Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
6:05 | At the induction center, the men were told that some are going to the Navy, some to the Army. When the sergeant got to Stan Seaman, he laughed and said, "You know where you're going!" After basic training in Bainbridge, the next destination was Pensacola.
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Based on his civilian work experience, Stan Seaman became an aviation electronics technician in the Navy. His first post in Pensacola was a training facility for aviators and he recalls an eventful take off that nearly resulted in disaster.
After ten months in Pensacola, Stan Seaman was transferred to the USS Tarawa, a carrier that was slated for anti-submarine patrols, but first there was months in dry dock and then a training mission to Gitmo.
Stan Seaman was an aircraft electrician on the USS Tarawa. In addition to those duties, he was assigned as a firefighter during emergencies. The ship performed anti-submarine patrols off the East Coast, along with a sister ship, each taking half the area. There was no shooting war, but the work was still dangerous.
His ship was preparing for a NATO cruise, but Navy cutbacks led to the discharge of all personnel who were drafted. That meant that, after 21 months in the Navy, Stan Seaman was returning home. That was fine with him since he had a great job at Grumman, where he went on to a long career.
Before he was in the Navy, Stan Seaman thought the depictions of Navy life in movies was crazy. Then he witnessed the behavior of men on leave getting good and drunk.
