Current Residence: Springfield, Ohio
Family: Wife, Mary; children Tony, Cindy, Kelly, Dawn and Katherine; 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Career after the military: Security in Hawaii, TSA at Dayton Airport and armed guard with Brinks Inc.
Hobbies: Reading, watching TV and visiting my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Branch of Service: Navy
Did you join the military or were you drafted? Joined
Active Duty dates of service: July 1, 1957 to Dec. 1, 1977.
Total time that you served? 21½ years.
Assignments/deployments: Naval Station Green Cove Springs, Fla.; Tactical Air Control Squadron 22, Little Creek, Va.; U.S.S. Liddle (APD-60); U.S.S. Middlesex County (LST-983); U.S.S. New London (LST-1066); U.S.S. Wahkiakum County (LST-1162); NAVCOMMSTA Asmara, Eritrea; Naval Air Technical Training Center Glynco, Brunswick, Ga.; Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Fla.; U.S.S. America (CVA-66); U.S.S. Oriskany (CVA-34); U.S.S. Rathburne (FF-1057).
What did you do in the service? Electronics technician working on radios, radars and navigational aids.
What did you gain from serving in the military? Self-discipline, that hard work pays off, faith in this country and that most people are the same the world over.
What do you remember most about your service? Visiting other countries, meeting different people, their customs and their lifestyles. Also, being in the honor guard for Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Chicago. The Navy was a hard, but enjoyable experience.
What would you like readers to know about your military experience? That I set a goal as a kid — to join the Navy, make chief petty officer and retire, which I did.
Is there anything else you want readers to know about you that we didn’t ask?
Hometown Heroes is a weekly feature profiling Clark and Champaign County veterans compiled with the assistance of local Vietnam veteran Randy Ark. To nominate a veteran, e-mail samantha.sommer@coxinc.com or randyark48@gmail.com or call 937-328-0363. Any veteran of any military branch, years of service and age is eligible to be profiled.
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