The year was 1965 and George Loughlin and I were scheduled to report to The Great Lakes Naval Training Facility in Illinois just north of Chicago in a week or so. My mother had explained to my younger siblings that I'd be leaving home shortly and would be gone for a long time. I have five sisters and one brother. My sisters are Mary, Tina, Joan, Ann Marie, and Patty. Mary is two years younger than I am, and Tina's a year younger than Mary. They were well aware of the fact that we were involved in the war that was raging over in Vietnam, it was on the news every night. Joan was about eight years old, Ann Marie was four, and Patty was only three months old. The three younger girls were completely oblivious to the fact that there was a war going on, and the U.S. was involved in it. There were nine of us living in a house that was originally built for three or four people. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom. My father added two more bedrooms in the attic, but with nine people in such a small house space was at a premium. Patty being only three months old slept in our parents room in a bassinet, Mary and Tina shared a bedroom on the second floor, Joan, John, and Ann Marie shared a small bedroom on the first floor, and I being the oldest of the lot had my own bedroom on the second floor. My brother John is eleven years younger than I am and, at the age of six years and eleven months old, the only thing that he knew about war came from watching T.V. shows like F-Troop and John Wayne movies. In those days when someone was shot in a movie there was never any blood, and the unfortunate victim usually just closed their eyes and went peacefully off to their great reward. My father had been stationed aboard an LST during WWII and was a coxswain on a landing craft on D-Day. It was obvious that he was concerned with my welfare. He was only seventeen when he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day twenty one years earlier, and the memories of the carnage was still burned into his brain. My mother was slightly concerned but being a woman of unshakable faith had the attitude that “Everything is in Gods Hands”, so she didn't show much emotion about the fact that I might end up in a war zone. Being eighteen years old at the time, and not very smart, I had decided to volunteer to run the river (A River Rat). A River Rat is the name given to those sailors that were assigned to River Patrol Boats (PBRs) over in Vietnam, an extremely dangerous assignment. A couple of days before it was time for George and I to head to Great Lakes my mother explained to brother John that war was very dangerous and there was a possibility that I may not be come back home after the war. He was too young to fully comprehend what she was talking about, but he did know that if I wasn't coming back that there would be an empty bedroom on the second floor. Without skipping a beat, he looked me in the eye and said “If you're killed in the war, can I have your bedroom?” © Jimmy McKee SBHS '65, August 7, 2019


The Rope | The Hut | Saint or Sinner | Wasn't Cut Out To Be A Boy Scout | A Friday Night Party at Mike's

A Brook Tale

Celebration & Inspiration