Not seeing a clear career path for himself at McDonnell Aircraft and with the Peacetime Draft a reality for young men of that generation hanging over him, Fred enlisted in Admiral Rickover’s nuclear navy. He signed up for the six-year commitment because of the extensive education nuclear propulsion he was promised. It being winter, he chose to take his basic training at SanDiego rather than at Great Lakes north of Chicago. He was sent to schools in different parts of the country but was eventually assigned to duty on a nuclear submarine. Underwater vehicles weren’t design for Fred. He was tall where the door openings in the sub’s bulkheads were short. To keep from bumping his head constantly, Fred hunched over, earning the nickname of Cougar. On one cruise he contracted scurvy because the supply officer in charge of ordering food grossly underestimated the crew’s.
I don’t know the details of the rest of Fred’s health problems that began while he was in the Navy. It’s my understanding that the seriousness of his afflictions were the result of the medical care he received from Navy doctors. His health was so seriously damaged that he was never completely healthy again.
Fred was shifted from submarines to surface ships before he had served long enough on submarines to qualify for wearing the twin dolphins insignia. The USS Truxtun was his last assignment. On a leave between cruises, he went home with a shipmate, where he met the shipmate’s sister Nancy. Shortly before his discharge, in May 1970, he married Nancy.
After his discharge, he brought his bride back to his hometown, Bethalto, Illinois. Soon, they had their son, Scott. All that McDonnell Aircraft offered Fred was janitorial work. He needed more than that and left for Nancy’s home state of Oregon.
Life in Oregon next time.
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