War is a terrible thing. Harsh memories of war can even stir the hearts of the most hardened of men. But this is not a story of killing and suffering and destruction. The story of Echo Polinsky, a lieutenant in the U.S Navy, is a much happier one.

"It was just something I wanted to do." Unlike most young people who were drafted into the military during the World War II era, Polinsky voluntarily joined the navy captain at the age of 29.

"I had no one I wanted revenge for, none of my relatives were in any military. I just wanted to go in for the experience." She recalled the recruiter jokingly saying that she was the most honest person he had talked to for a while.

Polinsky was in the postal delivery service of her military base in Seattle where she was stationed. "I would carry a sack that was supposedly very, very, very important. I carried a .45 and was ordered to shoot to kill if anyone tried to get that sack away from me."

Polinsky often felt afraid during these tense moments, but looking back at it now, it all seems ridiculous to her. "A lot of the time, the sack contained the captain's hometown newspaper. That was all!" she said with a hearty laugh.

She didn't always have to run simple errands for the captain. Once, she handled the money for the paychecks of the service members stationed in Alaska. On the way to the ship ready to set sail for Alaska, there would always be a small mob of people also headed there.

To clear the way for herself, she would draw her gun and threaten people out of her way. Of course, it was in a humorous manner. She said she wasn’t ready to kill anyone.

When she wasn't on duty, Polinsky and her friends would often party the night away, even when they weren't supposed to. One memorable experience was sneaking into the officer's club. "We weren't supposed to be out of uniform, but we weren't supposed to be at the officer's club either," she said as she laughed out loud.

One of her fondest memories of her time in the service was meeting her husband, Max Polinsky. Max was a soldier in the army also stationed in Seattle. The two would meet and eventually fall in love. Then came the wedding day.

The young couple knew no one in Seattle who could marry them, so they asked the local judge. Upon the conclusion of the marriage ceremony, the judge, Guy B. Knott, gave them his card. "I can untie the knot as well as tie it," Polinsky said as she imitated the judge. The two are still married to this day.

She had her somber moments as well. Soldiers returning from the campaign in the Pacific were docked at her base. The campaign was a bloody one and many young men didn’t make it back alive. It was Christmas time, and packages for the soldiers had arrived, and were being distributed to the remaining men.

If a man was killed in action, the packages were tossed aside. "It was a heart-rending thing...when the fellow threw it over, you knew that the guy had been killed, and they were all buddies...," said Polinsky as she recalled the sad scene.

Sad moments aside, Polinsky said that she had no regrets of her time in the navy. Seeing the world, meeting new friends, finding the love of her life, that is the definition of her experience. Her time in the navy shows that the service is not all death and destruction on the front-lines, rather it can be a joyful experience, filled with laughter, love, and happiness.