Vietnam War Veteran
John K. O'Connell II
Interviewed by
Aidan Sullivan and Cyris DeVries
1969
2016
"I don't have any regrets, I would do the whole thing over again."
~ John O'Connell, (5:12)
Name:
John K. O'Connell
Date of Birth:
April 7, 1950
Branch of Service:
Navy Seals (B.U.D.S)
Dates of Service:
1968 - 1972
Location of Military Service:
Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas
Residence at Time of Interview:
Rockland, MA
John O'Connell's Story:
John O'Connell Navy Seal veteran and graduate of B.U.D.S class or the Basic Underwater Demolition Service. The UDT teams are now known as the Navy seals.
Mr. O'Connell grew up in Braintree, MA and attended Braintree High School until he joined the armed forces in 1968. He began his training in 1968 and finished in 1969.
The Underwater Demolition Teams were the precursor to the Navy Seal teams of today. During his tenure in the Navy as a sailor he went on cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. Mr. O'Connell earned the rank of E4 over his time in the Navy. His former UDT team 21 is now Seal Team 4 one of the few seal teams.
Now John O'Connell is a retired member of the Plasterers and Drywall Union after 25 years and currently drives people with Special Needs. Even after his 4 years in the armed forces Mr. O'Connell continues to give back to his community and country.
John O'Connell earned this medal after completing his training to become apart of the UDT team 22 and the UDT team 21. The medal is known as the Seal Trident and is very prestigious as only about 25% of seal applicants receive it. During Mr. O'Connell's training there what was known as "Hell Week" when all of the trainees were brought to the brink. Even though the training was hard he was one of the first to finish in all of the tests. The training is known to be the toughest in the world. Some of Mr. O'Connell's training consisted of drown testing and close to no sleep for 7 days.
This is a picture of John O'Connell (right) with one of his friends after jumping lessons. During the interview Mr. O' Connell went into detail of how he felt just before the jump and the emotions he had during the jump. The trainees would fly up into the air and sit down on the seats along the side of the plain and wait. Then as soon as that red light flashed in the corner near the door they all stood up waiting for that moment. One by one they all stood up and walked slowing to the large open door at the back of the plane. It takes tremendous bravery to jump out of a plane especially moving as fast as those planes did. When it was his turn to jump he did not hesitate only a last thought about his parachute. If John O' Connell had not jumped he would have been sent home and this interview would not have happened. So thanks to his jumping we were able to have a great interview with a tremendous individual.
This is Mr. O' Connell's graduating class from Buds. Having been in one of the first UDT teams to graduate he had very little knowledge of what his training was. At first John O'Connell wanted to be a pilot, but what the sign-up sheet forgot to mention was that a college degree was necessary to become a pilot. After that he joined UDT training and the rest is history.
This is a naval carrier like the one that Mr. O' Connell sailed on during one of his 3 cruises around the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas. Despite the subpar living conditions Mr. O said to have had some of the best times of his life when travelling the world.
In Memoriam:
This past October Mr. O'Connell's oldest son Sean O'Connell passed away.
Sean was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003,
Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan 2010 - 2011, and 2014.
He was a recipient of the Combat Action Badge and multiple commendations.
He was a beloved son, brother, friend, soldier, and native of Rockland. His full obituary can be found at The Patriot Ledger.