drop me a email if you have any questions.
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