World War II Honoree

Gerry Griffith

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Cleveland, Ohio

Honored By

Gregg Hale

Relationship

Friend

He joined the Navy right after high school when he was still 17 years old. He was a valedictorian in his high school which caught the eye of the recruiter, so they asked him to take the Eddy test which was used to identify men with the aptitude for being trained in the enlisted ranks as electronics maintenance technicians in the Navy. He passed the test and did his 4 month boot camp in Bainbridge, Maryland. After boot camp he moved on to the electronics training in the Great Lakes Naval Station and was trained on nearly every electronics device the Navy used. When that was completed, he was assigned to USS Huntington CL-107. After his time on the USS Huntington, he was assigned to the Naval Air Station at Olathe, Kansas to work on an advanced radar system there, then later to Moffett airfield in Mountain View California. Finally, an emergency arose in Washington, and he was rushed to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington where he finished his Navy service.