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STORIES Kenneth Anderson
| Jay Luster I served in the U.S. Navy from 1980 to 1984. I spent 3 years on the USS Nimitz and made two Mediterranean cruises. We spent 56 straight days cruising off the coast of Egypt after the assassination of President Anwar Saddat. My ship and all who served on her received the Expeditionary Medal for our efforts to maintain a strong American presence in the face of what we now see was an emerging terrorist threat. Another interesting thing that happened was in October 1982. Two F14s from VF41 (The Black Aces) shot down two Libyan fighters (Soviet SU22s) that were attempting to breach our airspace. The core of the dispute was President Quadafi's declaration that the Gulf of Sidra was Libyan waters for 200 miles from their shoreline. This claim took in a swath of the Mediterranean Sea almost all the way to Sicily. President Reagan and the international community stood up to the dictator threatening vital transportation routes. I was an AE3 at the time (Aircraft Electricians Mate 3rd class) serving as the night check supervisor for a variety of small shops in the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department. I credit my naval experience for providing the base from which I was able to launch my career with Norfolk Southern as the Petersburg, Va., signal maintainer. While we didn't fight any great war during my time in the Navy, I am proud to have served. The Soviet threat to world security was very real, and the USS Nimitz was one of the primary forces responsible for maintaining the peace during that troubled time. She was the newest and largest warship afloat, state of the art, and had recently been used as the platform for the failed rescue attempt of the hostages in Iran. She also served as the stage for the movie "The Final Countdown" starring Kirk Douglas. People who remember that movie will probably remember the F14 fighter planes from VF84 with the yellow vertical stabilizer boasting leering skull and crossbones. During my time in the Navy I visited nine foreign countries at 12 different ports. It was an exciting time, and Veterans Day brings helps bring back the best of my memories and allows me to look reflectively on my life and see how far I've come. |