One of Shelley Morrison's earliest pictures shows a chubby-cheeked infant in overalls sitting on a sofa clutching her father’s white Navy hat with both hands as it sits precariously on her little head. Her father was a Navy lifer. It was the life she wanted for herself.
A Navy veteran, Ricardo would admit that he could host tours of several European capitals based on his vast experience during “Med cruises” on the carrier USS Intrepid (CVA-11).
Ronald Matonovich grew up in the Hessville neighborhood in Hammond, Indiana. Ron was the oldest of five children all living in a two bedroom, one bathroom house.
Both of Bob Falkman’s parents served in the US Army during World War II, his father as a lieutenant in the Supply Corps and his mother as a nurse. They met in Algiers and married shortly after returning home from overseas.
Upon graduating from high school, Don Ehrhart visited his local Navy recruiter and enlisted in July, 1968, deferring his reporting day to October. Don worked with his father who had a construction business and completed his testing and the required physical examination.
Ivan Lee White was born in 1943 while his dad served in the Army overseas. As he and his younger brother later learned, his dad fought in Europe with General George Patton’s Third Army.
Ronald “Ron” Wills was born and raised in Saybrook, a small town in Central Illinois where Ron’s father farmed while his mother raised Ron, his brother and three sisters, and helped run the machinery with the best of them.
Growing up as the youngest in his family, Donald “Don” Ramsbottom learned how to leverage speed and agility to excel. These traits proved invaluable during his service in the Vietnam War.
The eldest of eight children, Dan Rittenhouse learned early on how to adapt and serve – two themes that played major roles in his military career and throughout his life.
Bob Walker’s father was a career Navy man who served on a minesweeper clearing obstacles before D-Day and then spent the days after the invasion recovering bodies and parts of bodies from the water.
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba/Bermuda/ Pearl Harbor/San Diego/Norfolk/ Vietnam — Fortunately, Bill Holic, Jr., liked to travel and travel he did. Thirty years in the Navy certainly gives him the title of “lifer”.
Like most young men, high school graduation found Tom William Davidson vulnerable for the draft. He passed his induction physical and then enlisted in the Navy. "As a kid I always wanted to get in the Navy,” he said.
Bruce Hansen's military career began when he told his Dad, a Marine Raider during WWII, that he would follow in his footsteps and enlist in the Marines. It was 1968, and 18-year-old Bruce was working as a carpenter/laborer, trying to get ahead of the Vietnam draft.
Talking with WWII Veteran Raymond Gervais, he said “I always wanted to be doing something”, from his WWII and Korean days, to playing volleyball in his 60’s, or working with his canine search and rescue team. He has certainly kept himself active.
Ignacio ‘Nacho’ says he’s a Navy man that never set foot on a ship. Still, he’s proud of his naval service as a crew chief on a C-121 Constellation known as the Typhoon Tracker that traveled throughout the Pacific.
Roger Dexter was born in Melrose Park, Illinois in 1945, the fourth of five children. His father served in the Army in World War II but was never sent overseas, in part because of the large number of children he had.
Charles Ohrn was born in Chicago and grew up in the suburb of Park Ridge. He was the middle son of three boys and had one sister. His older brother served in the US Army in Germany and his younger brother in the US Navy, based in Iceland.
The Navy is a family affair for the Hoders. James Sr. and James Jr. have the distinction of being just the second father/son duo to fly as honored veterans together on an Honor Flight Chicago mission.
“I had the best time of my life. I would do it all over and I wouldn’t change nothin. I got to see the world and I’ve got brothers.” Those are the words of Scott Phillips 50 years after serving aboard the USS Ticonderoga in the early 1970s.
Kent's father was a professor in foreign languages and his mother a librarian. His older brother retired as a Colonel in the Air Force and one of his younger brothers also was an Officer in the US Air Force. Thus, military life was not foreign to Kent.