Navy+Airmen+Kenneth+Dauber

US Navy Airplane Mechanic

Things I remember: The most painful part of training was getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning to do drills. They were tough, rough, and tiresome. The instructors were mostly nasty, most of the time, which was there job. They weren’t there to make friends; they were there to make men out of boys, you had to understand that that was their job. The main sergeant, we played a dirty trick on him. We signed a card and he started getting all these cards from all these girls. The first day of service was chaotic, there were about four hundred of us, all getting busy, trying to get new clothing and get all set up. Sleeping conditions were good, ninety-six bunks in a dorm, and four dorms in the barracks. Almost one hundred guys fit in the barracks and we weren't crowded at all, we had lots of room.

I enjoyed my time in the service; I would've done it again. If I knew exactly how it was going to be I would've done it again. I enjoyed it; it was a life changing experience. I learned to be a man and to tell the truth and be straight up with everything. Taught how to be a man when the situation arose.

Full transcript of interview with Mr. Dauber: