{"id":5569,"date":"2023-04-17T13:46:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T13:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=5569"},"modified":"2023-04-18T06:46:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T06:46:34","slug":"reunited-at-sea-childhood-friends-reunite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=5569","title":{"rendered":"Reunited at Sea: Childhood Friends Reunite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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About to go underway on the ship for the first time he finds himself lost in wonder and excitement, the Sailor is drawn back to reality by the call of his name in the distance. He believed it to be a coincidence, though his name is called again, closer this time. The Sailor looks in the direction of the unknown voice only to be delightfully surprised to see his childhood friend and they rushed to greet one another.<\/p>\n

Aviation Machinist\u2019s Mate Airman John Giannaris, and Personnel Specialist 3rd Class Marcus McGee, both from Columbus, Ohio, were not best friends at first sight but later became great friends through their schooling experience together.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving around so much, I never really had any friends, but when I moved to Ohio, John was the first real friend I ever made,\u201d said McGee. \u201cWe went to school together at Lincoln Heights Elementary, having the same classes and homeroom teacher together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo started talking when they discovered they had a similar interest in video games. Because of that, Giannaris invited his new friend over to his house for the first time, and he discovered that McGee\u2019s favorite dog was the labradoodle, which Giannaris just so happened to have as a household pet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember seeing the labradoodle at John\u2019s house for the first time,\u201d explained McGee. \u201cI was so excited because I loved these dogs. Over the years, when I went over to John\u2019s house, we would play with the dog all day. I believe that we bonded while doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two friends spent their school days and afternoons with each other, up until they graduated from middle school. It then came time for high school, and due to the differences of where they lived, they were required to go to separate schools for the first time. This was not the end of their friendship, though, since these two had built a bond and were determined to remain friends. Though their interests varied, with one pursuing football in athletics, and the other being passionate about music, they still put in the effort to spend time with one another after school hours, sharing how their days had gone and what new adventures they had journeyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife may have taken us in different directions, but we always made sure to reconnect when we could,\u201d said Giannaris. \u201cIf you want something, you have to make the effort and pursue it to the best of your ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

High school came and went for the two friends, and it was then time to take the leap past school and into the world. McGee chose to join the U.S. Navy after leaving high school, and Giannaris chose to stay in Columbus and work while continuing his education.<\/p>\n

\u201cChoosing to join was hard for me,\u201d said McGee. \u201cI was making the first big decision of my life that would take me away from friends and family. John came to see me off to boot camp, which I really appreciated. I tried my best not to get emotional about it. It really showed me how much he cared.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year went by, and there had been little to no contact between the two friends. McGee decided that after a year of work, it was finally time to visit home. As he traveled, Giannaris\u2019 mother called to ask him to help Giannaris take the next step in his life. Hearing that his friend needed help, McGee contacted Giannaris and started to talk to him about joining the Navy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hesitant to join, but with the help and support of Marcus, I was able to take that step towards my future,\u201d said Giannaris.
McGee, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73; and Giannaris, assigned to Nimitz, continued their Navy careers working without much contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI unfortunately lost contact with Marcus for some time as I focused on my career, but I never forgot him,\u201d said Giannaris.<\/p>\n

As the Nimitz was in-port San Diego during its first week of work-ups in 2022, the ship\u2019s crew was let go for liberty as the squadrons came aboard. While Giannaris was making his way off the brow, he looked down the pier, spotted a familiar face fixated on the hull of the ship and happily called to him.<\/p>\n

McGee and Giannaris now are deployed together aboard Nimitz during its 2022-2023 deployment. They might not always be able to spend time with one another, but they still talk, hangout, and get lunch and dinner together when they have the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might not be kids for long,\u201d said McGee. \u201cBut a genuine friend lasts forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About to go underway on the ship for the first time he finds himself lost in wonder and excitement, the Sailor is drawn back to reality by the call of his name in the distance. He believed it to be a coincidence, though his name is called again, closer this time. The Sailor looks in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5571,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569\/revisions\/5571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}