Lifelong
Friends
John
Lazzar is one of those.
I
met John in 1943 when my family moved in across the
street from his home on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle.
We went to high school together, did all the fun and
horrible things that teenagers did, and joined the
Navy together on Oct. 10, 1950. Along with other high
school pals, we survived Navy boot camp in San Diego
together and smiled for our group picture.
top
-- John Lazzar Jim MacAtee Ray Grover
bottom
-- Paul Norling Doug Froling
After
boot camp John Lazzar and another Seattleite, John
P. Jones
were
sent to HU-1 at NAAS Miramar. After a 3 week excursion
to Treasure Island, I joined them at HU-1 in Jan.
1951. When the squadron moved to ALF Ream Field in
Oct. 1951, John Lazzar was assigned TAD (Temporary
Additional Duty) to the base fire department, which
he hated. Once back with squadron he was assigned
to the metal shop as an AM rate striker. When I returned
from my cruise to Korea in Aug. 1952 both John’s
and I went home for 30 days leave. On our return to
Ream Field we moved off base and shared an ocean front
apartment on Imperial Beach with 2 other HU-1 straight
sailors. Our beach and beer attracted too many friends
to remember, but girls like Georgia, Gwen, Opal, and
Jan are hard to forget. ( I married Jan ).
John
Lazzars pleasant ocean front life changed a bit when
he was assigned to Unit Five aboard the carrier Oriskany
CVA -34 and departed for Korea on 13 Sept. 1952 .
His
most memorable event at sea occured while he was flying
plane guard starboard and aft of the carrier. An F4U
returned from a mission with a ‘hung’
250 pound bomb that the pilot couldn’t release.
The pilot made all the violent maneuvers necessary
to shake the bomb loose, and set his dis-arming switches,
prior to making a normal ‘trap’ landing.
Once his tailhook caught the wire, the bomb broke
loose and catapulted down the flight deck, exploding
on top of #3 elevator. The explosion killed 2 crewmen,
2 others lost arms, and many were less injured. Fortunately
no one was blown off the flight deck into the water.
The F4U caught fire, but the pilot was rescued uninjured
by the fire gang in asbestos suits. The helicopter
received no damage, but the bomb concussion almost
blew out the plexiglass windows. The hole in #3 elevator
was repaired in time for flight ops the following
morning.
After
returning from his tour on the Oriskany, John spent
a few glorious months recovering at our beach front
apartment only to find that he was destined to be
sent to Korea again, this time with a relief
crew
for the cruiser USS Rochester. Sadly, he flew to Japan,
found the ship, and again returned to Ream Field after
6 months duty.
On
5 August 1954, John Lazzar, John P. Jones, and myself
were discharged from the Navy at Ream Field. We three
had a leisurely trip home in my 1949 Ford convertible
with the top down, almost all the way to Seattle.
( My pregnant bride flew home to Salt Lake City until
I found an apartment in Seattle ).
John
Lazzar became an aircraft mechanic for United Airlines
until he retired, John P. Jones completed his education
in architecture and became the premier interior designer
for Westin Hotels. I completed by 35 year career as
a manager with Pacific Northwest Bell.
On
October 10, 2000 I gathered 4 of us that joined the
Navy together for a 50 year reunion. We spent the
afternoon celebrating in a ‘closed’ party
on the retired Navy destroyer USS Turner Joy DD-951
anchored at Bremerton, WA. Note the ‘Old Navy’
tee shirts, which served as our ‘uniform of
the day’. Our host CPO ‘Boats’ that
allowed us on-board wasn’t too happy that we
brought a few beers aboard to go with our lunch -
"just be sure the emptys go ashore with you",
was his closing remarks after the ships tour.
Doug
Froling, John Lazzar, Ray Grover, Paul Norling.
We
usually get together with 20, or so, other Queen Anne
high school Korean War veterans every month for lunch,
some beer, and the latest stories. Every branch of
the Services is represented and a good time is had
by all.
Doug
Froling
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