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SAN DIEGO — Docked off the coast of San Diego, the U.S.S. Midway hosts thousands of visitors every day. But for a volunteer, the ship is where he became a man, decades ago.
In 1969, 22-year-old Jeff Forrey boarded the ship during the Vietnam for his Navy service. He spent four years on the ship.
"It's kinda like coming back home," he said. "When I first saw the Midway, I was in awe because of her size."
He said he learned about challenges on the ship, and it is where he became a man.
"When you're in the service, you're sacrificing your family life to be in the service. It's hard to be away from home," Forrey said.
Now, Forrey volunteers on the U.S.S. Midway, which he helped restore for the public.
In an office where he maintained the steam system for launch valves, now covered with dust, his name marks the desk he sat at from 1969 to 1973.
"We all like to leave a little bit of ourselves," he said as he points to a spot on the desk. "There's where I left my name and my rank I had while I was on board."
