How a trip to the recruiter’s office started a lifelong military career
ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL)- Marine Corps veteran Cecil White was set to be drafted into the Army but decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I got my letter one day from the Army saying that they were going to draft me a certain date. So, I told my wife ‘Well, I don’t think I’m going to let them put me anywhere they want to,” White said.
He visited with several recruiters and the Marines guaranteed him a position with schooling in writing.
“I was in the engine shop- jet engine mechanic. It was our responsibility to keep the engines in top shape so they could fly their missions. You can’t fly one without a good working engine,” White said.
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He spent six months in the U.S.S. America in the Mediterranean, and then he got orders for another six-month tour off the coast of Vietnam.
“We were over there during the wind-down of the Vietnam War- the heavy bombing that went on. There were approximately five carriers on station over there about the same time, so we conducted flight operations over there,” said White. “Some of our pilots actually shot down some MIGS. We lost a couple of planes, but luckily, no loss of lives for our squadron, but there were some in the navy squadrons aboard ship that did lose pilots and things like that.”
White left in 1973 and joined the Naval Reserves about a decade later, where he worked on submarine surveillance aircraft.
“They actually go out patrolling oceans, looking for Russian submarines. The Russians like to spy on us, and they get real close to our coastline,” said White. “They fly the patrols out to detect them, and they drop what they call a sonobuoy from underneath the aircraft. It goes down into the water, and it can pick up any noise that that submarine would create.”
White also joined the Army National Guard for six years working on helicopters.
“I’ve seen things that would have never been possible [without] the military. They were good to me,” White said. I would recommend it to any young person who wants to get their life straightened out and know what it is to serve their country.”
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