A good reason to join the program was that the cattle-boat trips were an unbielievable opportunity for a small town boy. It was because besides helping people you get to see lots of stuff while in the process of doing these things like Europe and China.

Luke turned 18, he was old enough to be drafted into the military when Luke draft board learned that he was on cattle-boat trip, they told him to just keep doing that for his service. By the time he was discharged in 1947, Luke made nine trips and that was the most of any Seagoing Cowboy.

Luke got to explore the world, also found time to have fun aboard after they got all the animals out, they played stuff like Table-tennis, fencing, boxing, reading, whittling, and those games helped pass the time. Being a Seagoing Cowboy was much more than an adventure for Luke Bomberger. It opened up the world to him because he says that he's grateful for the opportunity to be a Seagoing Cowboy.

As he speaks he says it made him more aware of people of other countries and their expectations. That awareness stayed with him,leading his family to host a number of international students and exchange visitors for many years.