11/11/2026
Today we honor everyone who has served. Thank you to every veteran.
Paul is one of ours. He served six years in the U.S. Navy, and this is his story in his words:
"I enlisted in the Navy at 17 and was stationed out of Naval Station Norfolk, VA for six years. My rating (job) was Hull Technician, which included metal fabrication and firefighting. I was first assigned to SIMA Norfolk as a pipefitter in shop 56A, where I got to work on nearly every class of surface ship in the U.S. Navy. The very first ship I worked on was a WWII era battleship, USS Wisconsin BB-64, and I even performed repair work on Dutch, German, British, Norwegian and Russian warships. (Yes, you read the Russian part right.)
From there I transferred to the USS Emory S. Land AS-39 and became a Hull and Mechanical planner for submarine squadrons 6 and 8. My duties included planning extensive repairs to 688 Los Angeles class fast attack submarines, writing technical procedures for the shops assigned to the repair, researching drawings, ordering materials, and general oversight of the repair work.
I was honorably discharged at the end of my enlistment in December of 1996 and moved to the Raleigh area to begin work for a pharmaceutical refrigeration equipment manufacturer."
Thank you, Paul.
