Enlisted--July, 1942

I enlisted in the Navy in July, 1942 and lost contact with Vaughn. I guess we were both just too busy after that to keep in touch. I always thought that I would check around Morgan City, Louisiana to see what might have happened to him but so far I have never been around there. I went to boot camp in Norfolk, Virginia, during July and August, 1942. While there, the U.S.S. Ranger was in port and a couple of Harrison boys with whom I had played basketball in high school were aboard her. The first liberty that I received, I went aboard to see the Watkins brothers, as well as the ship. I thought the Ranger was surely the largest ship afloat, since I had never been on anything bigger than an excursion boat. I think that was the only liberty that I made while in boot camp. I missed some hard rowboat work because they put me to work in the office typing ID cards and liberty passes.

When we finished boot camp, we received 72 hour passes and I headed for Brookmont, Md., where mother was visiting with Ed and Nina. When I reported back to Norfolk, I did not draw Yoeman's School as I thought I probably would, but instead, I was to report to RCA Radio School in New York, New York. It seems that I had an aptitude to be a radio operator, which also required the ability to type.