Eric England, Snapper

This was originally published on my blog Chicken-fat April 8, 2018. I only met him one time at a Hunter Reunion. I took his picture because I thought our meeting was unique because at our only meeting we discovered we were both on the ship USS NEWPORT NEWS at the same time.. Later I learned he was one of the top, if not the top, sniper(s) in the Vietnam War. From what I know, I think he was a very humbled and shy person. I heard a few days ago they were about to amputate his leg. Maybe that did him in. I remember at our own meeting we talked about the NEWPORT NEWS. I told him what I hated the most about shipboard life for enlisted men was that no matter when you go to the "head" for a bowel movement, the toilets are lined up facing one another, and it is always crowded, even in the middle of night, so when you take a shit you will be touching knees with someone you don't know very well. He got a kick out of that. Google Eric England and you will meet an interesting person. Postscript: For what it is worth I think he was the "King of the Vietnam Snappers" after our Newport News shipboard experience. That was in early 1965.