| |
"The
first Navy Veterans' Organization created on, and for, the World Wide Web."
Founder
Edward C. Reese, NCCS, USN, Retired
Malvin Stern
|
|
Malvin Stern at Sampson 1945
|
Plank Owner
Member in good standing
NAVetsUSA
Malvin Sanford Stern
USS Casa Grande
(LSD-13)
|
USS Casa Grande (LSD-13)
Rose V. DeLibero and Malvin S Stern
Mal Stern 2006 sitting near the NAVetsUSA recruit
mobile.
My name is Sondra J. Stern and this is my story.
One day I surfed to a website called NAVetsUSA.com, a web site
dedicated to Navy veterans. On NavetsUSA.com, a Navy veteran can
get their own web page, complete with pictures of their choice and their
story. They can also look up, and find, other veterans they served
with. NavetsUSA.com does a great service to Navy veterans. Through this
wonderful web site, I discovered a whole new pride for my father, a WWII
era Navy Veteran. I am driven to find out his story and put it on
his web page http://www.navetsusa.com/members/mstern.html
on
NavetsUSA.com. My father is in ill health now, I pray he will recover enough
to tell me what I want to know about his service in the WWII Navy.
I have many questions for him. I have so far learned that he went to boot
camp at Sampson Naval Basic Training Camp, which happens to be about an
hour and a half from where I live. I am so excited about this
as I am planning a trip there to learn more about his beginnings in the
Navy.
I just returned from a wonderful trip to Sampson WW-2 Navy Museum.
I would love to tell you all about it.
First, let me tell you a little something about Sampson Naval Training
Station. It was established in 1942, trained 411,429 young men to
become sailors, and sent them off to participate in the greatest conflict
of modern times, World War 2. With the training schools, ships company
and the largest Naval Hospital on the eastern sseaboard, almost 1 million
people were associated with this important facility.
This Navy Memorial Museum is dedicated to these boys, turned into
men, and especially to those men who did not return and made the ultimate
sacrifice for their country.
The Museum itself has been created by the thousands of members of
the Sampson WW-2 Navy Veterans organization.
I arrived at Sampson, Saturday, July 23. I immediately went
to work looking for my father. Without knowing my dad's company number,
I searched through hundreds of company photos. I called my dad from
Sampson to ask his company number but, his memory could not produce it.
So I searched on. I also looked through books of thousands of names
hoping, with luck, that I would come across his name.
Although I never found him, I swelled with pride that I was standing
in a place my dad once stood. I saw the dentist chair, the original,
that my dad once sat in.
I had one thought as I searched for my father's face in photos and
his name in books,
these faces and names are why I am free.
I have a tremendous respect for WW-2 veterans and all veterans as
they have kept us free.
My dad told me that when he arrived at Sampson, May 1945, there
was no roon at the inn so to speak, he was made to sleep on a pool table
in one of the many buildings that once made up Sampson. He told me
he could hardly walk the next day after sleeping on the table.
When I spoke with my dad, after my visit, he told me I had brought
back so many memories for him, good ones he explained.
The museum itself is a treasure trove of artifacts from Sampson's
day. It was awesome to think of all those thousands of men who were
so eager to fight for our freedon. If you ever get a chance to visit Sampson,
I highly recommend it. While you are there, remember why you are
free.
Sondra J Stern
 
Join now if you want yours own
Plank
Owners Home Pages at NAVetsUSA
Get your "Navy Veteran
of the United States of America" Business
Cards, Ball Cap and more
Who
We Are How to Join Members
Page HomePage IndexNavy
News
Naval HistoryShip
Locator LinksFeedback CreditsNAVetsUSA
Events
Send comments to navetsusa@earthlink.net
Founded by Edward C. Reese, NCCS,
USN Retired
NAVetsUSA is updated daily
|