The Good Life – July-August 2017

for one reason or another.” Tibiatowski’s
desire to be there for his family drove him
to leave the service, retiring with a rank of
E4. He was up for E5 but said, “I knew I
was leaving and decided to make room for
someone else.”
Tibiatowski has four daughters and four
sons, ranging from ages 6 to 23. Two of his
children are considering military service,
but he says, “It is up to them. I would not
sway them.”
Part of his service included humanitarian
work in third world countries involving
construction. Tibiatowski asserted: “It is
important to give back. I show my kids that
humanitarianism is important.”
Tibiatowski has gained perspective: “I look
back at my time on the ship, and everything
was arranged and done so strategically. Our
young, naïve crew was trained well and we
discovered just how important every single
role on the ship was. As I sit back and look
at it 27 years later, there were so many
reasons behind how it was done. It was a
big deal.”
“We had boats trying to outrun us
and even to ram us. We were a strong steel ship, so
trying to ram us just wasn’t going to happen.
I experienced some interesting situations, some of
which I can’t talk about.” – Shane Tibiatowski
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