Navy

Canton, Tx. EARLY DAYS: “I was born in 1971 in Teague, Texas.  I had one brother who was five years younger…

“On September 1st , 1942 I was sworn into the U.S. Navy.  The draft was going on but I volunteered.  I was a draft dodger,” he laughed.  I had some experience working on airplanes so I started off as a 3rd class Petty Officer.  I still wanted to be a fighter pilot.  I don’t know why, I just wanted to be a fighter pilot,”

“On Monday morning, we listened to Roosevelt’s message on the radio in class. That’s when we learned about Pearl Harbor, and we knew we were in an emergency. We knew we were going to be drafted. That’s when I decided I did not want to get into the walking Army, so I joined the Navy.  I didn’t want to walk,”

“To this day many historians discuss the impact of the two atomic bombs and would it have saved thousands if not millions of American lives.  The ideological mindset of the Japanese was to commit suicide rather than surrender.  The jumping off the cliffs in Okinawa and the Kamikaze pilots was a prime example of this fanatical mindset of the times.”

“This trip I made to Vietnam…. IS THERE EVERYDAY, IT DOESN’T GO AWAY.    To talk to a therapist in one of their PTSD counseling sessions, to most of us, is academia.  In my mind, it is not effective.  Our therapy, like what we are doing right now and with Tom, our reunions are very special therapy.” 

“A lot of people thought Leprosy was contagious.  At the time I did not know the disease was not contagious. When they found out a young nurse was coming they were excited,”