Korean War CA-73 Photo Essay
The excellent
and professional
work of Robert W. Kempel's
Korean War CA-73 Photo Essay is shown here with his permission. The
Photo Essay is in PDF format.
About
Robert W. Kempel:
The Korean
War was immanently present as Robert W. Kempel graduated from high school.
He joined the United States Navy on 17, June 1951 as a seaman recruit and was
sent to the US Naval Training Center, San Diego, California, for nine weeks
of boot camp.
Robert and other recruits formed Company 592. The Company consisted of 75
young recruits. They learned to march with their bolt-action WW I
Springfield 1903 rifles on their shoulder. They attended classes, learned to
obey orders, stand guard watches, and made sure they memorized the Uniform
Code of Military Justice. The Navy molded or forged Robert and the rest of
the recruits into the “men” The US Navy wanted them to be.
On graduation from NTC they were promoted to seaman apprentice (two stripes)
and assembled on the “grinder” or parade grounds for a grand review as a
band they had never seen or heard, played Anchors Away.
With boot camp behind them, just before Labor Day 1951, they were all
eagerly awaiting for the Navy to post their next assignment.
Twenty percent of Robert’s NTC Company, including himself, was then assigned
to the USS Saint Paul CA-73 as ship’s company, with no particular
assignment. Others went off to specific schools and one went to Officer
Candidate School (OCS) and another to submarine training. The Saint Paul was
a heavy cruiser that was then in ‘refit’ at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard,
San Francisco, California.
Robert W. Kempel departed the USS Saint Paul CA-73, as a Radarman E-4, in
Long Beach, California in early June, 1955 having made three tours to Asian
waters that included Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
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This site was last updated
05/16/08
