I enlisted in the Navy in September 1949 in St. Louis for four years to avoid being drafted into the Army and I had already been examined for induction. Upon being sworn in I was sent to San Diego, Calif. for 12 weeks of boot camp.
After a five-day Christmas leave I went to Jacksonville, Fla. for four months of basic aviation fundamentals training; then to Memphis, Tenn. for aviation mechanic school for four months. My first year was spent in training.
Upon finishing this I went to Alameda, Calif. and was assigned a Navy Transport Squadron, VR-2, which operated a transport service between California and Manila, in the Philipines. There were several bases in between moving people, freight and supplies. A year later I was transferred to Honolulu to a sister squadron, VR-8, at Honolulu International Airport.
Sometime later I was moved out of NATS to a maintenance group at Kaneohe Bay Oahu and finished my four years between there and Barbers Point Naval Air Base. I was then returned to Long Beach and discharged from the regular Navy. I re-enlisted in the Naval Reserve for four years, this time inactive except for emergencies.
With the coming of Korea in 1951 I had to go back into service for 16 months. This was done at NAS Olathe, kan., at that time a refresher training base for reserve pilots.
In September 1953 I was totally separated from the Navy and returned home to become a farmer. I had abandoned eight years toward a retirement in 20 years. Looking back I should have stayed in the Navy.
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