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Transcript of Oral History Interview with Tommy McCalvin.
Feb. 19,2011
Kernersville, North Carolina
Nick Waldrop: Interviewer Nick Waldrop interviewing Tommy McCalvin on February 19, 2011
at Tommy's home in Kernersville, North Carolina. Can you tell me when and where you were
born?
Tommy McCalvin: Port Saint Joe, Florida. June 18, 1966
Waldrop: And ... what branch of the military did you join?
McCalvin : US Navy
Waldrop: When did you join the navy?
McCalvin: June 22, 1988
Waldrop: Alright, why did you join?
McCalvin: The town I lived in was just a small town, just wanted to get out of town and see the
world.
Waldrop: So how old were you when you joined?
McCalvin: Twenty Two
Waldrop: Twenty Two. Did you initially plan to join the navy or did you want to serve in
another branch?
McCalvin: US Air Force is what I originally started trying to go into but they kept making me
take the ASVAB test, which is the armed services vocational aptitude battery test or something.
It's what everybody has to take to get into the military. So I took it four times within two
months and ... they kept saying that the ... some scores, I mean I passed with flying colors but the
scores were not jiving for some reason and they never really did explain that. So I walked out of
the ... after the fourth time of taking the test at the air force I walked straight outta there and
walked into the navy recruiting and a month later I was in San Diego, California.
Waldrop: Alright, so how long did you serve in the navy for?
McCalvin: Four years
Waldrop: Four years. Alright, so you ... chose to go with the navy, went to San Diego ... that's
where you did basic training?
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�McCalvin : Yes
Waldrop: So what was basic training like?
McCalvin: It was eight weeks of... intense torture [chuckles], no they put you through things
that, you know, they wanted to test your mental stability. You know see if you could take the
rigorous life of the navy, so they put you through everything to see if they could ... break you for
lack of a better word. I mean ... because being in the military is a stressful thing sometimes so
they wanted to make sure you weren't gonna get in there and freak out. It was learning to, you
know, use a rifle and a pistol and it was ... kind of ... basically showing you what life was gonna be
like in the military and .. .it was a lot of exercise. A lot of running, a lot of pushups, a lot of extra
work and it was hot. It was June in San Diego, California and it was hot. [chuckles]
Waldrop: You said they tried to break you, did you ever witness anybody being ... broken?
McCalvin: Oh yea. People left all the time.
Waldrop: How do you ... how do they just leave basic training?
McCalvin: Well .. .it's a little known fact but when you actually join the military you actually have
six months ... 180 days to actually ... decide whether you're gonna leave or not. You know, they
don't tell everybody that but if you decide in that first six months that the military is just not for
you then you can opt out and ... get out of the military and just sign ... there's a little more to it
than that. You can't just say I'm done, they try to get you to stay and they do other things but
for the most part if they are set on leaving they let them leave. You know, because they don't
want anybody in there that doesn't want to be in there. Especially in the first six months.
Waldrop: Did you ever ... think about leaving? I mean was basic training that bad for you that you
were just like I can't handle this.
McCalvin: Oh, there was times when ... when I was thinking ... man four years of this but then I got
to talking to my company commander and he said listen ... lt's not gonna be like this for four
years or however long you stay in the navy. And he said trust me, I've been in for twelve,
fourteen years. He said it's not like this. I said ok, so ... he talked me out of it.
Waldrop: So when you were in basic training did you ... were you confined to the base for the
entire eight weeks.
McCalvin: Yes
Waldrop : So you didn't get to ... explore San Diego, or ...
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�McCalvin: No, I actually did my ... after I graduated from boot camp I actually did my ... extra
training to be a engineman ... diesel mechanic in San Diego. So, I mean, that's when I got to
explore the San Diego night life.
Waldrop: So while you were in basic training ... were you able to talk with your family or your
parents or anything like that?
McCalvin: Letters but not talk. Just write letters.
Waldrop : So you got out of basic training, when was that?
McCalvin: ... end of August, first of September.
Waldrop: 1988?
McCalvin: Uh huh, Yes
Waldrop: So you got out of basic training and then you said you went to train to be an
engineman?
McCalvin: Yes
Waldrop: What was that like?
McCalvin : It was like being in college really, I mean you were in ... you had class work that you
did and then you ... after a certain amount of time. It was a twenty-six week course, no, I take
that back. Thirteen week course and so the first couple weeks you were doing mainly class work
and then after that you did class work in the morning and then you went out and actually
turned a wrench and started working on equipment. It was ... it was kind of interesting.
Waldrop: So you say it was kind of like college ...did you still have to live on base or did you ...
McCalvin: I could've lived wherever I wanted but yea I lived on base.
Waldrop: So did you still have duties to perform on base while you were ...
McCalvin: Yes
Waldrop : ... taking your classes.
McCalvin: We had ... we had to stand guard duty .. .for a twenty four hour period. I mean not
twenty four hours at a time but we were confined to the base for twenty four hours. You had
your normal workday from seven to four and then if you were on duty you had to stay and
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�stand guard duty during certain times. So you did that every six days ... it was like every six days
you couldn't leave the base. Kind of like a fireman. [Chuckles]
Waldrop: So did you get, while you were in class, did you get weekends off ...or was it like you
went everyday to class?
McCalvin: Well no you went...yea you got weekends off, you went Monday through Friday and
then if you weren't on duty Saturday and Sunday, then you had Saturday and Sunday off.
Waldrop: Ok. Alright, so after basic training was done where did you go? What did you do?
McCalvin: Well after I got through with my schooling in San Diego I went to the USS New Jersey,
which is a battleship, and reported for duty on the battleship and started doing my daily
job ... being an engineman.
Waldrop : So how long did you serve on the New Jersey?
McCalvin: Eighteen months.
Waldrop: Eighteen Months. So what was your responsibilities while you were on the New
Jersey?
McCalvin: We made sure that the generators, we had two diesel generators that would ... if the
ship went...lost power, we could start the generators up and run the ship ... through the
generators. So that was part of my job making sure that the generators were kept and
maintained and ready to be used. And then we also took the oil pressure sensors on the
bearings on the shaft, for the ship and took care of the low pressure and high pressure air
systems and the bilge pumps. Basically took care of the drinking water, the air conditioners, just
everything that had to do with the engineer part we were part of taking care of it.
Waldrop: So ... so while you were on the New Jersey ... did you guys sail around or were you
patrolling the coast of the United States?
McCalvin: We went out for short training periods, like maybe thirteen or fourteen days. Then
we deployed to overseas and went to Pusan, Korea and different places like that. We went out
for a six month cruise. So we were out from our home port for six months and then we visited
different cities of the world and different countries.
Waldrop: So what...l guess do you know why you were going out? What was the mission I
guess .. .for going?
McCalvin: Just...just to let our presence to be known. We went out with a battle group where
there was like ... one battleship ... two aircraft carriers ... three or four cruisers and different ships
which kind of went as a group and we went to different places just to let the world know that
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�we were there. Just kind of ...like customer relations. Let them know that we were there and we
weren't there to start any trouble but we were there if the trouble started.
Waldrop: Ok. So you served for eighteen months on the New Jersey. What did you do after
serving on the New Jersey?
McCalvin: I went to ... the David H. Hill, which is a cruiser, and was there for six months and then
went to the USS New Jersey for two years .... just about ... close to two years and then they
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decommissioned the USS New Jersey on March 31 of 1992 ... and we went overseas and we
were actually in the Gulf War, the first Gulf War.
Waldrop: On the New Jersey?
McCalvin: No, on the Missouri.
Waldrop : So you went to the David H. Hill and then the Missouri?
McCalvin: Yes.
Waldrop: Ok. So ... what's a cruiser?
McCalvin : It has like smaller ...it has like guided missiles and it has five inch guns. It's just a
smaller ship than the battleships and other ships. The battleship had fifteen-hundred people on
it and the cruiser had about six-hundred.
Waldrop: And then ... was your job pretty much the same on the David H. Hill?
McCalvin: Yes.
Waldrop : And what about on the USS Missouri?
McCalvin: Same.
Waldrop: Same job. So ... you said the Missouri was a... carrier?
McCalvin: No, a battleship.
Waldrop: It was a battleship. So you said you were in the Gulf War while you were serving on
the Missouri?
McCalvin: Yes.
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Here Tommy is referring to the USS Missouri. After serving on the David H. Hill he went to serve on the USS
Missouri and served on it until the ship was decommissioned on March 31, 1992.
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�Waldrop: Were you guys here when the Gulf War broke out or were you overseas at the time?
McCalvin: We were ... we were here originally and then, but we were ... before the actual war
broke out we were actually leaving to go overseas but then we got rerouted to serve in the
Persian Gulf.
Waldrop: Did you have any idea about the situation that was developing? Was there any kind of
talk like, oh there might be a war or something?
McCalvin : Not before I joined the navy but yea ...six, eight months before the actual war broke
out we knew that tensions were getting tough over there and that Saddam Hussein was a
maniac and he was gonna probably, eventually need to be taken out and unfortunately we
didn't finish the job so that's why we're there now.
Waldrop : So ... did you think that the Missouri was going to be called up to actually fight in the
war or ...
McCalvin : We pretty much figured we were because usually in every battle group there's a
battleship, maybe even two battleships, and like I said two or three aircraft carriers and
numerous other ships so we pretty much knew, maybe not that we were gonna be in the
Persian Gulf but we knew we were gonna be somewhere ... defending our troops.
Waldrop: So ... when you guys went to the Persian Gulf, did your job stay the same or did you
have additional combat duties you had to perform?
McCalvin : I was in charge of the small boat units and I had to go out with the explosive
ordinance teams to, like if a mine was found in the Persian Gulf, I rode on the small boat units
in order to make sure that the boat was still running and if it broke down be able to fix it, and
they went out and blew up mines so I rode with them. That was part of my job. Any time we did
anything that involved the small boats I was part of it. Whether we were refueling or whether
we were refueling helicopters or going out and blowing up mines I was in charge of that, so I
had to go. So it might be two o'clock in the morning or it could be noon, whenever they had to
go I had to go with them.
Waldrop : What was it like having to go out and blow up land mines? I mean was it scary?
McCalvin: Well it wasn't landmines, it was ...
Waldrop : Sorry, sea mines.
McCalvin: Yea, we had ... there were certain things that you always knew that .... the responsibility
that ...if the mine wasn't stable, doing the wrong thing could end up blowing you and other
people up. I remember one time they slapped the C4 on it and we rode off fifty, sixty yards and
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�then hit the button and it didn't blow up. So the captain said give it thirty seconds and then go
back and check on it and I'm like just drop me off here I'll just dog paddle until y'all get back.
When you hit the C4, when you hit the button to blow the C4 up and it don't blow up then
something's wrong. Luckily it blew up within fifteen seconds and we didn't have to go back and
check on it.
Waldrop: So was that ... while you were doing that was there ever any times where you were
kind of under enemy fire or anything like that? Or was it pretty much night time missions or
something like that?
McCalvin: No, we were out day and night. We never actually got fired on while we were
blowing mines and everything but we actually got a missile shot at us. We were all sitting there
doing our jobs and next thing you know they come over the intercom and they're like brace for
shock missile inbound on the starboard side, which is the right side of the ship, and we're sitting
there and at that point I really realized ... ! mean I realized that we were in a war when we were
blowing up mines but when we actually had a missile shot at us I kind of realized that hey we're
in a war and I looked at my buddy and said "hey, you know we're in a war right now right?" And
he was like, "yea," he says, "it's actually coming more clearer every day." Then the missile went
over us and then it turned around and come back and they said missile inbound port side ... and
actually a British ship blew up the ... because we have what they call a CWIS, which is Close
Interval Weapon System, it looks like R2D2, it's got like a Gatling gun that shoots 3000 rounds
per minute and it blows up planes and missiles and stuff like that. Well it was a glitch in the
system and it kind of like shut down and so were kind of like sitting ducks, and a British ship
shot the missile down for us. When we actually got into port later on I found some British
sailors and bought them a round of drinks because we didn't really know which Brit ... we just
heard that it was a British ship that shot the missile down. In turn ... you never know what really
is gonna happen but in turn I kind of felt like they saved our lives.
Waldrop: So how long were you guys over there during the Gulf War? I mean were you there
the whole time?
McCalvin: No, we were there for about a month but the actual Gulf War only lasted about
seventeen days. Which really doesn't sound like much compared to the wars that we've had in
the past, and the war that we're in now, but seventeen days in a war is more than I wanted to
be in.
Waldrop : So you said you kind of ... when it first broke out, until that missile started coming
toward your ship would you say like it kind of had a surreal feeling? You knew you were in a war
but you didn't really feel like it because you weren't actually fighting enemies ...
McCalvin: Yes. I mean it was ... we weren't hand to hand combat or anything like that we were
actually ... in the ... we actually ... like when our troops went in we actually lended ground fire to
'em. We shot missiles or we shot the sixteen inch guns to ...
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�Waldrop: Soften them up?
McCalvin : Pave the way, yea pave the way for them to get in and everything. We didn't
really ... we really didn't think about it until the missile shot at us and we were like "whoa, we're
in a war."
Waldrop: So you said you were over there for a month. What did you do after the war was
over?
McCalvin: We went to Australia and Hobart, Tasmania which is an island off the coast of
Australia. Went to Singapore, no, not Singapore. We went to Thailand and just relaxed. Like I
said seventeen days isn't much of a war but it's more of a war than I wanted to be in.
Waldrop: So how long did you get to stay in Australia?
McCalvin: We were in Australia for ... six days. We were in Hobart, Tasmania for three days and
we were in Thailand for four days and we went to several other ports. I've been all over the
world and seen places that ... unless I strike it rich I'm not ever gonna be able to see again but I
really enjoyed my time in the navy to be able to see those. I was lucky. There's people that
don't even really see the outskirts of their state and I've been all over the world so I consider
myself very lucky. Being able to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef is something that most
people will never experience.
Waldrop: So when you went to these different ports, Australia and Singapore and stuff, did you
get shore leave? Did you get some time to go into the cities?
McCalvin : Yes. When you're out ... when you're away from your home port you have duty every
three days so if you're not on duty then you can go out and explore the city and meet new
people and party and do whatever. As long as you're back for your duty they didn't really care
what you do as long you don't get in trouble or hurt anybody.
Waldrop: So when you went into Singapore and Pusan and places like that, obviously they're
not English speaking countries, was there kind of a communication problem or were you able to
find your way around pretty easily?
McCalvin: Yea a lot of times if you met somebody, I remember when we were in Singapore, it
was Christmas time and we met these two American girls and they could speak a little Chinese,
Singapore is under Chinese rule, so they invited us for Christmas dinner and they gave us a slip
of paper that had their address on it written in Chinese, so we gave it to the cab driver and he
took us to the place that was supposed to be what was on the address and it was like this big
huge mansion and I'm like "I don't think is the right place." So I went up and rung the buzzer
and they asked "can I help you," and I was like "yea, we're two American sailors here for
Christmas dinner," and they said "yea, come on in." So we told the cab driver that was fine and
come to find out that it was the ambassador of Singapore from America ... it was his daughter
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�that we met and a friend of hers. So we went in and had a nice Christmas dinner and it was kind
of interesting.
Waldrop: So did you have any other kind of experiences like that anywhere else?
McCalvin : Hobart, Tasmania . We had just left Australia and I had twenty five dollars to my name
and, so I decided I was going to go the casino and try to take that 25 dollars and turn it into
more money. About 20 minutes later I was broke. So I sat next to an American guy and just
watched him and he was racking up money, racking up money and I guess he got tired of me
watching him and he took a dollar coin and put it into the machine I was sitting in front of, the
one I had been playing all along, and he said go ahead and hit it if you get anything It's yours. I
hit it, won 476 dollars, cashed it out, gave him his dollar back and partied for two days. Left
Australia with a few little trinkets, bought a hat for my dad and some stuffed animals for my
nephew and stuff. Left with 25 dollars, so I left with the same amount of money I came in with.
It was kind of interesting.
Waldrop: Yea. It sounds pretty fun. So you said you served on the Missouri for two years. The
Gulf War was what '91? You serve your month or whatever in the Gulf War and then you just
spend the rest of your time sailing around port to port?
McCalvin: Yes.
Waldrop: When did you finally come back to the United States?
McCalvin: June ... May, May or June of '91.
Waldrop : Ok. Did you guys come back and then hang out here for a little bit here then go back
out?
McCalvin: Like I said we would go out for like 14 days or 6 days or whatever just kind of out in
the middle of the ocean firing off our guns and stuff like that just to keep in practice.
Waldrop: So where was your home port?
McCalvin : Long Beach, California.
Waldrop: Ok.
McCalvin: Terminal Island.
Waldrop: Ter?
McCalvin : Terminal Island is where I was actually stationed at in Long Beach
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�Waldrop : So ... after ...when did you get out of the navy?
McCalvin : I actually got out early because they were decommissioning the Missouri. So I
actually got to take 30 days, or 90 days early out, so I actually got out March 31, 1992. Then I
kind of just hung out. I cashed out my vacation, I had some vacation, so I got money for that
and they paid me for the next three months so I got a lump sum of money... that's really not
good for a guy that's 26 years old and never had that much money in his life to go out and have
12 or 14 thousand dollars. I didn't save it, I blew it. I kind of partied for the next three or four
months, and kind of chilled out.
Waldrop : You were still in California?
McCalvin: Yes.
Waldrop: So ... you got out of the navy when you were 26. Why didn't you stay in?
McCalvin : It got too political. I felt like, that if I was doing my job and doing the job to the best
of my ability that I should be able advance in rank and people should leave me alone and let me
do my job. It got to the point where people were wanting you to kiss their butt and if you didn't
kiss their but then you kind of stayed the same rank you were. Even though you were passing
your test ... you had to pass the test and then if you passed the test to advance in rank, then you
had to go through a board and they decided whether you were gonna advance in rank or stay
the same rank. I got passed over twice and just got done ...done with it.
Waldrop: So what rank were you when you joined the navy?
McCalvin: I was an E2
Waldrop: E2. Did you advance at all?
McCalvin : Yes. I was an E4 when I got out.
Waldrop : So is that like right below an officer?
McCalvin: Well no, you go from El to E9. E9 is a master chief and then ... enlisted ...l was called an
enlisted sailor. .. they're .. .from E1 to E9 and then you have warrant officers which are enlisted
men that switch over to officers and then you have the officers. Basically an ensign is an officer
but he's just an overpaid E4. He's the lowest ofthe low as far as officers.
Waldrop: So you got of the navy when you were 26. You spent three months in California. What
did you do after that?
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�McCalvin: Came back to Georgia and just kind of chilled out for a little bit. Then got a job with a
trucking company and worked it for a while. Then I liked the trucking business so I decided to
move to North Carolina in 2003 and met a beautiful woman and just started a family.
Waldrop: Why didn't you ... did you try and go to school after you got out of the navy? Could you
go on the G. I. Bill or anything like that?
McCalvin: Yea I started college and then I got to the point where I needed to make a living so I
decided to just put college on hold for a little bit and go to work, and then I started making
really good money and decided "what I need to go to college for?" So I never went back and
have been working ever since.
Waldrop: Alright. Do you keep in contact with any of your shipmates?
McCalvin: Yea through facebook. I've written a few letters to different people before. I got
introduced to facebook before facebook was introduced to the world. There's a couple that I
talk to on the phone and everything. Yea I've kept in touch with them. Then there's people that
I met while I was in the navy that they weren't in the military and I've kept in touch with them .
It's kind of interesting.
Waldrop: So do you ever think back ... about ... why you didn't stay in. Do you kind of regret
getting out after four years?
McCalvin: Yea there's times that I wish that I had've stayed in, I would've actually pulled my
twenty year duty in 2008, I would've been in the military for 20 years but then I look at ... I guess
as far as God ... God is gonna let me ...you know my life is gonna work the way God wants it to
work and I would've met my family one way or another somehow if that was the family I was
supposed to be with . I regret not goin in for ... staying in for 20 years but I also am glad that I got
out and was able to meet my family and get married and have the family that I have.
Waldrop: Ok. Do you ... are you part of any veteran's organizations or anything like that?
McCalvin: I'm a member of the VFW and ... military.com has like an organization where it's kinda
like a friends thing where you can hook up with friends that were in the military or maybe just
meet somebody locally that was in the navy and just kind of hook up with them and kind of talk
about their experiences and your experiences.
Waldrop: So are you really active in that or just kind of ... ?
McCalvin: Not as much as I used to be but it's always there and you can go back in any time and
check your messages and get back in touch with the people you've talked to.
Waldrop: Do they have reunions or anything like that?
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�McCalvin: Not as far as being sanctioned by the US navy but I'm sure that if you got with a few
buddies, your shipmates, and talked with them and y'all wanted to meet up with each other I'm
sure you could work that out too.
Waldrop: Ok. Weill guess that's .... is there anything that you'd like to say that I haven't asked
you yet?
McCalvin: I'm thankful for the military. I think that it would be good for any young person to go
into and experience. My advice to anybody out there that was thinking about joining the
military, join for two years, see if you like it. That way if you join for two years you're only in
there for two years. If you join for four years and you don't like it then you're in there for four
years. Two years would be the minimum that you could join for, join for two years and see if it's
what you like then go from there.
Waldrop: Alright, ok well thank you.
McCalvin: You're welcome.
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Appalachian State University American Military History Course Veterans Oral History Project
Description
An account of the resource
Each semester, the students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers. The oral histories are permanently available in the Appalachian State University Special Collections. The project is supervised by Dr. Judkin Browning, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University and all interviews are transcribed by the student interviewers.
Copyright Notice:
Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project’s audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, University Archives and Records, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC).
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
McCalvin, Tommy
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Waldrop, Nick
Interview Date
2/19/2011
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
0:35:52
File name
2013_063_McCalvin_Tommy_interview
2013_063_McCalvin_Tommy_transcript
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Tommy McCalvin, 19 February 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Waldrop, Nick
McCalvin, Tommy
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="UA.5018. American Military History Course Records" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/167" target="_blank">UA.5018. American Military History Course Records</a>
Rights
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Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used.
Extent
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12 pages
Language
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English
English
Type
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Sound
Subject
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Persian Gulf War, 1991
Veterans
McCalvin, Tommy
Personal narratives, American
United States
Interviews
Description
An account of the resource
Tommy McCalvin enlisted in the US Navy in 1988 and fought in the 17-day Gulf War aboard the USS Missouri. He was trained as a diesel mechanic and his job was to blow up sea mines. He left the military after four years and recommends that anyone who is interested in joining, go for two years at first.
ASVAB Test
David H. Hill
diesel mechanic
Gulf War
San Diego
seamines
Singapore
Tommy McCalvin
US Navy
USS Missouri
USS New Jersey
VFW