Celebrating 20 years of service and marriage

For 20 years Chris has faithfully served this nation as a Navy EOD Tech, and for 19 years Nicole has remained by his side during this wild ride. On Labor Day weekend, 2025, Chris will officially retire from the Navy, and we will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. We are inviting you to come mark this changing of seasons with us. Our friends and family have played such an important role in our lives, our marriage, and our walk with God. We are excited to celebrate and spend time with you. See you in August!

Many of you will ask, what’s with the “Junk in the Sun” theme? Well, if you have been around any of my Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) brethren you know how much we like our symbols, history and short shorts (much to the amusement of the women in our lives). From the infamous “Class Paddles” that hold a special meaning to only us, to the “Blue and Gold” shirts that are only earned in one of two ways, Navy EOD techs have certain things that are unique and treasured. The “Junk in the Sun” emblem is one of these and represents a long history of Naval EOD tradition. Navy EOD began in the 1940s when Rear Admiral Draper Kauffman served with the British as a Bomb and Mine Disposal Officer during the Blitz in London. After returning to the United States he established the first U.S. Naval EOD School and later also formed the first U.S. Navy Combat Demolition Unit, the precursor to the Underwater Demolition Teams or UDTs. Navy EOD did not have its own insignia until 1949 when they started wearing a patch with a moored mine superimposed over a crossed bomb and torpedo. This emblem remained until the Vietnam War when Naval EOD personnel began taking on more unique and special operations augmentation roles and began operating with Special Operations Forces (SOF). Various Navy EOD Teams created unique patches and insignia to signify their roles in support of SOF. Legend holds that when a EOD tech returned from the war and reported to Navy EOD School, he entered a hand drawn emblem to be the official Navy EOD patch. Some say that while reviewing the entries a grizzled old Navy EOD master chief, who may or may not have been wearing just UDT shorts while hazing EOD candidates under the midday sun stated that the drawing looked like “a bunch of junk in the sun”. In true Navy EOD fashion, I have been told that another simalary attired EOD tech nearby replied with a litany of colorful language that I will summarize as “that's not the only junk in the sun”, thus beginning the Navy EOD techs love affair with short shorts. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this story, as it was told to me by men of questionable mentality, practicing a science of vague assumptions based on debatable data taken from inconclusive experiments with instruments of problematic accuracy……. -Chris