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I was a Motor Machinist 1st Class on the 791. My wife, Sally, and I live in Palmetto, Florida. We recently celebrated our 56th anniversary.
I was born in 1921 on a 150-acre farm in W. Kendall, New York where I attended a one-room schoolhouse with eight students in grades 1 through 8. My family sold our farm in 1926 and moved to Rochester. I lettered in three sports in high school and was sports editor of the school newspaper and yearbook. To earn extra money, I sold magazines and newspapers, and also ran a mink trap line.
After high school, I bought my first sailing boat, a 40-foot Comet, and commenced
a hobby that would continue after the war. I also went to work in an aircraft
industry machine shop.
In 1943, I enlisted in the Coast Guard. Following boot camp, I attended motor
machinist school and was rated a Motor Machinist 2nd Class. While on duty on
40-footers, I met and married Sally, and was later transferred to Camp Bradford
(Norfolk, Virginia). On a shakedown cruise in Florida, Captain Duncan offered
me leave to see my 5-day-old child.
On our way to occupy Japan, the Captain made the announcement about the atomic bombs being dropped. Three days after arriving in Japan, the Captain asked if I would like to go home; he gave me one hour to get aboard the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga.
Under the GI Bill, I entered a co-op program in pattern making, working a half-day and in school a half-day. Next, I entered an engineering program for 3 years and received my diploma. I then accepted a position with the State University of New York as principal engineer. I later accepted an offer to be the superintendent of buildings and grounds for a school district near Rochester. During my tenure I set up an engineering department that handled the construction of 4 high schools, 12 elementary schools, and 3 middle schools. While at the State University, I helped prepare several students with doctorates and masters degrees for positions in a new atomic plant being built nearby. I taught instrumentation, thermodynamics generation, and transmittal of power.
For nine semesters, I taught plant operation and maintenance at the University of Rochester, and in my spare time studied business management at the University’s Institute of Technology. During this time I was President of the Directors and Superintendents of Buildings and Grounds for the State of New York and President of my Rotary Club.
For 10 years I served as vice president of an international construction company in the Florida Keys. Presently I am teaching art and sculpture at the County Art Gallery in Palmetto, Florida, where Sally and I operate our own art studio.