1960 - 1963 1943 I enlisted in the Navy and was sent to radar school at the US Naval Air Station in St. Simons GA after boot camp at Sampson NY (Ever see a Brewster Buffalo aircraft?). Here I was taught to operate Army radars and some Navy Radars (SG surface Search). I volunteered for ARGUS Unit duty until two radar POs talked me out of that. They had been in Tarawa. Radar operators went ashore in the third assault wave. 1944 After graduation I was sent to the USS Hancock CV19 (Essex class) in Boston MA. After trials and training we joined the 3rd & 5th Fleet. Then we romped and stomped and "Oh Yes! Combat stars were earned." Vice Admiral John McCain was onboard for one campaign. What a fine, salty old man. His cap was the saltiest one we "boots" had ever seen. The gold on his visor was green Bull Halsey was on the New Jersey in the same task group 38.2. The size of the 3rd and 5th fleet was huge. TG38.2 had 4 carriers, Hancock, Lexington, Ticonderoga (all Essex class) and the smaller CVL Independence. Battleships Iowa, and the New Jersey. Cruisers Vincennes, Miami, Pasadena, and San Juan, plus a screen of 20 or 22 destroyers There are 4 task groups in the fleet. On that operation we hit Luzon and Formosa plus South China Sea targets French-Indo China (Vietnam) as well as Hong Kong and Okinawa. After the operation we returned to Fleet Anchorage and Vice Admiral McCain and Bull Hasley departed, being replaced by Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spurance, Commander of the 5th fleet. Thus we became TG58.2 Our CIC on the carrier was in the island on the same level as Flag Plot and Flag Bridge, so we manned stations in Flag Plot. ECM was in Air Operations space, one (secondary) air search radar was in a closet next to secondary Conn. I was the GQ operator for the SK radar, long range air search. Detecting and tracking a 50m plus enemy aircraft group coming directly at our Task Group was rather unnerving. Aluminum doesnt provide much protection against strafing attacks! Oct 1945 We returned to Long Beach in time for a fine Navy Day. We disembarked all aircraft and we built temporaries bunk areas on the hanger deck in order to participate in Operation Magic Carpet. We brought troops home from the South Pacific Islands, most of which were below the equator. It was there that I became a shellback. Dec 15 1945 Discharged at Bainbridge, MD Civilian life sucks. Oct 1947 I re-enlisted as an RD3 (The arm rating insignia was 3 lightning bolts with an arrow through it). Orders were to New Orleans to re-commission a WWII PGM and then to proceed to Norfolk to transfer the PGM to the Greek Navy. In Norfolk I was transferred to the Receiving Station where I asked for Shore Duty. The yeoman rolled on the floor in laughter. Three days later I was ordered to CIC School, Fargo Building, in Boston Mass for instructor duty. 1949 I received a transfer to Ground Control Approach school for training & further assignment as a GCA operator. After training was transferred to GCA unit 12 at the US Naval Air Station in Norfolk. 1951 I transferred to PCE-903 reserve training ship in Pensacola, FL. BuShips had protested that BuAir had taken too many Radarmen & they wanted them back! BuAir offered us a rating change to Air Control (AC) (Tower Flower). I decided to stay as a Radarman. Duty on PCE903 was good, I learned quite a lot, operated sonar equipment, stood quartermaster watches, and actually conned the ship during training attacks on submarines (op area off of Key West). We embarked 55 enlisted and 10 officers for their 2-week reserve-training cruise. Here I met an old reservist who had been with the White Fleet and with Admiral Dewey during the battle of Manila. I advance to RD1 on that ship. 1955 I transferred to pre-commissioning detail for duty on the USS Nimble MSO459, built in New Orleans. That was an experience. The ship was non-magnetic, no magnetic material permitted on board (keys, knives, etc.) All I had was a Radar striker (RDSN). We learned how to operate the UOL (Underwater Object Locator) a sonar used to detect mines. We proceeded to Panama City, FL and then to Charleston S.C. Just before we began underway training I received orders for transfer to Navy Instructors school and after completion was assigned instructor duty at the US Naval Academy, in Annapolis from 1955 1959 Duty at the Naval Academy was great, there were 4 CIC rooms an the first deck of Luce Hall Department of Seamanship and Navigation. We also rode on the YPs used to train the "Middies in ship handling and tactical maneuvering. In a small space on the stern was an old WWII surface radar that we used to teach radar navigation. 1959 I was transferred to Radar B school at Treasure Island, CA. While here I met Chief Mann. We were in the same class. The operational phase of the school was at Point Loma, San Diego. My wife and oldest daughter (born at the Academy Naval Hospital) six-weeks old drove across the country in our new 1959 DeSota. No Interstates then! 1960 Topeka CLG 8 Both Chief Mann and I were transferred to the Topeka. We started training the OI Radarmen in the latest CIC procedures. We were not the Chiefs that called our RD Petty Officers "Chowder Head" or "Flounder Head" as done by one Chief. Remember our fine radar navigation teams! Returning fro WestPac, Long Beach harbor had zero visibility (fog). Topeka's Captain asked CIC if we could take the Topeka in to her pier. "Affirmative", was our answer. Dependents and others waiting on the peir first saw the big 8 when we were about 100 feet from our pier. Bravo Zulu Radarmen! Remember Chief Shulo BTCS, a fine southpaw bowler. Always used to tell you to put more "loof" on the ball when you didnt make a strike. He had to retire on the Topeka after serving 20+ years. Later I believe I saw his name on the TAPS list of the FRA Naval Affairs Magazine. I believe he was from PA, either the town of Forty Four, or Forty Fort. Maybe someone living in PA will know. He was the Royal Baby during the Shellback initiation. He had the black bull-eye painted on his fat belly. 1963 Transferred to the USS Calvert LPA-32, an old former ocean liner. She had one screw, but rode rough seas very well. Rough duty as EMO. Only had 45% of the ET complement. I saw Chief Mann in Hawaii, he came aboard for a visit and to reminisce about the Topeka. He had been sent to a shore activity there. 1965 An officer from the Fleet Work-Study Group Pacific called me over for an interview. Their location was near Ocean Blvd. on the grounds of the Navy Rec area field. Based on the interview (I was one of three RDMCs) I received orders from OP-04 in DC sending me to R&D Design Work-Study School at BuShips (8 weeks). The school was created/adapted from the Work-Study organization at Oxford England. Basically, it was like an Industrial Engineer program, time and motion studies, activities time sampling and methodology studies Duty at FWSGPAC was great. Some of the teams were involved in the 3-M system, instructions and installation on the ships. Others were doing work-studies of all types, overhaul of engines, maintenance problems in avionics shops, etc. Remember RDMC Al DesVoignes? He was my replacement at FWSGPAC, as he was on the Topeka. 1967 Received order to NTDS School (Point Loma) and transferred to the USSConstellation CV64. That was an experience! I was the leading Chief of the Ops department, duties for assigning working parties, shore patrol and all sorts of things. As head of OI, I had seven Chief Petty Officers (Radarmen and EW Specialists) under my control. After our return from WestPac I put in my papers for retirement (almost 23 years). 1968 Retired (on retainer). I had a solid offer of a job as a Senior Associate Engineer, Systems at Hughes Aircraft Company in Fullerton CA. "Strange, my first and last ships in my career were aircraft carriers." Virgil and his wife Virginia, now live near South Mountain in Myersville, MD. They meet on a blind date and were married in 1951. They have two daughters, Brenda Lee living in CA, and Patrice, living in Fredrick, MD. Virgil enjoys reading historical novels (James Webb and Tom Clancey) and history as interpreted by F. A. Hayek, Gerald L. Weinbery, etc. Will history that happened more than 50 years ago be repeated in America? He also enjoys the German news (English version) from Berlin via C-Band satellite system.
Here is a Brewster Buffalo |
