Hedrick, John (Interview transcript and video), 2017

Smither, James (Interviewer)

John Hedrick was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1930. In 1951, he applied and was accepted into the Navy’s Naval Officer Procurement program, which would lead to him becoming an officer. He received basic training in San Diego, California, then reported to Newport, Rhode Island for officer training. He was commissioned in June 1952 and reported to the USS Estes (AGC-12). While aboard the Estes, he witnessed Operation Ivy nuclear tests at Eniwetok, specifically the testing of the first hydrogen bomb in November 1952 and the subsequent test of a smaller nuclear bomb. John was then reassigned to the USS Mahoning County (LST-914), most likely sometime in the spring of 1953. Aboard that ship he went up to Alaska for a resupply mission of bases on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. In 1954, he was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, and left Japan in early 1955. He was discharged in San Diego in March 1955. He joined the Navy Reserve and served with units in Newton, Kansas, Kansas City, and Chicago until he retired in 1974 as a commander.

2017-02

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Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401.

Veterans History Project (U.S.)

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