My father James D. Hower, Sr, had a short Navy career of 9 months. He enlisted near the end of WWII and was stationed at Camp Peary, Virginia. He and my mother lived a small apartment in what is now Colonial Williamsburg. When the war ended he was offered an early out when the armed services were down sizing. Throughout my youth, he often mentioned that he wished he would have stayed in.
Although his time in the Navy was limited he encouraged me and my brother to pursue a career in the military. My older brother, James D. Hower, Jr. had a 15-year career in the Navy. He went to boot camp at Great Lakes, obtained an appointment to the Naval Academy from our congressman, went to Naval Academy Preparatory School in Bainbridge MD and then on to Annapolis, graduating in 1971. He separated from the Navy as a Lieutenant.
Through his and my father’s urging, I eventually joined the Navy while still a senior in high school under the delayed entry program. Like my father and brother, we were employed in the textile industry and worked at the same mill. Unlike my father, we had the opportunity to leave the small town Pennsylvania mill worker life and see the world.