"I am currently working with a former marine"

Hey ColeyG - There are no former Marines. Once a Marine always a Marine. My Dad was a Marine in WW2. I worked for a Marine and we had an office party every Marine birthday.
I never failed to remind them that the Marines were part of the Navy. Marines that had spit and polish duty on bigger vessels we called Seagoing bellhops. (not always to their faces!) A Marine handed me my first doob in a bar in DaNang.

freespool - I was back home when the Big 'E' had the fire. Few things worse than a fire onboard a ship.
So, you're another member of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht.