Medical:

Dude I had an ingrown toenail and I told the doc I didn't think he was patching me up right. I'd by the way had more important things to do for a month before seeing the doctor and walked with a limp. When I got done with my work at the end of the day I day I discovered my suspicions were correct. My toe was totally black and I went to bed knowing that in the morning I'd discover if my time in the Navy was over.

Pay:

I earned 14k a year and for six month stretches did nothing but work and sleep and sometimes no sleep. 6 hours was a good time. I don't remember my calculations but I went to bed one night and deduced that I could have paid for community college working at mcdonalds.

Treated like garbage:

The day I was supposed to get out my boss tried to talk me into doing just a teeny tiny bit of work but it turned out I had already been out of the military for 7 days! They involuntarily extended me for a month to hide their fuckup. I talked multiple shipmates out of suicide. I saw guys who went through divorces because their wives couldn't believe they were at work so much. My hands and scalp have big chunky scars, my knees are bad, I have to tell the barber to be careful because I can't grow hair some places. I used to thrash, punch and kick in my sleep. I woke up with my girlfriend in a headlock punching her in the face. I still can't sleep without knowing where the nearest fire extinguisher is and it's been 20 years. Oh and a bunch of guys on a team from a sister ship died when the merchant ship we were inspecting was scuttled and we spent days trying to keep it afloat. I had a refueling accident where I was sprayed in the face and mouth with jet fuel and the rig snapped and heavy metal equipment was sent flying at baseball speeds.

Oh and I also washed some dirty dishes.