4:58 | He knew the draft would get him as soon as he graduated college, so Charlie Hooper joined the Navy Reserve and went active. He was assigned to a radar picket ship, which patrolled the West coast in a Cold War defensive operation.
Keywords : Charlie Hooper Atlanta GA Davidson College reserve Bainbridge MD USS Scanner (YAGR-5) liberty ship California quartermaster Cold War
It was boring duty on the radar picket ship off California. Charlie Hooper didn't mind that as much as the fact that the crew contained many delinquents, who chose the Navy over jail.
Charlie Hooper recalls life aboard ship, the scare of rough seas, the dynamic of enlisted and officer relations and the challenge of playing basketball on an old liberty ship.
Two officers gave him trouble in the Navy and one of them nearly killed him with incompetent medical care. He relates those stories and describes his successful career path once he left the service.