My+Dissertation

//This is, as dad referred to it "My Dissertation." It is as he wrote it after more than 5 years in the writing. Minor edits have been made for clarity, punctuation, or grammar; no other changes to the document have been made.// //It is as he wrote it.// = = =My Dissertation=

The Beginning
I had first enlisted in the Third Fleet Division, First Battalion, United States Naval Reserve in New York, N.Y.and reported aboard the USS Prairie State (BB), a training vessel for the Naval Reservists, in October, 1936. As Naval Reservists, we would spend two weeks, each year, aboard active sea going naval vessels for training purposes. Aboard the Prairie State, we trained in all phases of shipboard life and shipboard tasks, and responsibilities, as did the regular Naval sailors during their recruit training sessions, at naval training centers. Intent on adding to the strength of the Navy, the Reservists had been requested to transfer to and assume regular duties as regular Navy men. It was then I volunteered for duty in the regular Navy, 30 July 1940. I was ordered to report for active duty in the USS //Helena// (CL50), a newly constructed and commissioned light cruiser, to moor in Norfolk, VA. My advancement to gunner’s mate was rapid aboard Helena. I rose through the ranks and eventually was promoted to Gunner’s Mate 1c within a short span of time. It was then, too, I would be experiencing my first taste of combat duty, on 7 December 1941, the “date that lives in infamy!”.

On 30 January 1943, I was transferred from the USS Helena, now at anchored in Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides Islands, to the U.S. Naval Station, Washington, D.C. for a course of instruction at the Gunner’s Mate and Electric Hydraulic Schools. Upon the successful completion of these courses, I was then selected for enrollment in an an advanced course of instruction for potential instructors in the Naval Instructors School. (Braggadocio!) - Through Mom’s daily reminders and insistence for me to complete all my studies, I finished number one in a class of about 30 Gunner’s Mates. In addition, I had also been selected for a further course in advanced instructor’s training at a naval school in the San Diego Naval Station. This would afford me opportunities later in my career to be assigned to duties as a Naval Instructor for assignments to shore installation billets. Here, I must add, while at the Naval Station, I had prepared a “training aid’’, at the school, which was awarded first place honors and then placed as the “honor award of the week” in the main lobby of the school. Accidentally, I had achieved, in designing this training aid, (a cardboard replica} showing the full operation of a naval gun, with its assimilated firing, and then its full return to “battery” for further operation (firing)! I know not how nor why, but the aid operated perfectly. On the not so brighter side, and as part of the “instructor”s training” session, I was giving a presentation to the class of Gunner Mates relating to the disassembly and then reassembly of a Colt.45 pistol. When the dismissal bell rang, I still had about 72 more parts to reassemble! Needless to say, I had many gun parts but no audience! My instructor assured me, I had learned more, by this episode, than he could ever teach;- e.g.: the proper preparation of a lesson plan, with adequate time for full completion of demonstrations, was of utmost importance. Ten minutes later, in a vacated classroom, (the students, were more interested in the break period) and with the instructor’s assistance in reassembling the pistol, it once again looked very much like a very capable Colt .45 pistol!

Upon completion of the Instructor School, I was assigned to the U.S. Naval Training Center at Sampson, New York. for a two year tour of duty as an instructor of sailors who had just completed their recruit training. These newly made sailors would become eligible because of their scholastic achievements, while in their recruit training period, for a course of instruction in the Gunner’s Mate School or a school of their choice. Their completion of the course prepared them to maintain and to assist in making repairs to large antiaircraft guns, or surface type ordnance and an assortment of various types of ordnance, both major and minor, used in combat situations. Additionally, they were taught how to prepare for and then use these guns for firing at enemy ships, enemy aircraft or shore installations. Their instructions were complete and uncompromising and the students were well versed for their future assignments.

Later, during the assignment to the Sampson Naval Training Station I received a notice of my advancement in rating to that of a Chief Petty Officer, I had climbed up an other rung of the ladder of success as a Sailor. I now felt the importance of these advancements, which resulted, no doubt,. from always reaching upward in my career and toward my goals. I proudly put on the new uniform of a Chief Petty Officer, and vowed this would be only another step up that ladder and that there would be more. That evening, Mom gathered me up in her arms. I was certain she was as thrilled as I was with my promotion, reaching the top of the enlisted ranking. As I gently wiped away the tears which had formed in her eyes, I mentioned I had always visualized my wearing of the crest of a commissioned officer of the Navy of the United States, as a rung in that “ladder of achievement”! With her blessings, I set my course and then headed, mentally, in that new direction. I knew that Mom would always be there to guide and to encourage me, should the road to this new dream become more arduous than I had anticipated. Her ending phrase would always be, “Be careful, - think first!”, four words which would carry the weight and give me the courage and guidance I needed to my future successes.