May 29, 2025 • 67 mins
The winding path from military service to civilian success often reveals surprising connections. In this captivating conversation, Navy veteran Andy Usborne shares how his service aboard the USS Mobile transformed both the ship and his future career prospects.
Growing up as one of six brothers in rural New York, Andy was surrounded by family on all sides - his grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived down the same road. This tight-knit Italian-American community shaped his early years before he and a childhood friend decided to enlist in the Navy together to "see the world" in 1976. Little did Andy know that his assignment to a troubled amphibious cargo ship would become a turning point in his life.
When Andy reported to the USS Mobile, its reputation was so poor that other ships would take bets on whether it could make it under the Coronado Bay Bridge under its own power. Within a year, Andy and his shipmates transformed it into the squadron flagship, earning every Battle "E" efficiency award possible. More importantly, the technical skills he gained working with automated propulsion systems would perfectly prepare him for his civilian career.
After discharge, Andy leveraged his Navy training to secure a position at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which led to a 35-year career with Honeywell in industrial automation. "The training I got in the Navy set me up perfectly for what I did at Honeywell," Andy explains. His willingness to make bold moves - relocating his family multiple times between California and New York before finally settling in Michigan - opened doors he never anticipated.
Today, Andy channels his energy into Veterans Connected, a nonprofit serving veterans who fall through the cracks of other support systems. Since 2019, they've provided nearly $750,000 in assistance, focused on preventing veteran suicide by removing key stressors. "We're the last stop," Andy says. "When all else fails, we'll take care of it."
If you've ever wondered how military experience translates to civilian success, or how one person can make a difference in the lives of fellow veterans, this episode offers powerful insights into both questions. Check out veteransconnected.org to learn more about Andy's current mission.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today is Wednesday, may 28th 2025.
We're here with Andy Usborne,who served in the United States
Navy.
Good morning, andy.
Hey how are you doing Great,Great to have you here today.
So first question, prettysimple when and where were you
born?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I was born in Oneida, new York, april 10th 1958.
All right, so did you grow upthere?
Yep, actually, I was born inOneida city hospital and, uh, uh
, my parents were living in, uh,cheryl, new York the smallest
city in the state incorporatedcity, I guess and uh, shortly
after I was born, we moved intoa house that my mom and dad, uh,
(00:38):
they, they built uh on on someland that my grandfather owned.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
You know, when people talk about New York, they don't
think about rural New York, andthat's what this is right?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No yeah, very rural, surrounded by dairy farms.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, Now do you have brothers and sisters?
I have five brothers, nosisters.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Oh, good Lord, your parents were busy.
Yes, they were.
I was just talking to someoneabout this last night and in
some of our family reunions andin some of our family reunions
just our immediate family westart talking and reminiscing
about things that went on whenwe grew up and sometimes my mom
(01:16):
has to leave the table becauseshe doesn't want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We joke about that at the holidays, right, we tell
the stories that mom never heard.
Yeah, right, she doesn't wantto hear them either.
So where'd you fall in the foodchain on all that?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So I was number five of six.
So I had all my older brothersto teach me what I wasn't going
to do.
Not that I did things, you know, I did other stuff but I always
told myself I'm not going to doit that way.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, you watch the result and decide that's not
what you're going to do.
Yeah right, I'll do itdifferently.
Yeah well, did you did?
So I gotta ask did you likelive up to the baby of the
family, kind of thing?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
for a while, until my younger brother was born.
Yeah, yeah, he was born in 64.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I think it was 63 okay, yeah, all right, and I
just kind of blew it all out ofthe water for you, right?
Yeah, well, good.
So what was it?
So tell me little bit, what wasit like growing up with all
those brothers?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, I'll tell you what I have to feel that my
upbringing was a uniquesituation because we lived on
land that my grandfather owned,who lived like two houses down.
My next-door neighbors were myaunt and uncle and cousins, and
a few houses down was my otheraunt and uncle and cousins and
(02:31):
uh down further on some of thefarms.
They were, uh, relatives bymarriage, you know, kind of
removed, so it was like almostall family.
Um, at one point, uh, we allwent to the same high school.
At one point, I think we allplayed football and like half
(02:52):
the team was related.
You know, it wasn't that smallof a town or anything, but still
it was just the way it workedout, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Sounds like your family was a force to be
reckoned with.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Everybody knew us, you know,just like your family was a
force to be reckoned with.
Oh yeah, it was.
It was a lot of fun.
Uh, everybody knew us, you know, just because of that.
My grandfather, uh was my mom'sdad, uh came over from italy in
uh, 1910, I think it was 1909.
Uh, he was a farmer, so he grewa lot of crops and everything,
(03:24):
and strawberries was his thing,so he had a huge strawberry farm
.
One of my earliestrecollections is picking
strawberries during the summer,all summer long, for, you know,
selling them in the market andstuff like that you can get hot
there too, can't you?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Oh yes, very hot, I'll bet.
I'll bet.
Well, you know, it sounds likefamily was very important to you
.
Can you tell me a little aboutyour parents and what they did
and how that was?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, so you know, like I said, my mom grew up two
doors down, you know.
So, italian family.
My grandfather, like I said,came over in 1909, worked for a
while, then went back to Italyin 1909.
Uh, worked for a while, thenwent back to italy and, as the
story goes, how my mom tells it,he went to his little town in
italy and said hey, I'm goingback to america.
Who wants to go?
(04:11):
I don't have any pick, anybodypicked out.
My grandmother said I'll go.
And that's the way it workedout.
A great marriage proposal ohyeah yes, she always uh, said
later on that she wishes therewas a bridge from you know uh,
america to italy, but uh, yeah.
So, um, I was fortunate to atone point go back to ellis
(04:35):
island and go to ellis island,uh, get all the records from my
grandfather coming over.
So I have the uh picture of theship they came over on and, uh,
you know, the um manifest withhis name on it and all that
stuff.
So it's pretty interesting.
But, yeah, so growing up withmy family all around us was, uh,
(04:55):
it was unique, I think, um, andmost of us were all boys.
You know, I think I have one,yeah, my cousin Denise, poor
Denise.
Oh, yeah, I know.
No one to play with Well it wasinteresting because, going
through high school andeverything, she knew how to
handle guys.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, she probably knows what makes them tick.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, speaking of school, talk to me a little bit
about what was it like going toschool for you.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah.
So I mean I went to Vernon,verona, Sherrill Central High
School and, as the name says,it's made up of three different
communities.
Vernon was a horse racingcommunity there's a harness
racing there, so a lot of horsepeople.
Verona was predominantly dairyfarmers, so a lot of dairy folks
.
And then Sherrill was the city.
(05:46):
Sherrill is noted for makingOneida community silverware.
So if you get any flatware andall that stuff, it was one of
the major producers of flatwareand silverware in the United
States at the time and both myparents worked there.
(06:08):
A lot of my brothers workedthere.
I never had the pleasure.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Well, it's funny you say that because you said Oneida
and I'm like why is this in theback of my head?
I remember on the old Price isRight show.
That would be one of the gifts.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And they would talk all about it.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
I never realized.
That's where it came from yeah,that's it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So, yeah, so high school was a amalgamation of a
lot of different folks fromdifferent backgrounds and you
know experiences.
It was a great school and wehad some great teachers, um, and
you know, I mean everybodyplayed sports and did whatever,
and so it was a lot of fun.
You know I played football, uh,wrestled a little bit, did the
(06:47):
track a little bit, and yeah,yeah, what about, what about?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
like actual school?
Uh, how was that for you?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
uh, you know, uh, I think my graduating class was
265 and honestly I think I waslike 110.
I was your average student, asaverage as you can be top of the
bell curve.
You know, right, smack in themiddle.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Wow, so you, uh, you go to high school, you graduate.
Um, what happens next?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Um, so, a friend of mine, uh, dan Althaus.
I've known him sincekindergarten.
Uh, there are three or fourfolks that I've kept in touch
with, literally known sincekindergarten, and we've kind of
followed each other throughoutour our lives and everything.
Um, but yeah, uh, you know, itwas.
(07:36):
It was.
It was an interesting time, youknow.
Um I uh.
It was right after Vietnam.
So my friend Dan and I saidwell, you know, he didn't want
to go to school, I didn't wantto go to school, we kind of want
to see the world.
So we decided let's join theNavy.
So in November of 75, we bothenlisted together.
(08:01):
On the delayed enlistment, wentin, literally reported to boot
camp two days after I graduated.
And that was 76 I think that's.
My only regret in life is likeI should have stayed around for
the bicentennial, because Ispent that in boot camp oh god,
yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It was 11 years old during the bicentennial.
I missed the big party.
Yeah, you did well, you're inanother party of sorts.
Yeah, I guess yeah, and so didyou go in.
Did you go in on the buddyprogram?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
then, yeah, we did yeah, we went through boot camp
together and, uh, he decided hewanted to sail in those little
black tubes.
So he went subs and I said, no,I gotta get up and see the sky.
It takes a special person to behonest oh yes, and he was a
special.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
He is a special person that's amazing, though,
having a friendship that'slasted that long.
I have friendships from highschool and maybe junior high,
but I don't really know anybodyfrom my grade school, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
There's several of us that graduated all together and
went through all of school andlife.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, I want to ask you a question too.
My dad worked in the automotiveindustry here in Michigan and,
um, one of one of the thingsthat drove me to join the
military when I did was that,you know, his job put a roof
over head, fed us all that stuffbut I saw what it, how it
impacted him, and so I toldmyself I'm never going to do
(09:20):
that kind of work, is that?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
was that part of of of you?
Yeah, I think so because, uh,like I said, many people in my
family and extended family umworked at when I limited great
company really treated itsemployees well, um, but it's
like that's the only game intown really, you know, and um, I
really, really had that itch toget out there and I did not
(09:49):
want to spend another two orfour years in school waiting for
that to happen.
I had to get out and get outyou know get on with it and the
navy was my choice.
Um, they had uh a rating thatreally suited me well.
Interior communications it wasa lot of uh anything that's
communications on board the ship, not external.
(10:10):
So closed circuit tv was mything.
I said, hey, let's do that, youknow, and so that's what I got
into yeah, and at some pointthat turned.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I don't know how they did it, like in the 70s,
because I don't think videotapewas much of a thing, but like I
remember they had the closedcircuit television, they would
pop in you know vhs tapes thatgot flown out to the ship and
that's what we would watch right, right.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
So, um, yeah, I went through that training.
Uh-huh, uh, that was my cschool, for my first year was
all training, right, go to the aschool and then c school and
then C school and, for the needsof the Navy, they sent me to a
ship that didn't even have it.
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
That's awesome.
I don't want to get too farahead of ourselves.
I want to back up just a littlebit.
And that is what was like yourfirst impression.
First of all, where did you goto basic training?
Great Lakes oh, awesome.
First of all, where did you goto basic training Great Lakes oh
, awesome.
All right, so tell me, likewhen you got off the train or
got off the bus, what was yourfirst impression of being there?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
so one of my older brothers, jim he was in the Navy
went to Great Lakes.
So he kind of laid it all outfor me.
I kind of knew what I wasgetting into was not a surprise.
My dad was really deep into theAmerican Legion and they had
started a sons of the AmericanLegion uh outfit, their unit,
and I was the first commander.
(11:31):
So at the tender age of 17, Iwas leading a group of people
already you know, and so itwasn't, it wasn't really
surprising for me.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Oh, so this was just something you needed to go
through, though, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, absolutely.
It was the yeah, exactly,exactly.
Put it correctly.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
It's just that's what you got to do, so and and also
I want to back up too, becauseyou said you guys joined the
navy and saw the world, and thatwas actually like their
recruiting poster right, jointhe navy, see the world.
Absolutely, and it's not a lie.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
You really do.
I did, I was very fortunate.
Yeah, I look back on it and Ithink had I gone to and followed
through with the closed circuitTV program, I would have ended
up on the aircraft carrier.
That's where we go.
You know, I look back on it.
I count my blessings, becauseit really was.
(12:20):
I got into the amphibious Navy.
I got on an LKA, which isessentially just a big, huge
cargo ship.
We carried the Marines and alltheir stuff and took them
wherever they needed to go.
But because it was big, I gotto take my little 10 speed bike
with me wherever we went as well.
So port calls and everything,and knock back a few beers the
(12:40):
first day and if I could get offon land a second day, then I'd
take my bike and go cycling andI saw a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Many people didn't yeah, a lot of great people do
different perspective from theseat of a bike right oh yeah,
absolutely yeah.
What was it like getting tothat ship for the first time uh,
a lot bigger than I thought itwas.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
you know, I had my older brother, jim uh, was on an
old DD from the Korean War eraand they said, yeah, stand by
for heavy rolls.
And my dad was on an LST, soanother kind of small ship, flat
bottom and everything.
So, yeah, coming to Mobile, Iwas surprised how big it was.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Now did you do your A school and your C school at
Great Lakes?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
No, c school was in San Diegogo, so I went great
lakes boot camp out to san diego, back to great lakes for uh c
school and then back to sandiego for the ship okay, yeah,
and then how long were you on onthis particular ship?
So uh, probably about fouryears, I, I think Okay, from uh
June 77 till uh November 81.
(13:48):
All right, and what ship was itUh Mobile LKA one one five Okay
.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
After Mobile, alabama Yep, yeah, all right.
Well, let's talk about yourtime on that ship, um, and, and
I think it's interesting thatyou took your bike and you you
did something that a lot ofpeople didn't do, and so let's
talk about that.
It sounds really interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Well, like I said, first, reporting to the ship
Mobile has a unique history.
The keel was laid down in 68,right out of the Vietnam War,
right, the Vietnam War right.
(14:31):
So one of the main operationsit was tasked with was the
evacuation of Vietnam.
That's before I got to the ship.
It was Operation Frequent Wind,but a lot of the folks that
were on the ship when I firstreported were part of that
operation and so they talked alot about that.
It was a different crew for sure, um, but it was awful also a
different time.
So after the war ended thingsgot kind of lackadaisical on the
(14:52):
ship and I guess in the navyand in general, um, mobile uh
was a difficult ship at thattime because they, like I said,
the crew was just done with it.
You know, other ships on thepier used to take bets to see if
(15:14):
Mobile would make it under theCoronado Bay Bridge under its
own power, because apparentlythere was a lot of times it
didn't.
They'd have to tow it back,yeah.
So it's like, oh man, what am Igetting?
into, because apparently therewas a lot of times it didn't,
they'd have to tow it back, yeah.
So it's like, oh man, what am Igetting into?
But at that time I reported inwith a bunch of other folks that
you know, this is our ship, youknow we're going to take care
(15:35):
of it.
So, within the span of a yearreally, we turned that ship
around.
Myself and a whole bunch ofother great folks had a can-do
attitude and we, we took care ofit and uh, that ship uh became
the, uh the flagship for thesquadron.
Um, you know, during ourrefresher training and you know
(15:59):
all the training we have to gothrough in order to deploy um,
we uh got every single battle eyou can get.
You know all the engineering,gunnery, seamanship, uh,
communications, the whole nineyards.
So we did a clean sweep and itwas uh really turned that ship
around so did you see theculture of the ship change like
(16:22):
like?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I always think of the detroit lions when I think
about this right yeah once yougot the stink of loss off of you
, like, there's this wholedifferent level that happens and
it changes everybody.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
That's part of that organization right, right,
absolutely, absolutely, fromevery man down.
It was like you take pride inyourself, you take pride in your
ship, you take pride in thenavy.
You know that's exactly the wayit was and, uh, really, people
really excelled.
And I mean, when you have thate on your stack and you know all
the rest of that stuff, it'slike, yeah, that's mobile it
(16:55):
means something it really does.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yeah, I agree.
I agree I was on a destroyer,uh, coons class destroyer.
But yes, we earned the battle eand it was a.
I didn't understand what thebig deal was, but as I developed
in my time in the militarythat's, I completely understood
how important that was and youcould see a change in the group.
Yeah, when they startedachieving things right yeah, so
(17:17):
where did you go on your on yourfirst deployment then.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
So the first deployment, of course we hit
hawaii, and that's where we pickup our marines at.
And then, uh, okinawa, um, Ithink, japan.
After that down to Korea, downto Singapore, I think on the way
to Singapore.
Just after that, we crossed theequator.
(17:41):
So it started out as apolywagon, became a shell back
then in 78.
And then floating around in themiddle, out there South China
Sea, and all that.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
So did you get to paddle around a lot of the
places that you went to at thattime.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, yeah, interesting note.
I think the first time inSingapore I got on the bike and
went out of the city proper andI was just going down some it
was a fairly major road for forthat time I guess and um, there
weren't any, a lot you know,cities or anything, a lot of
(18:19):
little villages and stuff.
So I pulled off at a roadside,uh stand, I guess it would be
trying to get something to drinkand eat.
And uh, people came up.
Everybody speaks english, soyou know you're by yourself.
I said, yeah Well, you knowthere's still tigers out here,
what?
Speaker 1 (18:38):
do you mean?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, like you know, I don't know Bengal tigers or
something, you know Malaysia.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Well, I haven't seen any and hopefully I can ride
faster than they can run.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
You don't want to be a snack for them.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah right, and they can run.
You don't want to be a snackfor them?
Yeah right.
So I don't know if they'resaying that to uh scare me away
or whatever, but oh yeah, yeah,so was that just that?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
was that a six month deployment, though?
Yeah?
Okay yeah, and then you, uh,you come back.
Now.
You were in san diego, okay, soyou come back.
Interesting thing about sandiego too Um, I took my daughter
to California for her seniortrip and I wanted to show her
where I went to basic training.
Only, it's not there anymore.
Yeah, it's a big subdivision ina shopping mall.
(19:21):
Yeah, right, so all thatstuff's gone, yep.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So was that the only ship that you were on, or were
you?
Did you, uh, were you on otherships?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
So on other ships.
So during my active enlistmentyeah, that was the only ship I
was on um, I got out and kind ofmissed it after a while.
So I took a year and, uh, wentin the reserves and I was on the
george phillip fg 13 okay, andwhere?
Was that out of?
That was out of long beach ohokay, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So when you got out after your first enlistment,
then did you stay.
You stay in California.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I did.
I just told this story.
The other day the Mobile had areunion.
I couldn't make it, but we weretalking about that online and
literally probably about sixmonths before my enlistment
(20:10):
ended, the ship was reserved atthat time and in Long Beach,
part of the reserve componentthat was attached to Mobile some
of the guys worked at theshipyard right there Long Beach
Naval Shipyard and I got totalking to some of these guys.
(20:33):
You should go over and applyfor a job.
You know they're looking forpeople.
So about six months before Iwas discharged, I literally
walked over the employmentoffice, fill out the application
and send it in and got a replyback yeah, they want to talk to
you.
Okay, go over there andinterview with the folks.
Yeah, well, when's your lastday?
(20:53):
I told them I was, you know, Ithink it was like november 23rd.
I'll take a week off and youcan report in.
So I did.
I literally took all my stuff,got an apartment in town and, uh
, started working the navalshipyard as a electronics
measurement equipment mechanic.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Uh-huh well and I'm sure that the training got is
interior communications.
Everything I was doing while Iserved I did at the shipyard
right, and so I talked to a lotof people who get out and then
go to work in a similar job, um,and there's a big difference in
pay oh yeah and uh, yeah, so Ithink that it was fun.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, yeah, I'll bet.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I'll bet so you.
You did that for a year but youmissed.
You kind of missed that.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I did?
Um, yeah, it was uh.
I mean, I was fortunate in thatI've sailed on a lot of
different ships doing sea trialsand everything.
Every every time I worked on aship I wanted to go on the sea
trial on it, so you know.
But it was like, yeah, I mustput her on that uniform.
So I did that for a year andthat was enough, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Well I think some people don't know this that when
a ship gets either refitted oris a new ship, there's a ton of
civilians that go out for quitea while with that ship.
In fact, I remember we had acivilian that went on our
six-month deployment with us,because they do take a lot of
ownership in what they do, andit sounds like that's what you
(22:20):
did as well.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
And you worked on everything from what frigates
all the way up.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Oh yeah, the biggest ship was probably LHA, the Polo
Lou Tarawa, millwood.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Wow, all familiar names.
Actually.
That's funny, yeah, so what wasit like, going back in kind of
in the reserve capacity?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
um, it was different again, uh, the.
During the time I was in we hadthose funky uh uniforms that uh
were more like a chief'suniform, you know, with the
combination cap and all thatstuff.
And I said, man, this is justnot the navy I was thinking of.
You know, I want, I want those.
You know, the uh crackerjackuniform, you know, yeah.
(23:03):
So I think that's why I wentback in with the reserves.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
I wanted that uniform honestly I still have mine
somewhere around here.
Yeah, it doesn't fit anymorelikewise yeah, yeah, it's too
bad, so yeah.
So you, uh, you ended up on a.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
You said a frigate yeah, fast, yeah, yeah, uh.
So the work I was doing in theshipyard had to do with a lot of
um propulsion controls.
That's what I did at the mobile, you know, as I said, you know
the ship didn't haveclose-fitting TV, but it did
have automated propulsion system.
So that's interesting, youcould be up on the bridge, dial
(23:42):
in I want to go I don't know 15knots, let's say dial that in
and the propulsion plant wouldautomatically come up to speed.
Supposedly that system neverworked, okay, but a lot of the
ancillary controls that wouldhelp at work did, and so that's
what I took care of.
We had one main propulsionspace with boiler and all the
(24:07):
turbo generators, reduction gearand all that.
So instead of having a boilerroom, engine room, it was all
one space.
So I worked on all that stuffwith BTs and MMs and engine men
and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
So yeah, Well, and I think when people hear
communications in a job, theydon't realize it's
communications between systemstoo, not just the 1MC or the
telephone system.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Right, absolutely.
I didn't hardly ever touchthose systems the gyro I still
gyro watch.
But after I got certified withthat because I worked with the
diesel engines as well, thediesel generators and all that
equipment.
So I got generator certified aswell on the diesel.
So it's like you know, I didmore of that stuff than I did
(24:48):
actual, you know, typical.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
IC work Right, right, well, and so at the time you
were in was like the surfacewarfare um yeah, they just
started that before I got out,so I was gonna qualify for that.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
But uh, I I took the ic1 test, e6 test, passed it.
They delayed the promotions sixmonths, I think it was, and I
got the offer from the shipyardand it's like I'm walking.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I don't blame you.
So how long do you serve in thereserves?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
a year okay yeah, all right I didn't realize they had
.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Like you could just do it for a year and, if you
liked it, yes well, yeah, theykind of frowned upon it.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
but well, yeah, what are?
Yeah, that that ship was justturned over to the reserves at
that time, in fact, I well,that's one of our.
The first things I did was theuh, actual transfer ceremony and
all that.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Okay, so yeah, and so you so did, you, you stayed how
long did you stay at theshipyard?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
uh, when reagan brought back those battleships,
I uh worked on missouri and newjersey, both of those.
I went on all the sea trials onboth of those ships and you
have not lived until you did afull broadside with those
16-inch guns.
It is phenomenal, but that wasduring Reagan's time and Clinton
followed and he said Nah, wedon't really need that.
(26:23):
So they closed the base and theshipyard down.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Yeah, there was quite a reduction in force at that
time.
In fact, when I got out of theNavy I actually got out early
because of the reduction inforce in the 90s.
So the shipyard what happensafter the shipyard closes?
Where do you go from there?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
So I actually my wife and I decided me being from
central New York and we havekids now and living in in long
beach la not the choice place toraise kids.
So, uh, we moved back to whereI grew up all right.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Before we got there, you got married somewhere along
the way yeah, I got.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I met this woman right before I got out of the
service and that's aninteresting story, because I
never intended to get married.
I was riding my bike.
My intention was to ride crosscountry I had the on my bike.
I was going to file follow thebicentennial trail, which is a
well planned out route.
A lot of people do it.
(27:26):
I had hooked up with some othercycling friends that, yeah,
let's, let's do it.
We got all the gear togetherand everything else.
I'm about to go on this trekand my mom and dad said look,
you got a government job.
You better keep that job,because there's nothing here.
United Limited was on its wayout.
(27:46):
There was an Air Force baseGriffiths Air Force Base in Rome
, new York, that was closing.
There's nothing for you here.
What are you going to do?
I said well, I guess I'll keepthe government job.
So just before I got out, I metmy wife and she was just getting
out of a divorce.
She did not want to get tieddown again.
(28:09):
She had a couple of kids andyeah, we were both both.
It was very funny because wehad met at a barbecue and we you
know small talk and everything.
Um, quite honestly, uh, therewas no physical attraction there
, you know no spark huh, shejust got through having a baby,
and you know how that goes.
(28:29):
You know women, you know it'slike they're not in their prime,
you know, um, but she, herpersonality intrigued me.
She was really a nice person,you know.
So we met at another barbecueand um got to know each other.
And then, uh, my buddy and I,doug Doug was a BT and we were
getting out at the same time andso we said let's throw a party
(28:52):
up in the hills above la um.
So that turned into a divisionparty, and so the ship kind of
kicked in um, you know ham andbread and kind of that kind of
stuff, and we just provided tonsof alcohol, you know.
And so we went up in the hills,not so we wouldn't get in any
trouble.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
And uh just tore loose and uh, my wife and I got
to know each other over, uh, uh,a bonfire, you know the talking
and everything.
And um, I told her, well, youknow, where do you live, you
know.
And uh, she told me I said,well, stop by.
So it was like a couple of dayslater stopped by to her
(29:33):
apartment and uh, got to knoweach other after a while and,
you know, decided, yeah, that'swhat we ought to do.
We lived together for a yearand got married after that.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Oh, wow, all right, well, and you know it's funny
that.
So how long have you beenmarried?
Now 43 years, okay.
So I I don't know if you'venoticed this like sometimes,
like especially in the military,like when you meet somebody, um
, in the military, immediatelyyou'll like strike up this
friendship.
It usually doesn't last thatlong.
Like you get to know them andlike, oh boy, um, but then
(30:06):
there's always that person likeyou just can't stand each other
or whatever, and then all of asudden you know you guys are
best friends and you're friendsforever, and I think sometimes
that's the same in arelationship.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, it's interesting because, uh, I was
married before.
Obviously, she was marriedbefore Um, and the woman I first
married, um, I knew from highschool.
We went to actually, uh, rivalschools but, um, yeah, so I knew
her for like a year and a half,two years, and we decided to
get married.
Uh, when I came out to sandiego she would have none of it.
(30:38):
That marriage lasted 58 days.
Oh, my gosh, got it annulledand it's like, yeah, I think
we're better friends.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Starter marriage yeah , really wow.
58 days, this gotta be somekind of record.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I don't know about that, but still it was like,
yeah, we both realized this isnot the right thing.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
So your wife had two children before you got married,
and then did you have children.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
We had one between us .
Yeah, okay all right.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
So then nuclear family what was?
Speaker 2 (31:06):
it yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Three and a half kids or something like that.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, so you were married justas you were getting out, uh I
met her just before I got out,just before you got out.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I got married a year after okay, all right, so you're
working at the shipyard at thistime and in the reserves, that
kind of thing, okay.
And then, uh, so the so theshipyard closes and uh, so, so,
yeah, so what happens now?
So we've got kind of the backstory of how you got married.
She kind of just threw that inthere, I'm like wait a minute.
(31:42):
So yeah, so you're married.
Your placement and employment'sclosing.
And now what?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, so you know, the Department of Defense had an
outplacement service and allthat kind of stuff.
Like, oh, you could go work forthe fea.
They gave me a position, orthey offered a position with the
fea out in oklahoma city and Isaid no, I'm not going to take
that one.
Uh, there was one out at um.
(32:11):
Uh, edwards and hindsight Iprobably should have taken that
one, cause I probably could havemade the rest of my government
career there at Edwards airforce base.
That was.
They were just starting theshuttle uh program, so the
(32:33):
shuttle was landing there,nasa's big out there and we uh,
you know we were doing a lot ofwork for Ness anyways with
instrumentation.
But I said no, I'm dealing withthe government as well.
So picked up roots, literallywent to New York without a job
and hooked up with Honeywell.
I spent 37, 35 years withHoneywell.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Wow, Wow.
And so what did you do atHoneywell?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
years with Honeywell, wow, wow.
And so what did you do atHoneywell?
You know what I learned in theNavy set me up perfectly for
what I did in Honeywell.
I learned industrial automation.
I worked in industrialautomation for 35 years.
If you think of that, show howit's Made.
I've been into so manyfacilities watching all that
stuff made.
(33:21):
I know how it's made.
Now I didn't work on all thatstuff, I just worked on like
automation type things and I myhat's off to industrial
engineers.
Those guys are like brilliant,they can take here's where we're
going to take the raw materialand this is what's going to end
up and everything in between.
Those guys figure it out, youknow.
So I only had a small piece ofthat, but if it was temperature,
(33:43):
pressure and vacuum control,that's what I did well now, did
you?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
did you ever go back?
Did you ever go?
Not back, but did you ever goto college then and get your
degree?
Speaker 2 (33:52):
you know I did.
I went and got a, an as inelectronics technology at long
beach city college, go vikings,and then you know life, life got
in the way, and that's when ASin electronics technology at
Long Beach City College, goVikings, and then you know, life
got in the way and that's whenwe moved to New York.
And so, yeah, I went back toschool after we moved from New
York back to LA again afterseven years there and I finished
(34:14):
off my degree.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
So something that someone listening to this might
take from this part of theconversation is that the
training you got in the militaryreally did, like you said, set
you up for success.
The degree part was just kindof like I should probably do
this?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah, absolutely, you knew what you were doing.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
You had the ability One, you had the skill set just
because of who you are, but alsothe.
The navy really gave you thattraining absolutely I.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I count myself so fortunate, like I said, even
from the very beginning, whenthey said, yeah, you're going to
a ship that doesn't have thesystem right, you know, my life
is done great, but but it, youknow, and it's just like we
talked about earlier.
You know, you take that as thatsupposed to hit and it's like
(35:03):
you turn that into somethingjust like that, the mobile in
itself.
We turned it into something youknow.
And learning automatedpropulsion.
I knew the basics of industrialautomation before I got with
Honeywell.
It was just like, yeah, justcontinuing on in the private
sector, um, so they didn't haveto teach me much, you know, I
(35:26):
had to learn their way of doingthings and their equipment.
But, yeah, I started out onsingle loop controllers
controlling a big furnace andthen went on to, at the end of
my career, uh, as a techniciananyways, uh, working in
refineries and the only thing myum degree got me was into
(35:48):
management, which is what Iwanted to do anyways.
Really, I mean, I carriedaround a tool bag all my working
life and as you get older, it'slike, yeah, kind of done with
that too.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
So time to train the younger generation.
Yeah exactly so so honeywellmoved you from new york back to
long beach they didn't, I left.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Oh okay, I uh, I tried to, uh, tried to transfer
out there.
They said they didn't have anyposition.
This story is another story initself.
I count myself so blessed and Isee God working through all of
this, you know, because I triedto get a transfer and they said,
no, we don't have anythinggoing on.
So, you know, check later.
(36:27):
And it got to the point I was aproject manager at that time
and I was handling threeprojects.
I was living in Southern NewYork and Binghamton and I was
handling a project in Syracuseand Albany and Orangeburg, New
York, which is just north of NewYork City.
So I was making this bigtriangular loop and it was like
(36:49):
I'm getting burned out.
You know I can't do all thisand I'd had enough.
My wife wanted to go back to LAor Long Beach.
You know, the kids were olderand you know New York's fun.
But there's really nothing to do, yeah, and I said, okay, we're
going.
So fortunate I'd saved upenough to go three months
without a job if I had to, but Ididn't want to.
(37:10):
Picked up everything, sold abunch of stuff and threw it into
the biggest u-haul you can towbehind an aerostar van and we
headed back west, wow.
So I still kept in touch,trying to, you know, get a job
together.
Before I got there and umchecked with the Honeywell
office in LA and they said, well, we may have something for you,
(37:33):
so keep in touch.
So in Oklahoma city they said,yeah, yeah, a guy just put in
his retirement paperwork, we mayhave something going on for you
.
So I think it was eitherTucumcari or Las Cruces, I can't
remember where we iced the dealand said, yep, we're good,
here's your compensation andyou'll start on this date and
(37:55):
we're going to count your monthoff as just time without pay.
You start up right where youstart left.
You get a $10,000 pay increasebecause you're going from a
small town in New York to LA, soprice differential there.
So my pay took a jump.
And that's where I got intorefining and refineries and all
(38:19):
that kind of stuff Real bigprocess control.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah, yeah it's.
I'm just kind of running thisthrough my head, cause you know
I had a family too.
I in in the thought of likepacking up and going out and
hoping something happens, and init I mean it was scary.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Yeah, I'm not going to lie, it was scary.
I had a knot in my stomachright from cross country.
It really was, but God worksthings out, you know, just like
he did when I was in the Navy.
You know, it was like that setthe course for what my life was
going to be like and met a greatwoman who's supported me the
whole time, and great kids.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Um, so yeah, Was she nervous too?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Oh, absolutely Absolutely.
She was nervous, but she wasalways.
She has been my biggestsupporter.
Yeah, you know she said you'llfind something.
You know we'll, we'll, we'll dofine.
And you know, I mean we'd staywith friends like the first
month or so we were there.
We have some great friends outthere from before we left the
first time.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Um, so yeah, they put us up and to be at our own
place, and all that.
So we don't do it by ourselves,right, right, right, well, and
you know, there's like thatthread that runs through a lot
of what we talked about too, andand it's like everything that
you do just brings you to thepoint where you're at today,
right, like if, if you changedany one part of that story, it
would be a different ending.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Oh yeah, absolutely yeah, I believe that and believe
me I've.
My wife and I was sat back andtalked about things that, oh,
what if this didn't happen?
And you know, you know all thealternate routes you could have
gone and it's like I'm reallythankful it went the way it did
in the long run yeah, we don'tget the benefit of knowing what
would have happened, right,right, we only get the benefit
of seeing the outcome of whatwe've done.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah, yeah and uh.
It's a collective we, it is notjust what you or I have done.
So how long were you out incalifornia then?
Speaker 2 (40:06):
uh, total of 27 years .
I think it was okay all rightand uh.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
So you, uh, you know.
Is there anything you want toshare about your time out there?
Um, you know any, any storiesfrom your 27 years in California
?
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Well, it was a fun time out there too, a lot of
work.
I worked with a ton of greatpeople.
People in refineries are adifferent breed, I think,
because it's almost like theNavy.
You work in a refinery andyou're working for, let's say,
(40:41):
shell and, for whatever reason,you're not progressing along the
way you want to.
You go work for Chevron.
So I go to these differentrefineries and run across people
that, hey, I remember you.
Yeah, I used to work for Shell.
Yeah, okay, and it's like we'reall together in this thing,
right, and yeah, I still haveacquaintances that literally
(41:01):
I've met out in the middle of anoil field out in north dakota.
You know, it's just crazy yeahso it's a small group.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Now did you um?
Did you continue bike riding?
Oh yeah, all of this.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Oh yeah, I still do okay as much as I want to, but
I'm retired now so I gottachange that.
I'm still trying to shift myfocus, that I can do this
whenever I want to.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
It's hard.
I've been retired for two yearsand I'm still trying to figure
that out.
I wake up every morning stillfeeling like there's something
I've got to do.
Yeah right, it's usually prettyearly too.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Yeah, well, I'm working through that.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Let me know, let me know how that works out for you.
So you, you're out there for 27years and then you retire.
And then what happened?
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Well, um, so, uh, you know, went to school and
everything, got my degree, gotinto management and started, uh,
you know, managing the people Iactually worked with, you know,
my peers and, uh, that job kindof dried up too.
We wanted to honeywell, wantedto combine the north and south
branches together I had all ofsouthern california and arizona,
(42:13):
new mexico out that way and sothey wanted to merge the uh
offices and they said, well,here's the deal, you're not
going to be the manager of thatarea.
But we got a different positionthat they just created.
So at the time I was handlingall the contracts and renewals.
I was handling the personneland their training and just
(42:38):
doing everything.
So they said you know, that'sprobably not efficient and we're
not growing as well as weshould.
So we take the contractsportion of it and make a new
position as a contract manager.
So that's what I did.
I went from a field servicemanager to a contract manager,
so now my focus is justcontracts.
But I had Northern SouthernCalifornia and my territories
(42:59):
was from North Dakota servicemanager to a contract manager.
So now my focus is justcontracts.
But I had northern southerncalifornia and my territories
was from north dakota down tosouthern california and
everything in between.
So I had a huge territory anddid a lot of travel and all that
.
Um, at the time, we werelooking at, uh, you know,
thinking about I'm going toretire.
(43:19):
I believe this is uh, yeah,2015 or so and I think I want to
retire after 35 years and I'llbe 65 and ready to go.
So I did not want to retire insouthern california, so we were
looking east maybe arizona,someplace, you know, whatever.
(43:41):
In the meantime, my son, myyoungest- uh he had moved to
michigan and got the job there.
We had visited a couple timesand um had some extended stays.
Got to know some friendsoutside of his group that well
we got some friends in michigan,you know, and people really
nice not a bad place.
(44:03):
I grew up in new york, so that'sonly a really a day's drive to
go to new york to see my family.
So we figured, well, what theheck you know, let's move to
michigan.
So we did 2017 and um, I wasstill working at the time uh, my
boss said I don't care whereyou live as long you can handle
the territory.
So that's what I did.
I still had the same territory.
(44:24):
Honeywell shifted gears andthey decided to move me to a
territory more centric to whereI lived.
So I then took everything fromMichigan down to Kentucky and
everything in between.
So that's what I was doingmanaging contracts and
everything in between.
So that's what I was doingmanaging contracts and
(44:44):
everything in that area andthat's when I retired January of
this year.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
So Michigan was sort of a what the heck, let's try it
out.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Yeah, you know it's kind of a theme in my life, you
know.
It's like I'm kind of tired ofwhat I'm doing.
What the heck let's do this.
It's a major thing.
Now is your wife?
Is she a california girl?
She is, oh, it's a big change.
Yeah, but our seven years innew york kind of primed her for
the winners.
And, honestly, in brighton wedon't get it near what we got in
(45:13):
, uh, cheryl, new york.
So we used to get dumped onhorrendously and for some reason
we get the cold, but we justdon't get that much snow.
So it's livable.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Yeah, definitely doable.
I mean, I'm sure you still havefriends out in California in
that area too.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
She's got family, but her family wasn't as tight as
mine, you know.
I mean, like I said, we allgrew up on the same road, so
Right, you know.
So her family's a little bitmore extended.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
But yeah, we go back and visit and all that and
reminds us both why we moved toMichigan.
So the other thing I want toask you, too, is that um, so
you're Italian.
Is your wife Italian?
Speaker 2 (45:50):
She's not.
She's Portuguese Portugueseyeah.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Portuguese.
Okay, all right, I'm justcurious.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Her family, we did the whole uh, ancestry, yeah,
and her family's from the azores.
I mean, that's pretty specific,you know.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
So okay, that is really specific.
Usually it's like oh, there'ssprinkling here and there was it
a, was it?
So?
How was her family backgroundas compared to yours?
I'm asking this for a reason Igrew up in a uh, you know, a
white middle-class family.
We're irish english.
(46:25):
You know, my wife is 100percent greek.
Like her, both sets ofgrandparents came from greece.
She's greek and, uh, it was abig culture shock for me,
because when you talk aboutcousins and aunts and uncles and
family and all of that, that'sI mean, her family lives all
over the place, but man, when weget together, holy crap, and I
(46:46):
wasn't used to that, so I wasjust curious.
It's loud, huh.
Oh, a little bit, just a littletiny bit.
And I'm, you know, I I do havefriends that have, um, you know,
their families are from italyand and so on.
So I see it in her family and Isee it in my friend's family,
but I never had it myself.
And man, yeah, you think peopleare angry.
They're not, they're justtalking Right right.
So I'm just curious was it thesame way for your wife?
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Uh, her family's um different.
Uh, they did a lot of.
They always did like oh, let'ssing all the songs from the
fifties, you know, and they'dall sing and everything else,
you know, and they're tight too,you know.
(47:27):
It's just that they did itdifferently you know, Uh, yeah,
I guess that's the way I coulddescribe it.
Okay, her mom's side of thefamily grew up in the Midwest,
out in South Dakota, and theycame out to California during
the Dust Bowl, like so many did.
But yeah, they were French, Ibelieve, and farmers and moved
(47:54):
out of that and for some reasona lot of the people in that
particular town moved into thesame area in Long Beach and I
guess her grandma andgrandfather were from the same
town and South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
Yeah, rest is history .
Speaker 2 (48:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
So what about the kids Like?
What are they up to?
Um?
Is your son still in michigan?
Speaker 2 (48:20):
yeah, all my family's in michigan.
So my daughter followed us outand my oldest follows out as
well.
So it's like, yeah, we're allhere.
I don't see too much of theoldest one anymore, he's out
doing his own thing and you know, he just doesn't get together
with us.
So it's like, oh, okay, thatwas my uh.
Uh, he was from a differentmarriage so I ended up, uh, set
(48:41):
parent, adopting my daughter.
So, uh, uh, I met her mom whenshe was like six months old.
So she's the only I'm the onlydata she knows.
So, uh, yeah, my, so, yeah, myson came out, lived in Pinckney
for a while, then came back toCalifornia, then went back here
again, back to Brighton.
(49:04):
He was a worship pastor out inthe 242 church there and kind of
moved up as the what do theycall it director of, I don't
know, I think it was, uh, Ican't remember what his title
was.
Anyways, he was doing that fora long time.
He oversaw all the uh worshipteams and everything else like
(49:27):
that.
He just struck out on his ownas him and his wife are doing a
business, kind of marketing andstuff like that.
He, he was really great at that.
My daughter, her, and herfamily moved out a year after we
came out and they're living outthere.
He's a son-in-law, is a USCgrad and he works in coding and
(49:57):
stuff like that.
I don't know exactly what it is.
It works for Best Buy, not thestores, but Best Buy has a
medical division, I guess, andhe does all the coding and
everything for their webs andall that stuff.
Oh okay, I had no idea.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
Yeah, me either.
Yeah, so your family's here.
You're here.
What have you been doing sinceyou retired?
Speaker 2 (50:19):
So trying to wrestle with the realization that my
time is now my own.
So there were a ton of homeprojects, obviously that were
taken care of and I work forVeterans Connected.
So that was my main thing tokeep me busy and involved in the
community.
We do a whole bunch of stuffand, being the secretary and
(50:40):
treasurer, I handle all thatkind of stuff and, uh, meet a
lot of great people.
I back in la people knew mywife and they didn't know me.
I was sean's husband.
Uh, her name is m Sean, but shewent by Sean back then.
So everybody knew my wife, notme.
It's the other way around here.
(51:01):
I know so many people and theyknow me and nobody knows my wife
.
She prefers it that way.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
I think yeah.
So you mentioned VeteransConnected and we talked a little
bit about it before we startedrecording.
So tell me a little bit moreabout Veterans Connected and
what you do there recording.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
So tell me a little bit more about veterans
connected and what you do there.
Yeah, so veterans connectedstarted in 2019 as just a bunch
of guys at a church that decidedto do something for veterans.
We we knew a lot of people thatwere kind of falling through
the cracks.
They couldn't get theirbenefits because they were not
in combat or they got a lessthan satisfactory or less than
honorable discharge, but theystill put the uniform around.
(51:38):
It just wasn't a great fit, youknow, um?
So we decided let's dosomething for these guys, and it
started out just as cleaningpeople's yards, fixing their
decks, whatever real simplestuff.
And then again, you know,people saw what we were doing
and somebody said, hey, I got acar.
You know a veteran that can useit, sure, so we're fixing up
(52:00):
cars and giving away the vetsthat needed transportation, and
people started throwing money atus and we've got to make this
legal now.
We've got to become a nonprofitright.
Yeah, we got the 501C3 and allthat stuff.
And then the people of Michigan.
This is what struck me and whyI wanted to live here.
Um, because people are reallyfriendly.
(52:21):
You know, I have never knownsuch friendly and giving people
as the people of michigan uh,really struck me.
As this is different peoplecall you know that, mid midwest
kindness, you know yeah but it'strue's true.
We don't do what we do inVeterans Connected without the
people that help us do it.
(52:41):
You know they support us, theygive us the funding and you know
we do a lot of great thingsbecause of them.
You know we're just the conduit.
We find the people, we know thepeople that need help and we
help them.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Yeah, and you've helped to the tune of a lot of
money.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
Yeah, I think it's, uh, at least a half a million
now, probably edging towardsthree quarters of a million
dollars since 2019, and not notwholesale money, it's services
and things like that.
You know, uh, we don't giveveterans money, period, we'll,
we'll, we'll give them a hand upand pay a bill or, you know,
(53:20):
fix their car or something likethat, but we're not handing out
money okay uh, we'll buy foodfor them.
I'll give them a gift card sothey can go go down to walmart
or kroger someplace and get food.
But yeah, it's, it's, you know,our mo.
Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, and it's a lot of people who couldn't otherwise
get help yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
Yeah, yeah, for some reason or not, uh, you know, uh,
like I said, there's a lot ofdifferent people that just can't
and they go.
Our organization builds itself.
We're the last stop.
We really are, because we, inour um, the way we work is we
have people go to otherorganizations that get
(54:00):
government funding or whatever,and you go to them first and if
they turn you down, we'll go tothis other group that probably
has way more funding than we do.
So you've got to go through acouple different hoops before
you get to us, and when all elsefails, we'll, we'll take care
of it, and that's happened moreoften than not, it?
(54:21):
It really is kind of sad thatother organizations have a lot
of criteria you have to meetwith us.
It's like, yeah, you can't getany place else, we'll do it,
we'll do it and we've done itand we've done it.
Sometimes we respond within sixhours.
You know it's just got to getall the ducks in a row and make
sure.
Okay, is there a need?
Uh, true, uh, you know they'renot going to the casino gambling
(54:45):
it all the way, you know.
Um, so if there's, if it's abona fide need and we've proved
it all out um, you know,ultimately we we have to go show
our people that support us.
Yeah, I mean, these people aredeserving, you know.
I mean they need help.
We just now picked up a guythat literally was living under
a bridge, you know, and somebodytold us about him and I went
(55:07):
out and picked him up out inLansing, yeah, and at the travel
area there, and so we're takingcare of him getting him a job
and you know're taking care ofhim getting him a job and you
know, taking care of his needsyeah, giving people what they
need to get further, but not notjust handing out to people.
(55:28):
yep, yep.
The whole, our whole idea is toget them up off of that one
rung that they're hung up on,yeah, or up off the floor.
We'll give you the hand up andgive me a push forward.
You got to take it from there,though, pal, right, right.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
Well, you know, I was at your um, at your gala event,
which is kind of like yourflagship event, Right?
Speaker 2 (55:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (55:48):
And I remember hearing some of the stories
coming out of there it was andpeople who otherwise would just
still be suffering throughtrying to figure it out.
I think especially there was afamily there that had some sort
of car issue and that got takencare of and that was a game
changer.
Can't go to work if you don'thave a car.
Speaker 2 (56:05):
Right, we had one guy .
It was the most phenomenalIndependence Day I've ever had
Because we had one guy thatneeded wheels.
Smart guy, you know, had whatit takes to succeed.
He didn't have transportation.
He has a family.
He had to live close to a lowesI think it was because that's
the only work you could get towalking, so he'd walk during the
(56:30):
winter he'd walk.
All he needed was wheels.
Independence day I think it was2020, during the height of the
pandemic and all that stuff.
We gave this.
We got a hold of a car, got itto him on july 4th and followed
up with this guy.
He was able to get a job it'slike 75 000 a year moved his
(56:53):
family to some really decenthousing.
You know, he's on his way, youknow, to making a really great
life for himself.
All he needed was wheels yeah,he had what it took.
You know williams willingness towork, make himself better.
You know, take care of hisfamily, everything everybody
does.
Speaker 1 (57:10):
You know he just needed wheels well, and if you
think about it too, like he's,you know you helped him, he's
got a great job, he's an assetto that company, he's taking
care of his family, he's ataxpayer.
Now, yeah, like it's, it's justthis big.
Speaker 2 (57:24):
It's the circle of life, you know, not to make
light of it, but the circle oflife right there yeah that, uh,
you're making better citizens byhelping people out yeah,
there's so many people like that, um, especially during the
pandemic, oh man, people werelosing their jobs, left and
right, you know, and they'regoing to lose their houses next.
And it's like, well, okay,we'll step in.
You know, we can't keep goingon the rolls forever, but we can
(57:48):
make a house payment for you.
Just kind of take that stressoroff, because the big thing, uh,
our main mission, is to stemthe veteran suicide rate.
Yeah, uh, government says it's22, more like 44, because they
don't count a lot of thesepeople that end their lives in
fashions that it's, oh, that wassuicide, you know.
(58:09):
Yeah, you ran your car into abridge development.
Oops, that was a suicide.
It wasn't an accident, right, um, so yeah, uh, that's our big
focus is to take some of thosestressors away so that you get
the help you need.
Speaker 1 (58:25):
And now you can, oh man okay take a breath.
Speaker 2 (58:29):
Now.
What am I gonna do?
Let's help you know.
Let's, let's work you throughthis problem.
It's temporary, okay.
This is not the final solutionhere.
This is a temporary problem.
We all have them.
We all need people in our lives.
I certainly did.
I've stayed in people's houseswhen I didn't have housing for
my family.
You know it was on me, I chosethat, but still, we all had
(58:49):
people in our lives that helpout and get us through the tough
times or the times that wereally do need a hand up.
Speaker 1 (58:57):
Well, if someone wants to check out Vets
Connected, where can they go?
Speaker 2 (59:00):
So our website is veteransconnectedorg.
It's veterans with an SConnected, not connect
Veteransconnectedorg.
We're on there.
We're on Facebook.
Yeah, so I think we still haveour Instagram going on, so All
right.
Speaker 1 (59:18):
Well, I've encouraged people to check that out, so
we've covered a lot of stuff inin in a really short hour
actually.
Is there anything we haven'tcovered that you still want to
talk about?
Speaker 2 (59:29):
Well, I think we've covered a lot.
There was a couple of thingsthat I think we glossed over
that I can't remember now.
Yeah, I think that's.
That's a lot of it anyways.
Yeah, just just the way thingswork out.
I mean, the one thing I wantpeople to take away when they
hear this is that and we coveredit but it was like you know,
(59:50):
you're, you are in situationsthat you weren't thinking that
this is the way it's going toturn out, because you had a plan
, and it's always good to have aplan, but you've got to be
flexible too.
So, yeah, so when people listento this, I hope they realize
that be flexible, be willing tolearn, be willing to see things
(01:00:14):
from a different perspective,maybe somebody else's
perspective that, geez, I didn'treally think about that.
My wife is.
When our kids were growing up,she used to pull me aside all
the time, telling me I was tooharsh with our kids and you
ought to see things from theirperspective.
She's always right.
Yes, I'd always end upapologizing to my kids.
(01:00:37):
I was wrong, you know.
So you have to have thatability to say, yeah, I messed
up, I was wrong and I want tolearn from this, you know, um,
and really, uh, having greatpeople along with that ride with
you is, uh, paramount, I think,because we help each other.
(01:00:59):
You know we're in this lifetogether and, uh, you never know
, you never know when that oneperson that you just cross paths
with is going to be a keyperson in your life.
That's happened more than onceas well.
You know it's like, yeah, Iknew this guy and oh, yeah, I've
been a catalyst to other people.
(01:01:20):
You know that, um, a goodfriend of mine looking for a job
and I just knew somebody.
Hey, check this guy out andchange his life.
Yeah you know that was not myinitial thing.
I just want the guy to get ajob, you know, right?
Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
so right as well as changing their lives.
There's people who've done thatfor you as well oh yeah,
absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
If it wasn't for that guy that was in the reserves
that said, hey, you should gocheck out the shipyard, okay,
yeah, well, in eight years there, right right, and then that led
to the next thing, which thenled to the next thing and so on
yeah, it's all kind of a dominoeffect oh, yeah, yeah, I look at
my shipyard life.
Uh, uh, oh, it's phenomenal time.
(01:02:05):
I loved it.
Like I said, I got to sail onmany different types of ships,
uh, sailing on a couple ofbattleships.
It was just an experience,especially one where, yeah,
world war ii ended here I wastelling you earlier, I think,
when we were talking on thephone I have a piece of the
original deck from the missouriand, uh, just uh, it was a
(01:02:28):
interesting time, literally amuseum.
You get into some of the innerworkings of those ships and you
open up a control cabinet andthere's somebody you know,
killer, who is here.
Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Yeah, that was from 45, okay yeah, yeah, those old
ships have, uh, they arefloating museums their history.
Yeah, it's history it was allthere.
Yeah, all right.
Well, hey, I want to say thanksfor talking with us on a on a
Wednesday morning.
Appreciate you coming all theway from Brighton.
Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
Bill, thanks for having me.
When Mike told me about this, Iwas pretty interested.
I said you know what I reallydo need this for posterity's
sake.
People need to know the storyand it's great that we have you
guys able to facilitate that.
Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Yeah, your story 107.
Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:03:17):
So we've got 107 folks now who have done their
story.
Today is Wednesday, may 28th 2025.
We're here with Andy Usborne,who served in the United States
Navy.
Good morning, andy.
Hey how are you doing Great,Great to have you here today.
So first question, prettysimple when and where were you
born?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I was born in Oneida, new York, april 10th 1958.
All right, so did you grow upthere?
Yep, actually, I was born inOneida city hospital and, uh, uh
, my parents were living in, uh,cheryl, new York the smallest
city in the state incorporatedcity, I guess and uh, shortly
after I was born, we moved intoa house that my mom and dad, uh,
(00:38):
they, they built uh on on someland that my grandfather owned.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
You know, when people talk about New York, they don't
think about rural New York, andthat's what this is right?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No yeah, very rural, surrounded by dairy farms.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, Now do you have brothers and sisters?
I have five brothers, nosisters.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Oh, good Lord, your parents were busy.
Yes, they were.
I was just talking to someoneabout this last night and in
some of our family reunions andin some of our family reunions
just our immediate family westart talking and reminiscing
about things that went on whenwe grew up and sometimes my mom
(01:16):
has to leave the table becauseshe doesn't want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We joke about that at the holidays, right, we tell
the stories that mom never heard.
Yeah, right, she doesn't wantto hear them either.
So where'd you fall in the foodchain on all that?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So I was number five of six.
So I had all my older brothersto teach me what I wasn't going
to do.
Not that I did things, you know, I did other stuff but I always
told myself I'm not going to doit that way.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, you watch the result and decide that's not
what you're going to do.
Yeah right, I'll do itdifferently.
Yeah well, did you did?
So I gotta ask did you likelive up to the baby of the
family, kind of thing?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
for a while, until my younger brother was born.
Yeah, yeah, he was born in 64.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I think it was 63 okay, yeah, all right, and I
just kind of blew it all out ofthe water for you, right?
Yeah, well, good.
So what was it?
So tell me little bit, what wasit like growing up with all
those brothers?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, I'll tell you what I have to feel that my
upbringing was a uniquesituation because we lived on
land that my grandfather owned,who lived like two houses down.
My next-door neighbors were myaunt and uncle and cousins, and
a few houses down was my otheraunt and uncle and cousins and
(02:31):
uh down further on some of thefarms.
They were, uh, relatives bymarriage, you know, kind of
removed, so it was like almostall family.
Um, at one point, uh, we allwent to the same high school.
At one point, I think we allplayed football and like half
(02:52):
the team was related.
You know, it wasn't that smallof a town or anything, but still
it was just the way it workedout, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Sounds like your family was a force to be
reckoned with.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Everybody knew us, you know,just like your family was a
force to be reckoned with.
Oh yeah, it was.
It was a lot of fun.
Uh, everybody knew us, you know, just because of that.
My grandfather, uh was my mom'sdad, uh came over from italy in
uh, 1910, I think it was 1909.
Uh, he was a farmer, so he grewa lot of crops and everything,
(03:24):
and strawberries was his thing,so he had a huge strawberry farm
.
One of my earliestrecollections is picking
strawberries during the summer,all summer long, for, you know,
selling them in the market andstuff like that you can get hot
there too, can't you?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Oh yes, very hot, I'll bet.
I'll bet.
Well, you know, it sounds likefamily was very important to you
.
Can you tell me a little aboutyour parents and what they did
and how that was?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, so you know, like I said, my mom grew up two
doors down, you know.
So, italian family.
My grandfather, like I said,came over in 1909, worked for a
while, then went back to Italyin 1909.
Uh, worked for a while, thenwent back to italy and, as the
story goes, how my mom tells it,he went to his little town in
italy and said hey, I'm goingback to america.
Who wants to go?
(04:11):
I don't have any pick, anybodypicked out.
My grandmother said I'll go.
And that's the way it workedout.
A great marriage proposal ohyeah yes, she always uh, said
later on that she wishes therewas a bridge from you know uh,
america to italy, but uh, yeah.
So, um, I was fortunate to atone point go back to ellis
(04:35):
island and go to ellis island,uh, get all the records from my
grandfather coming over.
So I have the uh picture of theship they came over on and, uh,
you know, the um manifest withhis name on it and all that
stuff.
So it's pretty interesting.
But, yeah, so growing up withmy family all around us was, uh,
(04:55):
it was unique, I think, um, andmost of us were all boys.
You know, I think I have one,yeah, my cousin Denise, poor
Denise.
Oh, yeah, I know.
No one to play with Well it wasinteresting because, going
through high school andeverything, she knew how to
handle guys.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, she probably knows what makes them tick.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, speaking of school, talk to me a little bit
about what was it like going toschool for you.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah.
So I mean I went to Vernon,verona, Sherrill Central High
School and, as the name says,it's made up of three different
communities.
Vernon was a horse racingcommunity there's a harness
racing there, so a lot of horsepeople.
Verona was predominantly dairyfarmers, so a lot of dairy folks
.
And then Sherrill was the city.
(05:46):
Sherrill is noted for makingOneida community silverware.
So if you get any flatware andall that stuff, it was one of
the major producers of flatwareand silverware in the United
States at the time and both myparents worked there.
(06:08):
A lot of my brothers workedthere.
I never had the pleasure.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Well, it's funny you say that because you said Oneida
and I'm like why is this in theback of my head?
I remember on the old Price isRight show.
That would be one of the gifts.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And they would talk all about it.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
I never realized.
That's where it came from yeah,that's it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So, yeah, so high school was a amalgamation of a
lot of different folks fromdifferent backgrounds and you
know experiences.
It was a great school and wehad some great teachers, um, and
you know, I mean everybodyplayed sports and did whatever,
and so it was a lot of fun.
You know I played football, uh,wrestled a little bit, did the
(06:47):
track a little bit, and yeah,yeah, what about, what about?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
like actual school?
Uh, how was that for you?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
uh, you know, uh, I think my graduating class was
265 and honestly I think I waslike 110.
I was your average student, asaverage as you can be top of the
bell curve.
You know, right, smack in themiddle.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Wow, so you, uh, you go to high school, you graduate.
Um, what happens next?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Um, so, a friend of mine, uh, dan Althaus.
I've known him sincekindergarten.
Uh, there are three or fourfolks that I've kept in touch
with, literally known sincekindergarten, and we've kind of
followed each other throughoutour our lives and everything.
Um, but yeah, uh, you know, itwas.
(07:36):
It was.
It was an interesting time, youknow.
Um I uh.
It was right after Vietnam.
So my friend Dan and I saidwell, you know, he didn't want
to go to school, I didn't wantto go to school, we kind of want
to see the world.
So we decided let's join theNavy.
So in November of 75, we bothenlisted together.
(08:01):
On the delayed enlistment, wentin, literally reported to boot
camp two days after I graduated.
And that was 76 I think that's.
My only regret in life is likeI should have stayed around for
the bicentennial, because Ispent that in boot camp oh god,
yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It was 11 years old during the bicentennial.
I missed the big party.
Yeah, you did well, you're inanother party of sorts.
Yeah, I guess yeah, and so didyou go in.
Did you go in on the buddyprogram?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
then, yeah, we did yeah, we went through boot camp
together and, uh, he decided hewanted to sail in those little
black tubes.
So he went subs and I said, no,I gotta get up and see the sky.
It takes a special person to behonest oh yes, and he was a
special.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
He is a special person that's amazing, though,
having a friendship that'slasted that long.
I have friendships from highschool and maybe junior high,
but I don't really know anybodyfrom my grade school, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
There's several of us that graduated all together and
went through all of school andlife.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, I want to ask you a question too.
My dad worked in the automotiveindustry here in Michigan and,
um, one of one of the thingsthat drove me to join the
military when I did was that,you know, his job put a roof
over head, fed us all that stuffbut I saw what it, how it
impacted him, and so I toldmyself I'm never going to do
(09:20):
that kind of work, is that?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
was that part of of of you?
Yeah, I think so because, uh,like I said, many people in my
family and extended family umworked at when I limited great
company really treated itsemployees well, um, but it's
like that's the only game intown really, you know, and um, I
really, really had that itch toget out there and I did not
(09:49):
want to spend another two orfour years in school waiting for
that to happen.
I had to get out and get outyou know get on with it and the
navy was my choice.
Um, they had uh a rating thatreally suited me well.
Interior communications it wasa lot of uh anything that's
communications on board the ship, not external.
(10:10):
So closed circuit tv was mything.
I said, hey, let's do that, youknow, and so that's what I got
into yeah, and at some pointthat turned.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I don't know how they did it, like in the 70s,
because I don't think videotapewas much of a thing, but like I
remember they had the closedcircuit television, they would
pop in you know vhs tapes thatgot flown out to the ship and
that's what we would watch right, right.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
So, um, yeah, I went through that training.
Uh-huh, uh, that was my cschool, for my first year was
all training, right, go to the aschool and then c school and
then C school and, for the needsof the Navy, they sent me to a
ship that didn't even have it.
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
That's awesome.
I don't want to get too farahead of ourselves.
I want to back up just a littlebit.
And that is what was like yourfirst impression.
First of all, where did you goto basic training?
Great Lakes oh, awesome.
First of all, where did you goto basic training Great Lakes oh
, awesome.
All right, so tell me, likewhen you got off the train or
got off the bus, what was yourfirst impression of being there?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
so one of my older brothers, jim he was in the Navy
went to Great Lakes.
So he kind of laid it all outfor me.
I kind of knew what I wasgetting into was not a surprise.
My dad was really deep into theAmerican Legion and they had
started a sons of the AmericanLegion uh outfit, their unit,
and I was the first commander.
(11:31):
So at the tender age of 17, Iwas leading a group of people
already you know, and so itwasn't, it wasn't really
surprising for me.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Oh, so this was just something you needed to go
through, though, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, absolutely.
It was the yeah, exactly,exactly.
Put it correctly.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
It's just that's what you got to do, so and and also
I want to back up too, becauseyou said you guys joined the
navy and saw the world, and thatwas actually like their
recruiting poster right, jointhe navy, see the world.
Absolutely, and it's not a lie.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
You really do.
I did, I was very fortunate.
Yeah, I look back on it and Ithink had I gone to and followed
through with the closed circuitTV program, I would have ended
up on the aircraft carrier.
That's where we go.
You know, I look back on it.
I count my blessings, becauseit really was.
(12:20):
I got into the amphibious Navy.
I got on an LKA, which isessentially just a big, huge
cargo ship.
We carried the Marines and alltheir stuff and took them
wherever they needed to go.
But because it was big, I gotto take my little 10 speed bike
with me wherever we went as well.
So port calls and everything,and knock back a few beers the
(12:40):
first day and if I could get offon land a second day, then I'd
take my bike and go cycling andI saw a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Many people didn't yeah, a lot of great people do
different perspective from theseat of a bike right oh yeah,
absolutely yeah.
What was it like getting tothat ship for the first time uh,
a lot bigger than I thought itwas.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
you know, I had my older brother, jim uh, was on an
old DD from the Korean War eraand they said, yeah, stand by
for heavy rolls.
And my dad was on an LST, soanother kind of small ship, flat
bottom and everything.
So, yeah, coming to Mobile, Iwas surprised how big it was.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Now did you do your A school and your C school at
Great Lakes?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
No, c school was in San Diegogo, so I went great
lakes boot camp out to san diego, back to great lakes for uh c
school and then back to sandiego for the ship okay, yeah,
and then how long were you on onthis particular ship?
So uh, probably about fouryears, I, I think Okay, from uh
June 77 till uh November 81.
(13:48):
All right, and what ship was itUh Mobile LKA one one five Okay
.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
After Mobile, alabama Yep, yeah, all right.
Well, let's talk about yourtime on that ship, um, and, and
I think it's interesting thatyou took your bike and you you
did something that a lot ofpeople didn't do, and so let's
talk about that.
It sounds really interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Well, like I said, first, reporting to the ship
Mobile has a unique history.
The keel was laid down in 68,right out of the Vietnam War,
right, the Vietnam War right.
(14:31):
So one of the main operationsit was tasked with was the
evacuation of Vietnam.
That's before I got to the ship.
It was Operation Frequent Wind,but a lot of the folks that
were on the ship when I firstreported were part of that
operation and so they talked alot about that.
It was a different crew for sure, um, but it was awful also a
different time.
So after the war ended thingsgot kind of lackadaisical on the
(14:52):
ship and I guess in the navyand in general, um, mobile uh
was a difficult ship at thattime because they, like I said,
the crew was just done with it.
You know, other ships on thepier used to take bets to see if
(15:14):
Mobile would make it under theCoronado Bay Bridge under its
own power, because apparentlythere was a lot of times it
didn't.
They'd have to tow it back,yeah.
So it's like, oh man, what am Igetting?
into, because apparently therewas a lot of times it didn't,
they'd have to tow it back, yeah.
So it's like, oh man, what am Igetting into?
But at that time I reported inwith a bunch of other folks that
you know, this is our ship, youknow we're going to take care
(15:35):
of it.
So, within the span of a yearreally, we turned that ship
around.
Myself and a whole bunch ofother great folks had a can-do
attitude and we, we took care ofit and uh, that ship uh became
the, uh the flagship for thesquadron.
Um, you know, during ourrefresher training and you know
(15:59):
all the training we have to gothrough in order to deploy um,
we uh got every single battle eyou can get.
You know all the engineering,gunnery, seamanship, uh,
communications, the whole nineyards.
So we did a clean sweep and itwas uh really turned that ship
around so did you see theculture of the ship change like
(16:22):
like?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I always think of the detroit lions when I think
about this right yeah once yougot the stink of loss off of you
, like, there's this wholedifferent level that happens and
it changes everybody.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
That's part of that organization right, right,
absolutely, absolutely, fromevery man down.
It was like you take pride inyourself, you take pride in your
ship, you take pride in thenavy.
You know that's exactly the wayit was and, uh, really, people
really excelled.
And I mean, when you have thate on your stack and you know all
the rest of that stuff, it'slike, yeah, that's mobile it
(16:55):
means something it really does.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yeah, I agree.
I agree I was on a destroyer,uh, coons class destroyer.
But yes, we earned the battle eand it was a.
I didn't understand what thebig deal was, but as I developed
in my time in the militarythat's, I completely understood
how important that was and youcould see a change in the group.
Yeah, when they startedachieving things right yeah, so
(17:17):
where did you go on your on yourfirst deployment then.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
So the first deployment, of course we hit
hawaii, and that's where we pickup our marines at.
And then, uh, okinawa, um, Ithink, japan.
After that down to Korea, downto Singapore, I think on the way
to Singapore.
Just after that, we crossed theequator.
(17:41):
So it started out as apolywagon, became a shell back
then in 78.
And then floating around in themiddle, out there South China
Sea, and all that.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
So did you get to paddle around a lot of the
places that you went to at thattime.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, yeah, interesting note.
I think the first time inSingapore I got on the bike and
went out of the city proper andI was just going down some it
was a fairly major road for forthat time I guess and um, there
weren't any, a lot you know,cities or anything, a lot of
(18:19):
little villages and stuff.
So I pulled off at a roadside,uh stand, I guess it would be
trying to get something to drinkand eat.
And uh, people came up.
Everybody speaks english, soyou know you're by yourself.
I said, yeah Well, you knowthere's still tigers out here,
what?
Speaker 1 (18:38):
do you mean?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, like you know, I don't know Bengal tigers or
something, you know Malaysia.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Well, I haven't seen any and hopefully I can ride
faster than they can run.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
You don't want to be a snack for them.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah right, and they can run.
You don't want to be a snackfor them?
Yeah right.
So I don't know if they'resaying that to uh scare me away
or whatever, but oh yeah, yeah,so was that just that?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
was that a six month deployment, though?
Yeah?
Okay yeah, and then you, uh,you come back.
Now.
You were in san diego, okay, soyou come back.
Interesting thing about sandiego too Um, I took my daughter
to California for her seniortrip and I wanted to show her
where I went to basic training.
Only, it's not there anymore.
Yeah, it's a big subdivision ina shopping mall.
(19:21):
Yeah, right, so all thatstuff's gone, yep.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So was that the only ship that you were on, or were
you?
Did you, uh, were you on otherships?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
So on other ships.
So during my active enlistmentyeah, that was the only ship I
was on um, I got out and kind ofmissed it after a while.
So I took a year and, uh, wentin the reserves and I was on the
george phillip fg 13 okay, andwhere?
Was that out of?
That was out of long beach ohokay, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So when you got out after your first enlistment,
then did you stay.
You stay in California.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I did.
I just told this story.
The other day the Mobile had areunion.
I couldn't make it, but we weretalking about that online and
literally probably about sixmonths before my enlistment
(20:10):
ended, the ship was reserved atthat time and in Long Beach,
part of the reserve componentthat was attached to Mobile some
of the guys worked at theshipyard right there Long Beach
Naval Shipyard and I got totalking to some of these guys.
(20:33):
You should go over and applyfor a job.
You know they're looking forpeople.
So about six months before Iwas discharged, I literally
walked over the employmentoffice, fill out the application
and send it in and got a replyback yeah, they want to talk to
you.
Okay, go over there andinterview with the folks.
Yeah, well, when's your lastday?
(20:53):
I told them I was, you know, Ithink it was like november 23rd.
I'll take a week off and youcan report in.
So I did.
I literally took all my stuff,got an apartment in town and, uh
, started working the navalshipyard as a electronics
measurement equipment mechanic.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Uh-huh well and I'm sure that the training got is
interior communications.
Everything I was doing while Iserved I did at the shipyard
right, and so I talked to a lotof people who get out and then
go to work in a similar job, um,and there's a big difference in
pay oh yeah and uh, yeah, so Ithink that it was fun.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, yeah, I'll bet.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I'll bet so you.
You did that for a year but youmissed.
You kind of missed that.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I did?
Um, yeah, it was uh.
I mean, I was fortunate in thatI've sailed on a lot of
different ships doing sea trialsand everything.
Every every time I worked on aship I wanted to go on the sea
trial on it, so you know.
But it was like, yeah, I mustput her on that uniform.
So I did that for a year andthat was enough, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Well I think some people don't know this that when
a ship gets either refitted oris a new ship, there's a ton of
civilians that go out for quitea while with that ship.
In fact, I remember we had acivilian that went on our
six-month deployment with us,because they do take a lot of
ownership in what they do, andit sounds like that's what you
(22:20):
did as well.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
And you worked on everything from what frigates
all the way up.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Oh yeah, the biggest ship was probably LHA, the Polo
Lou Tarawa, millwood.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Wow, all familiar names.
Actually.
That's funny, yeah, so what wasit like, going back in kind of
in the reserve capacity?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
um, it was different again, uh, the.
During the time I was in we hadthose funky uh uniforms that uh
were more like a chief'suniform, you know, with the
combination cap and all thatstuff.
And I said, man, this is justnot the navy I was thinking of.
You know, I want, I want those.
You know, the uh crackerjackuniform, you know, yeah.
(23:03):
So I think that's why I wentback in with the reserves.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
I wanted that uniform honestly I still have mine
somewhere around here.
Yeah, it doesn't fit anymorelikewise yeah, yeah, it's too
bad, so yeah.
So you, uh, you ended up on a.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
You said a frigate yeah, fast, yeah, yeah, uh.
So the work I was doing in theshipyard had to do with a lot of
um propulsion controls.
That's what I did at the mobile, you know, as I said, you know
the ship didn't haveclose-fitting TV, but it did
have automated propulsion system.
So that's interesting, youcould be up on the bridge, dial
(23:42):
in I want to go I don't know 15knots, let's say dial that in
and the propulsion plant wouldautomatically come up to speed.
Supposedly that system neverworked, okay, but a lot of the
ancillary controls that wouldhelp at work did, and so that's
what I took care of.
We had one main propulsionspace with boiler and all the
(24:07):
turbo generators, reduction gearand all that.
So instead of having a boilerroom, engine room, it was all
one space.
So I worked on all that stuffwith BTs and MMs and engine men
and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
So yeah, Well, and I think when people hear
communications in a job, theydon't realize it's
communications between systemstoo, not just the 1MC or the
telephone system.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Right, absolutely.
I didn't hardly ever touchthose systems the gyro I still
gyro watch.
But after I got certified withthat because I worked with the
diesel engines as well, thediesel generators and all that
equipment.
So I got generator certified aswell on the diesel.
So it's like you know, I didmore of that stuff than I did
(24:48):
actual, you know, typical.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
IC work Right, right, well, and so at the time you
were in was like the surfacewarfare um yeah, they just
started that before I got out,so I was gonna qualify for that.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
But uh, I I took the ic1 test, e6 test, passed it.
They delayed the promotions sixmonths, I think it was, and I
got the offer from the shipyardand it's like I'm walking.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I don't blame you.
So how long do you serve in thereserves?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
a year okay yeah, all right I didn't realize they had
.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Like you could just do it for a year and, if you
liked it, yes well, yeah, theykind of frowned upon it.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
but well, yeah, what are?
Yeah, that that ship was justturned over to the reserves at
that time, in fact, I well,that's one of our.
The first things I did was theuh, actual transfer ceremony and
all that.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Okay, so yeah, and so you so did, you, you stayed how
long did you stay at theshipyard?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
uh, when reagan brought back those battleships,
I uh worked on missouri and newjersey, both of those.
I went on all the sea trials onboth of those ships and you
have not lived until you did afull broadside with those
16-inch guns.
It is phenomenal, but that wasduring Reagan's time and Clinton
followed and he said Nah, wedon't really need that.
(26:23):
So they closed the base and theshipyard down.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Yeah, there was quite a reduction in force at that
time.
In fact, when I got out of theNavy I actually got out early
because of the reduction inforce in the 90s.
So the shipyard what happensafter the shipyard closes?
Where do you go from there?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
So I actually my wife and I decided me being from
central New York and we havekids now and living in in long
beach la not the choice place toraise kids.
So, uh, we moved back to whereI grew up all right.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Before we got there, you got married somewhere along
the way yeah, I got.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I met this woman right before I got out of the
service and that's aninteresting story, because I
never intended to get married.
I was riding my bike.
My intention was to ride crosscountry I had the on my bike.
I was going to file follow thebicentennial trail, which is a
well planned out route.
A lot of people do it.
(27:26):
I had hooked up with some othercycling friends that, yeah,
let's, let's do it.
We got all the gear togetherand everything else.
I'm about to go on this trekand my mom and dad said look,
you got a government job.
You better keep that job,because there's nothing here.
United Limited was on its wayout.
(27:46):
There was an Air Force baseGriffiths Air Force Base in Rome
, new York, that was closing.
There's nothing for you here.
What are you going to do?
I said well, I guess I'll keepthe government job.
So just before I got out, I metmy wife and she was just getting
out of a divorce.
She did not want to get tieddown again.
(28:09):
She had a couple of kids andyeah, we were both both.
It was very funny because wehad met at a barbecue and we you
know small talk and everything.
Um, quite honestly, uh, therewas no physical attraction there
, you know no spark huh, shejust got through having a baby,
and you know how that goes.
(28:29):
You know women, you know it'slike they're not in their prime,
you know, um, but she, herpersonality intrigued me.
She was really a nice person,you know.
So we met at another barbecueand um got to know each other.
And then, uh, my buddy and I,doug Doug was a BT and we were
getting out at the same time andso we said let's throw a party
(28:52):
up in the hills above la um.
So that turned into a divisionparty, and so the ship kind of
kicked in um, you know ham andbread and kind of that kind of
stuff, and we just provided tonsof alcohol, you know.
And so we went up in the hills,not so we wouldn't get in any
trouble.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
And uh just tore loose and uh, my wife and I got
to know each other over, uh, uh,a bonfire, you know the talking
and everything.
And um, I told her, well, youknow, where do you live, you
know.
And uh, she told me I said,well, stop by.
So it was like a couple of dayslater stopped by to her
(29:33):
apartment and uh, got to knoweach other after a while and,
you know, decided, yeah, that'swhat we ought to do.
We lived together for a yearand got married after that.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Oh, wow, all right, well, and you know it's funny
that.
So how long have you beenmarried?
Now 43 years, okay.
So I I don't know if you'venoticed this like sometimes,
like especially in the military,like when you meet somebody, um
, in the military, immediatelyyou'll like strike up this
friendship.
It usually doesn't last thatlong.
Like you get to know them andlike, oh boy, um, but then
(30:06):
there's always that person likeyou just can't stand each other
or whatever, and then all of asudden you know you guys are
best friends and you're friendsforever, and I think sometimes
that's the same in arelationship.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, it's interesting because, uh, I was
married before.
Obviously, she was marriedbefore Um, and the woman I first
married, um, I knew from highschool.
We went to actually, uh, rivalschools but, um, yeah, so I knew
her for like a year and a half,two years, and we decided to
get married.
Uh, when I came out to sandiego she would have none of it.
(30:38):
That marriage lasted 58 days.
Oh, my gosh, got it annulledand it's like, yeah, I think
we're better friends.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Starter marriage yeah , really wow.
58 days, this gotta be somekind of record.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I don't know about that, but still it was like,
yeah, we both realized this isnot the right thing.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
So your wife had two children before you got married,
and then did you have children.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
We had one between us .
Yeah, okay all right.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
So then nuclear family what was?
Speaker 2 (31:06):
it yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Three and a half kids or something like that.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, so you were married justas you were getting out, uh I
met her just before I got out,just before you got out.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I got married a year after okay, all right, so you're
working at the shipyard at thistime and in the reserves, that
kind of thing, okay.
And then, uh, so the so theshipyard closes and uh, so, so,
yeah, so what happens now?
So we've got kind of the backstory of how you got married.
She kind of just threw that inthere, I'm like wait a minute.
(31:42):
So yeah, so you're married.
Your placement and employment'sclosing.
And now what?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, so you know, the Department of Defense had an
outplacement service and allthat kind of stuff.
Like, oh, you could go work forthe fea.
They gave me a position, orthey offered a position with the
fea out in oklahoma city and Isaid no, I'm not going to take
that one.
Uh, there was one out at um.
(32:11):
Uh, edwards and hindsight Iprobably should have taken that
one, cause I probably could havemade the rest of my government
career there at Edwards airforce base.
That was.
They were just starting theshuttle uh program, so the
(32:33):
shuttle was landing there,nasa's big out there and we uh,
you know we were doing a lot ofwork for Ness anyways with
instrumentation.
But I said no, I'm dealing withthe government as well.
So picked up roots, literallywent to New York without a job
and hooked up with Honeywell.
I spent 37, 35 years withHoneywell.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Wow, Wow.
And so what did you do atHoneywell?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
years with Honeywell, wow, wow.
And so what did you do atHoneywell?
You know what I learned in theNavy set me up perfectly for
what I did in Honeywell.
I learned industrial automation.
I worked in industrialautomation for 35 years.
If you think of that, show howit's Made.
I've been into so manyfacilities watching all that
stuff made.
(33:21):
I know how it's made.
Now I didn't work on all thatstuff, I just worked on like
automation type things and I myhat's off to industrial
engineers.
Those guys are like brilliant,they can take here's where we're
going to take the raw materialand this is what's going to end
up and everything in between.
Those guys figure it out, youknow.
So I only had a small piece ofthat, but if it was temperature,
(33:43):
pressure and vacuum control,that's what I did well now, did
you?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
did you ever go back?
Did you ever go?
Not back, but did you ever goto college then and get your
degree?
Speaker 2 (33:52):
you know I did.
I went and got a, an as inelectronics technology at long
beach city college, go vikings,and then you know life, life got
in the way, and that's when ASin electronics technology at
Long Beach City College, goVikings, and then you know, life
got in the way and that's whenwe moved to New York.
And so, yeah, I went back toschool after we moved from New
York back to LA again afterseven years there and I finished
(34:14):
off my degree.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
So something that someone listening to this might
take from this part of theconversation is that the
training you got in the militaryreally did, like you said, set
you up for success.
The degree part was just kindof like I should probably do
this?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah, absolutely, you knew what you were doing.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
You had the ability One, you had the skill set just
because of who you are, but alsothe.
The navy really gave you thattraining absolutely I.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I count myself so fortunate, like I said, even
from the very beginning, whenthey said, yeah, you're going to
a ship that doesn't have thesystem right, you know, my life
is done great, but but it, youknow, and it's just like we
talked about earlier.
You know, you take that as thatsupposed to hit and it's like
(35:03):
you turn that into somethingjust like that, the mobile in
itself.
We turned it into something youknow.
And learning automatedpropulsion.
I knew the basics of industrialautomation before I got with
Honeywell.
It was just like, yeah, justcontinuing on in the private
sector, um, so they didn't haveto teach me much, you know, I
(35:26):
had to learn their way of doingthings and their equipment.
But, yeah, I started out onsingle loop controllers
controlling a big furnace andthen went on to, at the end of
my career, uh, as a techniciananyways, uh, working in
refineries and the only thing myum degree got me was into
(35:48):
management, which is what Iwanted to do anyways.
Really, I mean, I carriedaround a tool bag all my working
life and as you get older, it'slike, yeah, kind of done with
that too.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
So time to train the younger generation.
Yeah exactly so so honeywellmoved you from new york back to
long beach they didn't, I left.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Oh okay, I uh, I tried to, uh, tried to transfer
out there.
They said they didn't have anyposition.
This story is another story initself.
I count myself so blessed and Isee God working through all of
this, you know, because I triedto get a transfer and they said,
no, we don't have anythinggoing on.
So, you know, check later.
(36:27):
And it got to the point I was aproject manager at that time
and I was handling threeprojects.
I was living in Southern NewYork and Binghamton and I was
handling a project in Syracuseand Albany and Orangeburg, New
York, which is just north of NewYork City.
So I was making this bigtriangular loop and it was like
(36:49):
I'm getting burned out.
You know I can't do all thisand I'd had enough.
My wife wanted to go back to LAor Long Beach.
You know, the kids were olderand you know New York's fun.
But there's really nothing to do, yeah, and I said, okay, we're
going.
So fortunate I'd saved upenough to go three months
without a job if I had to, but Ididn't want to.
(37:10):
Picked up everything, sold abunch of stuff and threw it into
the biggest u-haul you can towbehind an aerostar van and we
headed back west, wow.
So I still kept in touch,trying to, you know, get a job
together.
Before I got there and umchecked with the Honeywell
office in LA and they said, well, we may have something for you,
(37:33):
so keep in touch.
So in Oklahoma city they said,yeah, yeah, a guy just put in
his retirement paperwork, we mayhave something going on for you
.
So I think it was eitherTucumcari or Las Cruces, I can't
remember where we iced the dealand said, yep, we're good,
here's your compensation andyou'll start on this date and
(37:55):
we're going to count your monthoff as just time without pay.
You start up right where youstart left.
You get a $10,000 pay increasebecause you're going from a
small town in New York to LA, soprice differential there.
So my pay took a jump.
And that's where I got intorefining and refineries and all
(38:19):
that kind of stuff Real bigprocess control.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah, yeah it's.
I'm just kind of running thisthrough my head, cause you know
I had a family too.
I in in the thought of likepacking up and going out and
hoping something happens, and init I mean it was scary.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Yeah, I'm not going to lie, it was scary.
I had a knot in my stomachright from cross country.
It really was, but God worksthings out, you know, just like
he did when I was in the Navy.
You know, it was like that setthe course for what my life was
going to be like and met a greatwoman who's supported me the
whole time, and great kids.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Um, so yeah, Was she nervous too?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Oh, absolutely Absolutely.
She was nervous, but she wasalways.
She has been my biggestsupporter.
Yeah, you know she said you'llfind something.
You know we'll, we'll, we'll dofine.
And you know, I mean we'd staywith friends like the first
month or so we were there.
We have some great friends outthere from before we left the
first time.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Um, so yeah, they put us up and to be at our own
place, and all that.
So we don't do it by ourselves,right, right, right, well, and
you know, there's like thatthread that runs through a lot
of what we talked about too, andand it's like everything that
you do just brings you to thepoint where you're at today,
right, like if, if you changedany one part of that story, it
would be a different ending.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Oh yeah, absolutely yeah, I believe that and believe
me I've.
My wife and I was sat back andtalked about things that, oh,
what if this didn't happen?
And you know, you know all thealternate routes you could have
gone and it's like I'm reallythankful it went the way it did
in the long run yeah, we don'tget the benefit of knowing what
would have happened, right,right, we only get the benefit
of seeing the outcome of whatwe've done.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah, yeah and uh.
It's a collective we, it is notjust what you or I have done.
So how long were you out incalifornia then?
Speaker 2 (40:06):
uh, total of 27 years .
I think it was okay all rightand uh.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
So you, uh, you know.
Is there anything you want toshare about your time out there?
Um, you know any, any storiesfrom your 27 years in California
?
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Well, it was a fun time out there too, a lot of
work.
I worked with a ton of greatpeople.
People in refineries are adifferent breed, I think,
because it's almost like theNavy.
You work in a refinery andyou're working for, let's say,
(40:41):
shell and, for whatever reason,you're not progressing along the
way you want to.
You go work for Chevron.
So I go to these differentrefineries and run across people
that, hey, I remember you.
Yeah, I used to work for Shell.
Yeah, okay, and it's like we'reall together in this thing,
right, and yeah, I still haveacquaintances that literally
(41:01):
I've met out in the middle of anoil field out in north dakota.
You know, it's just crazy yeahso it's a small group.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Now did you um?
Did you continue bike riding?
Oh yeah, all of this.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Oh yeah, I still do okay as much as I want to, but
I'm retired now so I gottachange that.
I'm still trying to shift myfocus, that I can do this
whenever I want to.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
It's hard.
I've been retired for two yearsand I'm still trying to figure
that out.
I wake up every morning stillfeeling like there's something
I've got to do.
Yeah right, it's usually prettyearly too.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Yeah, well, I'm working through that.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Let me know, let me know how that works out for you.
So you, you're out there for 27years and then you retire.
And then what happened?
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Well, um, so, uh, you know, went to school and
everything, got my degree, gotinto management and started, uh,
you know, managing the people Iactually worked with, you know,
my peers and, uh, that job kindof dried up too.
We wanted to honeywell, wantedto combine the north and south
branches together I had all ofsouthern california and arizona,
(42:13):
new mexico out that way and sothey wanted to merge the uh
offices and they said, well,here's the deal, you're not
going to be the manager of thatarea.
But we got a different positionthat they just created.
So at the time I was handlingall the contracts and renewals.
I was handling the personneland their training and just
(42:38):
doing everything.
So they said you know, that'sprobably not efficient and we're
not growing as well as weshould.
So we take the contractsportion of it and make a new
position as a contract manager.
So that's what I did.
I went from a field servicemanager to a contract manager,
so now my focus is justcontracts.
But I had Northern SouthernCalifornia and my territories
(42:59):
was from North Dakota servicemanager to a contract manager.
So now my focus is justcontracts.
But I had northern southerncalifornia and my territories
was from north dakota down tosouthern california and
everything in between.
So I had a huge territory anddid a lot of travel and all that
.
Um, at the time, we werelooking at, uh, you know,
thinking about I'm going toretire.
(43:19):
I believe this is uh, yeah,2015 or so and I think I want to
retire after 35 years and I'llbe 65 and ready to go.
So I did not want to retire insouthern california, so we were
looking east maybe arizona,someplace, you know, whatever.
(43:41):
In the meantime, my son, myyoungest- uh he had moved to
michigan and got the job there.
We had visited a couple timesand um had some extended stays.
Got to know some friendsoutside of his group that well
we got some friends in michigan,you know, and people really
nice not a bad place.
(44:03):
I grew up in new york, so that'sonly a really a day's drive to
go to new york to see my family.
So we figured, well, what theheck you know, let's move to
michigan.
So we did 2017 and um, I wasstill working at the time uh, my
boss said I don't care whereyou live as long you can handle
the territory.
So that's what I did.
I still had the same territory.
(44:24):
Honeywell shifted gears andthey decided to move me to a
territory more centric to whereI lived.
So I then took everything fromMichigan down to Kentucky and
everything in between.
So that's what I was doingmanaging contracts and
everything in between.
So that's what I was doingmanaging contracts and
(44:44):
everything in that area andthat's when I retired January of
this year.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
So Michigan was sort of a what the heck, let's try it
out.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Yeah, you know it's kind of a theme in my life, you
know.
It's like I'm kind of tired ofwhat I'm doing.
What the heck let's do this.
It's a major thing.
Now is your wife?
Is she a california girl?
She is, oh, it's a big change.
Yeah, but our seven years innew york kind of primed her for
the winners.
And, honestly, in brighton wedon't get it near what we got in
(45:13):
, uh, cheryl, new york.
So we used to get dumped onhorrendously and for some reason
we get the cold, but we justdon't get that much snow.
So it's livable.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Yeah, definitely doable.
I mean, I'm sure you still havefriends out in California in
that area too.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
She's got family, but her family wasn't as tight as
mine, you know.
I mean, like I said, we allgrew up on the same road, so
Right, you know.
So her family's a little bitmore extended.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
But yeah, we go back and visit and all that and
reminds us both why we moved toMichigan.
So the other thing I want toask you, too, is that um, so
you're Italian.
Is your wife Italian?
Speaker 2 (45:50):
She's not.
She's Portuguese Portugueseyeah.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Portuguese.
Okay, all right, I'm justcurious.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Her family, we did the whole uh, ancestry, yeah,
and her family's from the azores.
I mean, that's pretty specific,you know.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
So okay, that is really specific.
Usually it's like oh, there'ssprinkling here and there was it
a, was it?
So?
How was her family backgroundas compared to yours?
I'm asking this for a reason Igrew up in a uh, you know, a
white middle-class family.
We're irish english.
(46:25):
You know, my wife is 100percent greek.
Like her, both sets ofgrandparents came from greece.
She's greek and, uh, it was abig culture shock for me,
because when you talk aboutcousins and aunts and uncles and
family and all of that, that'sI mean, her family lives all
over the place, but man, when weget together, holy crap, and I
(46:46):
wasn't used to that, so I wasjust curious.
It's loud, huh.
Oh, a little bit, just a littletiny bit.
And I'm, you know, I I do havefriends that have, um, you know,
their families are from italyand and so on.
So I see it in her family and Isee it in my friend's family,
but I never had it myself.
And man, yeah, you think peopleare angry.
They're not, they're justtalking Right right.
So I'm just curious was it thesame way for your wife?
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Uh, her family's um different.
Uh, they did a lot of.
They always did like oh, let'ssing all the songs from the
fifties, you know, and they'dall sing and everything else,
you know, and they're tight too,you know.
(47:27):
It's just that they did itdifferently you know, Uh, yeah,
I guess that's the way I coulddescribe it.
Okay, her mom's side of thefamily grew up in the Midwest,
out in South Dakota, and theycame out to California during
the Dust Bowl, like so many did.
But yeah, they were French, Ibelieve, and farmers and moved
(47:54):
out of that and for some reasona lot of the people in that
particular town moved into thesame area in Long Beach and I
guess her grandma andgrandfather were from the same
town and South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
Yeah, rest is history .
Speaker 2 (48:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
So what about the kids Like?
What are they up to?
Um?
Is your son still in michigan?
Speaker 2 (48:20):
yeah, all my family's in michigan.
So my daughter followed us outand my oldest follows out as
well.
So it's like, yeah, we're allhere.
I don't see too much of theoldest one anymore, he's out
doing his own thing and you know, he just doesn't get together
with us.
So it's like, oh, okay, thatwas my uh.
Uh, he was from a differentmarriage so I ended up, uh, set
(48:41):
parent, adopting my daughter.
So, uh, uh, I met her mom whenshe was like six months old.
So she's the only I'm the onlydata she knows.
So, uh, yeah, my, so, yeah, myson came out, lived in Pinckney
for a while, then came back toCalifornia, then went back here
again, back to Brighton.
(49:04):
He was a worship pastor out inthe 242 church there and kind of
moved up as the what do theycall it director of, I don't
know, I think it was, uh, Ican't remember what his title
was.
Anyways, he was doing that fora long time.
He oversaw all the uh worshipteams and everything else like
(49:27):
that.
He just struck out on his ownas him and his wife are doing a
business, kind of marketing andstuff like that.
He, he was really great at that.
My daughter, her, and herfamily moved out a year after we
came out and they're living outthere.
He's a son-in-law, is a USCgrad and he works in coding and
(49:57):
stuff like that.
I don't know exactly what it is.
It works for Best Buy, not thestores, but Best Buy has a
medical division, I guess, andhe does all the coding and
everything for their webs andall that stuff.
Oh okay, I had no idea.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
Yeah, me either.
Yeah, so your family's here.
You're here.
What have you been doing sinceyou retired?
Speaker 2 (50:19):
So trying to wrestle with the realization that my
time is now my own.
So there were a ton of homeprojects, obviously that were
taken care of and I work forVeterans Connected.
So that was my main thing tokeep me busy and involved in the
community.
We do a whole bunch of stuffand, being the secretary and
(50:40):
treasurer, I handle all thatkind of stuff and, uh, meet a
lot of great people.
I back in la people knew mywife and they didn't know me.
I was sean's husband.
Uh, her name is m Sean, but shewent by Sean back then.
So everybody knew my wife, notme.
It's the other way around here.
(51:01):
I know so many people and theyknow me and nobody knows my wife
.
She prefers it that way.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
I think yeah.
So you mentioned VeteransConnected and we talked a little
bit about it before we startedrecording.
So tell me a little bit moreabout Veterans Connected and
what you do there recording.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
So tell me a little bit more about veterans
connected and what you do there.
Yeah, so veterans connectedstarted in 2019 as just a bunch
of guys at a church that decidedto do something for veterans.
We we knew a lot of people thatwere kind of falling through
the cracks.
They couldn't get theirbenefits because they were not
in combat or they got a lessthan satisfactory or less than
honorable discharge, but theystill put the uniform around.
(51:38):
It just wasn't a great fit, youknow, um?
So we decided let's dosomething for these guys, and it
started out just as cleaningpeople's yards, fixing their
decks, whatever real simplestuff.
And then again, you know,people saw what we were doing
and somebody said, hey, I got acar.
You know a veteran that can useit, sure, so we're fixing up
(52:00):
cars and giving away the vetsthat needed transportation, and
people started throwing money atus and we've got to make this
legal now.
We've got to become a nonprofitright.
Yeah, we got the 501C3 and allthat stuff.
And then the people of Michigan.
This is what struck me and whyI wanted to live here.
Um, because people are reallyfriendly.
(52:21):
You know, I have never knownsuch friendly and giving people
as the people of michigan uh,really struck me.
As this is different peoplecall you know that, mid midwest
kindness, you know yeah but it'strue's true.
We don't do what we do inVeterans Connected without the
people that help us do it.
(52:41):
You know they support us, theygive us the funding and you know
we do a lot of great thingsbecause of them.
You know we're just the conduit.
We find the people, we know thepeople that need help and we
help them.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Yeah, and you've helped to the tune of a lot of
money.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
Yeah, I think it's, uh, at least a half a million
now, probably edging towardsthree quarters of a million
dollars since 2019, and not notwholesale money, it's services
and things like that.
You know, uh, we don't giveveterans money, period, we'll,
we'll, we'll give them a hand upand pay a bill or, you know,
(53:20):
fix their car or something likethat, but we're not handing out
money okay uh, we'll buy foodfor them.
I'll give them a gift card sothey can go go down to walmart
or kroger someplace and get food.
But yeah, it's, it's, you know,our mo.
Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, and it's a lot of people who couldn't otherwise
get help yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
Yeah, yeah, for some reason or not, uh, you know, uh,
like I said, there's a lot ofdifferent people that just can't
and they go.
Our organization builds itself.
We're the last stop.
We really are, because we, inour um, the way we work is we
have people go to otherorganizations that get
(54:00):
government funding or whatever,and you go to them first and if
they turn you down, we'll go tothis other group that probably
has way more funding than we do.
So you've got to go through acouple different hoops before
you get to us, and when all elsefails, we'll, we'll take care
of it, and that's happened moreoften than not, it?
(54:21):
It really is kind of sad thatother organizations have a lot
of criteria you have to meetwith us.
It's like, yeah, you can't getany place else, we'll do it,
we'll do it and we've done itand we've done it.
Sometimes we respond within sixhours.
You know it's just got to getall the ducks in a row and make
sure.
Okay, is there a need?
Uh, true, uh, you know they'renot going to the casino gambling
(54:45):
it all the way, you know.
Um, so if there's, if it's abona fide need and we've proved
it all out um, you know,ultimately we we have to go show
our people that support us.
Yeah, I mean, these people aredeserving, you know.
I mean they need help.
We just now picked up a guythat literally was living under
a bridge, you know, and somebodytold us about him and I went
(55:07):
out and picked him up out inLansing, yeah, and at the travel
area there, and so we're takingcare of him getting him a job
and you know're taking care ofhim getting him a job and you
know, taking care of his needsyeah, giving people what they
need to get further, but not notjust handing out to people.
(55:28):
yep, yep.
The whole, our whole idea is toget them up off of that one
rung that they're hung up on,yeah, or up off the floor.
We'll give you the hand up andgive me a push forward.
You got to take it from there,though, pal, right, right.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
Well, you know, I was at your um, at your gala event,
which is kind of like yourflagship event, Right?
Speaker 2 (55:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (55:48):
And I remember hearing some of the stories
coming out of there it was andpeople who otherwise would just
still be suffering throughtrying to figure it out.
I think especially there was afamily there that had some sort
of car issue and that got takencare of and that was a game
changer.
Can't go to work if you don'thave a car.
Speaker 2 (56:05):
Right, we had one guy .
It was the most phenomenalIndependence Day I've ever had
Because we had one guy thatneeded wheels.
Smart guy, you know, had whatit takes to succeed.
He didn't have transportation.
He has a family.
He had to live close to a lowesI think it was because that's
the only work you could get towalking, so he'd walk during the
(56:30):
winter he'd walk.
All he needed was wheels.
Independence day I think it was2020, during the height of the
pandemic and all that stuff.
We gave this.
We got a hold of a car, got itto him on july 4th and followed
up with this guy.
He was able to get a job it'slike 75 000 a year moved his
(56:53):
family to some really decenthousing.
You know, he's on his way, youknow, to making a really great
life for himself.
All he needed was wheels yeah,he had what it took.
You know williams willingness towork, make himself better.
You know, take care of hisfamily, everything everybody
does.
Speaker 1 (57:10):
You know he just needed wheels well, and if you
think about it too, like he's,you know you helped him, he's
got a great job, he's an assetto that company, he's taking
care of his family, he's ataxpayer.
Now, yeah, like it's, it's justthis big.
Speaker 2 (57:24):
It's the circle of life, you know, not to make
light of it, but the circle oflife right there yeah that, uh,
you're making better citizens byhelping people out yeah,
there's so many people like that, um, especially during the
pandemic, oh man, people werelosing their jobs, left and
right, you know, and they'regoing to lose their houses next.
And it's like, well, okay,we'll step in.
You know, we can't keep goingon the rolls forever, but we can
(57:48):
make a house payment for you.
Just kind of take that stressoroff, because the big thing, uh,
our main mission, is to stemthe veteran suicide rate.
Yeah, uh, government says it's22, more like 44, because they
don't count a lot of thesepeople that end their lives in
fashions that it's, oh, that wassuicide, you know.
(58:09):
Yeah, you ran your car into abridge development.
Oops, that was a suicide.
It wasn't an accident, right, um, so yeah, uh, that's our big
focus is to take some of thosestressors away so that you get
the help you need.
Speaker 1 (58:25):
And now you can, oh man okay take a breath.
Speaker 2 (58:29):
Now.
What am I gonna do?
Let's help you know.
Let's, let's work you throughthis problem.
It's temporary, okay.
This is not the final solutionhere.
This is a temporary problem.
We all have them.
We all need people in our lives.
I certainly did.
I've stayed in people's houseswhen I didn't have housing for
my family.
You know it was on me, I chosethat, but still, we all had
(58:49):
people in our lives that helpout and get us through the tough
times or the times that wereally do need a hand up.
Speaker 1 (58:57):
Well, if someone wants to check out Vets
Connected, where can they go?
Speaker 2 (59:00):
So our website is veteransconnectedorg.
It's veterans with an SConnected, not connect
Veteransconnectedorg.
We're on there.
We're on Facebook.
Yeah, so I think we still haveour Instagram going on, so All
right.
Speaker 1 (59:18):
Well, I've encouraged people to check that out, so
we've covered a lot of stuff inin in a really short hour
actually.
Is there anything we haven'tcovered that you still want to
talk about?
Speaker 2 (59:29):
Well, I think we've covered a lot.
There was a couple of thingsthat I think we glossed over
that I can't remember now.
Yeah, I think that's.
That's a lot of it anyways.
Yeah, just just the way thingswork out.
I mean, the one thing I wantpeople to take away when they
hear this is that and we coveredit but it was like you know,
(59:50):
you're, you are in situationsthat you weren't thinking that
this is the way it's going toturn out, because you had a plan
, and it's always good to have aplan, but you've got to be
flexible too.
So, yeah, so when people listento this, I hope they realize
that be flexible, be willing tolearn, be willing to see things
(01:00:14):
from a different perspective,maybe somebody else's
perspective that, geez, I didn'treally think about that.
My wife is.
When our kids were growing up,she used to pull me aside all
the time, telling me I was tooharsh with our kids and you
ought to see things from theirperspective.
She's always right.
Yes, I'd always end upapologizing to my kids.
(01:00:37):
I was wrong, you know.
So you have to have thatability to say, yeah, I messed
up, I was wrong and I want tolearn from this, you know, um,
and really, uh, having greatpeople along with that ride with
you is, uh, paramount, I think,because we help each other.
(01:00:59):
You know we're in this lifetogether and, uh, you never know
, you never know when that oneperson that you just cross paths
with is going to be a keyperson in your life.
That's happened more than onceas well.
You know it's like, yeah, Iknew this guy and oh, yeah, I've
been a catalyst to other people.
(01:01:20):
You know that, um, a goodfriend of mine looking for a job
and I just knew somebody.
Hey, check this guy out andchange his life.
Yeah you know that was not myinitial thing.
I just want the guy to get ajob, you know, right?
Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
so right as well as changing their lives.
There's people who've done thatfor you as well oh yeah,
absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
If it wasn't for that guy that was in the reserves
that said, hey, you should gocheck out the shipyard, okay,
yeah, well, in eight years there, right right, and then that led
to the next thing, which thenled to the next thing and so on
yeah, it's all kind of a dominoeffect oh, yeah, yeah, I look at
my shipyard life.
Uh, uh, oh, it's phenomenal time.
(01:02:05):
I loved it.
Like I said, I got to sail onmany different types of ships,
uh, sailing on a couple ofbattleships.
It was just an experience,especially one where, yeah,
world war ii ended here I wastelling you earlier, I think,
when we were talking on thephone I have a piece of the
original deck from the missouriand, uh, just uh, it was a
(01:02:28):
interesting time, literally amuseum.
You get into some of the innerworkings of those ships and you
open up a control cabinet andthere's somebody you know,
killer, who is here.
Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Yeah, that was from 45, okay yeah, yeah, those old
ships have, uh, they arefloating museums their history.
Yeah, it's history it was allthere.
Yeah, all right.
Well, hey, I want to say thanksfor talking with us on a on a
Wednesday morning.
Appreciate you coming all theway from Brighton.
Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
Bill, thanks for having me.
When Mike told me about this, Iwas pretty interested.
I said you know what I reallydo need this for posterity's
sake.
People need to know the storyand it's great that we have you
guys able to facilitate that.
Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Yeah, your story 107.
Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:03:17):
So we've got 107 folks now who have done their
story.
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