Interviewed by:
Spencer Love

"My country may it always be right, but right or wrong, my country."
~ Albert Stecker (13:24)

Albert Stecker's Story

Albert had a normal life as a young boy, but once he reached college he wanted to become a service man of the Navy. He wanted to join the ROTC because they offered great financial benefits. At first Albert asked to be on a Battle Ship, in that Atlantic Ocean, but they put him on a Destroyer, in the Pacific Ocean. He is glad that he got put on a Destroyer because he had a lot more responsibility on the Destroyer, than he ever would have had on the Battle ship. The ship Albert was stationed on was called a Radar Picket Destroyer, this ship had extra radar instead of having torpedoes. This ship's main function was to track down and destroy Kamikaze planes. Albert was mainly stationed off of the South Korean coast line during the Korean war, but he traveled around most of Asia. Albert started out training as a Mid-Ship man, which is the lowest of the low rank wise, he did this for four summers. Albert then trained for seven months to become the officer of the ship. He climbed the ranks from being a non ranked sea man, all the way to becoming the officer of the ship. Albert loved what he did very much. Even though Albert talked about how he feared for his life whilst enemy shells rained down around him, and the hard navigation through mud flats, Albert talks about it as if he was still there, even they way he talks about it shows how much the Navy meant to him. When you listen to his stories you can tell that he truly loves the Navy and has a special place for it in his heart. After 40 years of not being in the Navy, the hardest decision he ever made was leaving the Navy and not making a career out of it, he will never forget the truly memorable experience he shared with me, and neither will I.