My Name is Rex Fulk. I was in the Navy from 1971-75. I served on two different DLGs out of Charleston, SC. The USS Macdonough DLG-8 and William H. Standley DLG-32. Right before I got out in September of 75 the ship was reclassified as a light cruiser, CG-32. I was a Boiler Technician second class petty officer(E-5) when I got out. I joined the Navy for two reasons. One to get away from a home life that was kind of undesirable with a father and mother that were both alcoholics, and second because I had a couple friends and an uncle who were sailors and I always wanted to be a sailor. I made two Med Cruises and many to the beautiful Caribbean. I enjoyed my service to my country and enjoyed seeing the world. As any young man away from home on his own, I just wanted to party. Drinking and doing drugs was an every day way of life for me and my buddies.
I got married in 1973 after decommissioning my first ship in Philadelphia, PA to my high school sweetheart and I moved back to Charleston with my new bride. The party went on and there was still an empty spot in my life that could not be filled with beer and dope. Not even my wife could do it. I knew there was something missing. On the way back to Charleston from Gitmo, Cuba, I got word threw the Red Cross that my father had a heart attack and was dead. He had finally drank himself to death. I flew home to Ohio for the funeral and began to realize that if I planned to continue on the path that I was currently on, it would probably end the same as my dad's. He was only 53 yrs young. The feeling quickly disappeared and it was back to the party life. I was dealing pot and hash right on board ship. I had a real nice triple beam scale in my Oil King office that was a perfect tool for my trade. We would bring many drugs back into the country from South America and Turkey right aboard ship, and I always had plenty of money running a slush fund, gambling and selling dope. We would be at sea and on the fantail of the ship at night smoking pot and a 2nd class IC man who was "religious" would always come back and tell us we needed Jesus not dope. We all laughed at him and made fun of him, but I knew deep down in my heart he was right. He would have church services on the mess deck every Sunday, and my office was just off the mess deck. He would come and ask if I would like to attend and I would always decline. What he was telling me started to trouble me and I took a Bible from the book rack and started to read it in my rack at night. None of it made any sense to me at that time.
My wife was pregnant and had a baby girl, June 14, 1975. I was due to get out in September. I was toying with reenlistment but the officers in my division were getting too close to suspecting my drug operation and I was real close to getting caught, so I decided to get out. We moved back to Ohio and I took up my drugs and drinking again. My wife was very upset that I was going to get busted and end up in jail and who would take care of her and the baby. She had a legitimate concern, but I just wanted to get high.
I worked a good job in heating and air conditioning but would go home every day and smoke dope at lunch and party all night. I would buy pounds and sell off enough to pay for the dope and smoke up the rest. Staying high would mask my miserable life.
My wife's parents were Baptist and invited us to church often. My wife went and came home and told me she had accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. I said that was good for her but I didn't need "religion". She continued going to church on a regular basis and I saw the change I her life but I still felt I didn't need anything but dope to get me threw. She asked me to go to church with her to see a movie and I thought it wouldn't be too bad, at least there would be no "preaching". The movie was called " The burning Hell" and it started of with guys riding motorcycles and it got my attention right away since I had a Triumph 650cc. Well to make a long story short, when the move was over I had realized that Hell was a literal place where people like me were going to burn forever and I didn't want to go. The words of that sailor who would come and tell us we didn't need dope we needed Jesus kept coming to my mind. I went and accepted Jesus that night, and went home and flushed all the dope and booze in my house down the toilet. That was March 28, 1976 and I have never regretted that day one moment in my life since. The emptiness I had in my heart that could not be filled with dope, beer and even a good woman was now filled by God. He can do the same for you if you will just allow him to. Jesus says in the book of Revelation "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me." Jesus came in. Won't you allow Him to come into your heart, today?
