He was a sailor at Long Beach Naval Station. She worked at the Naval Exchange.
It started with a dance at the base club. She asked him to dance. His blue eyes caught her attention. So did his swagger.
The couple hung out all night and went on a date the next day.
Five months later, the pair were in a chapel in Vegas saying, ‘I do.’
It’s been almost 35 years since Evelyn and James Honea met, dated and married.
Master Chief James Honea, now the master chief petty officer of the Navy, was 19 when he met his wife. She was 18.
“Of course, Evelyn’s unmistakenly beautiful and just has a great heart,” Honea said. “It just shines through her eyes and her smile and that catches anybody’s attention. Not just myself that was lucky enough to marry her but all kinds of people are drawn to her. She’s magnetic, and once she got ahold of me, I was hooked. I was sold from early in the beginning.”
It was her selflessness that struck the MCPON, he told USNI News in an interview last week. While they were dating, he went underway for three weeks. He came back into port for a couple hours, and MCPON knew that he wanted to spend time with her instead of getting lunch with the rest of the crew.
Evelyn knew he had given up lunch and that he was probably hungry. So while he was returning to the ship, she went out and bought him lunch. A small act of kindness, but for MCPON it was telling of Evelyn’s character.
“I said that girl cares about me and that’s who I’m going to marry,” MCPON said.
And he did. The next weekend, five months into the relationship, MCPON asked Evelyn to marry him, while they were on the way to Las Vegas to a little white chapel.
“At the time the most famous person had been married there was Joan Collins,” he said. “Now it’s us.”
The only place to stay they could afford was a motel room that offered a special rate because the air conditioning unit had been knocked from the window during a recent monsoon, Evelyn said.
It was August in Las Vegas with no air conditioning in the room.
There was no honeymoon, as the MCPON had to return back to the naval station.
He left for Rim of the Pacific exercise 1989 shortly after they were married as part of the crew of former USS John A. Moore (FFG-19). By 1991, he was on shore duty. He went to instructor school in San Diego, Calif., then Oklahoma City where he was an instructor.
The couple had next to no furniture when they first got married, MCPON said. They had a prized piece of furniture: a milk crate that served as both their TV stand and their kitchen table.
But the two built a new home, and by 1991, they had an apartment with furniture. Their first child, a son, was born in 1990. Then tragedy struck.
In 1991, the Honea’s apartment caught on fire. The small amount they still had was packed into their trunk. The next day, on the way back to see if they could salvage anything from the burned apartment, they were rear-ended.
Evelyn was taken to the hospital, and the MCPON was left with his infant son feeling like a miserable husband, he said.
But Evelyn stayed with him. It harkens back to both of their approaches to marriage. MCPON’s parents taught him about a strong marriage, he said. Evelyn’s parents separated when she was young, and she knew that when she married, she wanted to be with someone who shared her faith and values in a long, successful marriage.
“We had our difficulties,” Evelyn said. “We had our moments, but I think we’ve always thought of that marriage is something that when… you choose to get into it, you work hard at it. You don’t just walk away.”
They are a team, the Honeas said. They complement each other.
The lessons and experience from 35 years carry over into their respective roles in the Navy. MCPON is able to share his stories with young sailors who might be going through adjustment periods during their own marriages.
Evelyn uses it to advocate as the ombudsman-at-large. As a Navy wife, she knows about the available resources and the ones she wishes she had when she was younger. But there are still resources that spouses and families need.
Now she is in a position, as is MCPON, to make changes, she said.
The two also always chose to be together despite multiple moves. They’ve moved to San Diego, to Oklahoma, to Annapolis, Md. There are periods when they would be apart, such as a deployment to Afghanistan, so they chose to make sure they were together when they could. Evelyn’s been responsible for many of the moves, despite young children or a broken ankle.
Even when the couple had to be away from each other due to deployments, MCPON found a way to steal a couple moments. He saved his liberty money so he could send Evelyn a ticket to join him in a variety of locations, like Australia, when he had liberty. He called her his best liberty buddy.
“I hope that we can serve as an example,” MCPON said.
With their 35th anniversary coming up in August, the two have seemingly beaten the odds, both due to their young ages at marriage and their military lifestyle. So what is the secret according to the MCPON and Evelyn? Make choices together. Be a team. Support each other.
“When you feel like you found that special person in your life, hold her hand and just don’t ever let go,” MCPON said. “And then make it a priority. Both of you make it a priority.”
