World War II Honoree

Melvin Gilbert Heck

Hometown

Snohomish, Washington

Honored By

Terry Heck

Relationship

Son

He was declared 4F by the examining physician, due to a bad heart, and was not allowed to serve in the US Armed Forces. In 1940, he entered into a 3 year machinist apprenticeship at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, and became a journeyman machinist for the US Navy Civil Service. He worked on many of the US Navy's ships during World War II, when they were at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for repairs, overhaul or refit, including but not limited to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) aircraft carrier. Late in the war, and for a time after the war, he also worked as a machinist for the US Navy at the Keyport Naval Torpedo Station, where he was on a crew that helped develop a new type of air-launched torpedo. Even though he never saw battle during the War, due to his 4F status, he later succumbed to asbestosis when he was 71, due to frequent exposure to airborne asbestos when he worked on the US Navy's ships at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for repair during World War II.