Having attended the wonderful AE/MS Veterans Day celebration a few times, it always amazes me what a wonderful tribute this is to all veterans. I am sure that many vets who are older than me could tell better stories than I can. At any rate, the celebration brings to mind my Navy days aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid.

After graduating from Andover High School in 1958, I worked road construction for Manchester Sand and Gravel. I had done this summers during high school. I knew that I didn’t want to go to the military prep school in Virginia in the fall that my mom had signed me up for.

So, on a hot day in August, 1958, while eating lunch under a tree, I saw a truck going slowly by. On the side door it said “US Navy.” I waved at the driver, and he backed up and stopped to chat. Our discussion included topics like: “How do I join? How old are you? Done high school?” and so on.

He told me he would be at the post office in Laconia until 4 PM that day. He also said, “You need a parent’s consent.” For some reason, I had my birth certificate in my wallet. He took it and said, “See you at 4 PM!” I was there at four, and he filled out paperwork that I could take home for my Mom to sign.

When I got home, I said, “Mom, I have signed up for the Navy. I leave on September 22.” She didn’t say much … just that she hoped I would learn something! And she signed the papers.

On September 22, 1958, at 7 PM, ten of us “boots” left Concord on a bus to Boston. From there we took a plane to Great Lakes, Illinois. We were met there by Shore Patrol, who took us to the base. After documentation, uniform hand-out, and a brief physical, we were “escorted” to our “new home,” such as it was.

What fun! Boot camp for 14 to 15 weeks. Homesick? Oh, yes! But it went by quickly. It was cold out there … very cold!

I came home in December for a leave and then was sent to Pensacola, Florida Naval Air Station. There, it was very warm!

I had signed up for the Naval Air Electricity, but it was temporary duty, and I was later transferred to Jacksonville for school. However, once there, due to color blindness I didn’t make it. (So sad!) Then they transferred me to Norfolk, Virginia, to the fleet where I was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. It was in dry dock, so the duty was awful. Very cold there!

In late 1959, we put to sea and loaded up with provisions, ammo, and aircraft. There were some 4,000 crew members!

The Intrepid was some 960′ long and was built in 1945 during World War II. In the Pacific, it was the ship that took the most hits by Japanese kamikaze planes during the war.

After load-up in Norfolk (we took on some 68 to 70 planes), we headed to Gitmo Bay in Cuba for training called “shakedown.” It was very hot there, and the time spent at the base was great!

Back in Norfolk again, we prepared again and then took off to the Mediterranean with two destroyers, one cruiser, a supply ship, and a submarine. It was about an 18-day trip and very cold up in the North Atlantic.

We then spent about six and a half months in the Mediterranean, which was an enlightening experience. There were long days with the Sixth Fleet. In the early ’50s, an angle deck and a two-steam catapult had been added to the ship so that aircraft could land and others could take off at the same time. We enjoyed shore leave in Italy, Greece (Olympic Games), Turkey, Lebanon (Beirut), Sicily, and Gibraltar.

In early February, we headed back home. It took about 14 days. We hit a nor-easter and lost our escort ships because the ocean was so rough. Waves came over the flight deck!

We finally got back to the states in February 1961. I was then transferred to the base in Norfolk and discharged in September of 1961. At that time, I enrolled at Burdett College in Boston, majoring in business.

The USS Intrepid is now a fully restored ship/museum down on the Hudson River in New York City. A visit to the ship is worth the trip … educational and fascinating. A neat way to get there is via Amtrack out of White River Junction or Brattleboro. Many schools visit on class trips.

It seems today that many young folks shy away from military service, and I can understand why, with the current war situations. I don’t know how it works now, but back it in my day there were great education programs, and if you took advantage of them and wanted to learn, you could get a “free” education.

A relative of mine went to a Class A and B school for electronics. He worked in that field for over 40 years, and at the time he retired a year ago, he was vice-president of operations of a company in Alabama that had about 250 employees. He retired with a very good pension.