Ed Donohue: A learning experience

By Mallory Pistek, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Edward (Ed) Donohue was born at Chicago Memorial Hospital on August 16, 1944. Ed was one of four children (being #3 himself). Ed has two older sisters and a brother that is nine years his junior. Ed recalls his sisters always telling him that he was their mothers favorite being the first boy and all.  His father was a firefighter and Ed grew up mostly on the southeast side of Chicago, from the Beverly Area to Oak Lawn for a short time and then to 82nd and Elizabeth.  

Ed went to Calumet High School and remembers being good at taking tests but was often told by teachers that he did not apply himself to work. Ed remembers being much more interested in sports, starting from a young age, both baseball and wrestling. He remembers playing little league and wrestling through the park district and then joining both teams in High School.  Ed remembers being small at the time, wrestling in the small weight class. For baseball, he started at 2nd base and ended up in left field. His fondest memory was getting to play at Wrigley Field while in High School with his grandfather watching.  

After graduating high school in 1962, Ed decided to enlist in the Navy. Ed remembers that school wasn’t a big deal, college wasn’t in the cards and he had gotten himself into some slight trouble. His dad was for him signing up, calling the Navy the ‘King Cruize’. His mom on the other hand was not happy with his choice.  Ed remembers Vietnam being there, but America was not heavily involved.  He does remember lots of guys were doing the same thing, in fact, more than a few of his friends were signing up. Ed remembers thinking that the military had really good schools and decided to take advantage.  

Ed reported to basic training on July 31, 1962, at Great Lakes.  He remembers boot camp putting in the ‘fear of God”. The slightest thing caused you to get into trouble, missing a whisker, out of step in a drill, closing your eyes while on duty caused you to be up at 4am in the drill room. Ed tried to avoid this at all costs, while it was difficult to do everything right. Ed does remember the second to last week, the men were asked to raise their hand if they ‘hadn’t pushed their piece’. Since Ed hadn’t done anything, he raised his hand.  This caused him to “go through it the next two days”. Ed said he was smart enough to stay out of trouble when he needed to.  

After boot camp, Ed stayed at Great Lakes where he completed Electrician Mate Class “A” School. Because he was so close to home, he brought some guys with him and his mom “accepted them”. In March of 1963, he then was sent to Mayport, Florida, where he was assigned to the USS Luce (a Guided Missile Destroyer).  EM duties included maintenance and repair of all shipboard electrical systems.  Here, Ed says he bulked up and gained some weight. He also remembers being at the bottom of the Earth when joining the ranks of a seaman recruit.  

This caused Ed to want to take tests to increase his rank as soon as possible.  He started as an E3 at age 18 and E4 was his first strip.  Because it seemed that there was a shortage of electricians, he was able to test to be an E5 by the age of 19.  Because of this, Ed was a supervisor to older guys.  He remembers he wouldn’t back down even though he was younger, but this did help him learn a lot about people.  

Ed remembers fondly his trips to Puerto Rico and Roosevelt Road. He stated that the Mediterranean was the highlight of being deployed.  He enjoyed Italy and France but Turkey wasn’t a highlight.  Ed also remembers that the guys on the ship created a soccer team to play local teams and them getting killed.

In 1964 the Luce joined the 6th Fleet and was called upon to stand guard outside the island of Cyprus for increasing tensions between the Turks and Greeks.  Because the ship was on standby to evacuate any Americans, the Luce sailors did not see land for 32 days.  While supply and oil ships brought needed supplies, the ship patrolled around the island 24/7.

In early 1965, Ed asked for early release to go to college. He was released in June and in July of that same year, the American government began extending service by six months.  

Once out, Ed went to live with his parents who had moved to Florida to go to school.  It didn’t work out, so Ed moved back to Chicago to live with his Grandma where he began to work for Illinois Bell.  While back, the girl he took to Senior Prom was ‘chasing him forever’ and they married in 1966.  Ed went back to school to Devry Tech for his Associates and then a Bachelors in Electronics Technology.  After having kids, Ed went back to night school to get a Masters in Business.

He worked through Illinois Bell and then was asked to move to New Jersey to work at Bell Labs where he and his family stayed for two and a half years.  He moved his family back and was promoted in 1985 to District/Regional jobs.  In 1998, he retired but was bored quickly.  He went back to work for Bell at the school teaching but that petered out.  At age 57, he was offered a job as a financial advisor where he worked until 2010 for Morgan Stanley.  

Now, Ed and his wife Gene spend their winters down in Fort Meyers, Florida.  They have three children, six grandchildren and have been married for 59 years this coming September.  Ed enjoys playing a lot of golf, at least three times a week, and when not playing, he enjoys practicing.  

Ed was honorably discharged from the military on June 14, 1965.  He received the Good Conduct Medal.  Ed is looking forward to his flight. While he has been to Washington D.C. before, he is excited to see it from a military viewpoint. 

Thank you for your service Ed. Enjoy your Honor Flight!