Secretary

Dave joined the Navy in 1968 and arrived at NTC Great Lakes for Basic Training on 28 March. The next stop was across the road to attend BE&E (Basic Electricity and Electronics School). Eight weeks or so later, Dave was on his way to Bainbridge, Maryland for RM “A” school and then on to the USS John W. Weeks (DD-701) around 9 December. It was somewhat of a surprise when the first news was to pack for hot weather as the Weeks would be heading for Vietnam in January. Traversing the Panama Canal of course was a thrill and some of the stops in CA were fun. Then Weeks steamed for Hawaii. The first day in Pearl Harbor provided some excitement as a squadron of Jap Zeros was seen heading for the Destroyer Piers. We rushed from the White Hat Club to the ship and discovered that the John Wayne movie “Tora, Tora, Tora” was being filmed. A notable event during the deployments to the Tonkin Gulf was the downing of a US EC-121 Aircraft by the North Koreans. This lead to Task Force 71 being formed with four carriers and many destroyers, of which Weeks was one. The Task Force steamed to the waters around the Korean peninsula as a show of force. When Weeks returned to the States and she was transferred to the Reserve Fleet in New London, CT, Dave was part of the crew and remained on board until the summer of 1970 when the USS Gearing (DD-710) arrived to relieve Weeks which was being decommissioned. After leaving the Navy in December of 1971 (4 months early out), Dave returned home to Bristol, CT, and eventually married Linda and the family, including 5 children was begun. Dave and Linda are currently blessed with six grandchildren. Dave joined the CT Army National Guard and served 27 years reaching the rank of First Sergeant (E-8). Notable events were a deployment to a NATO Mission in Bosnia (2001-2002) and training missions to Germany and England. Employment included 27 years at Associated Spring, Barnes Group with assignments of Production Control, Customer Service and Purchasing Agent. Also, 10 years as Security Supervisor at ESPN. Dave has served the City of Bristol of the Planning Commission, Park Board, Blue Ribbon Commission on Landfill Re-use and Blight Committee. He continues a 50 year membership in the American Legion and has served as Commander and many other offices. Currently, Dave is serving with the American Legion Honor Guard which provides Military honors for deceased Veterans.