Lessons in Life. Our Veteran's Stories.

L-R, Freddie Lewis, Floyd Campen, Gene Lupton, Tina Foreman Beacham
Photo courtesy O.B. Howerin

     Veteran's Storytelling, Saturday, November 10, 2012

     It's Veteran's Day.  Most of us drop a few lines of remembrance on our Facebook pages or display the American flag.  For me, I learned a truly remarkable lesson this weekend about our Island Veterans and service members.  It was a lesson in sacrifices.
    This past Saturday evening, Gene Lupton, Floyd Campen and Freddie Lewis told about their life experiences of being in the United States Navy and Coast Guard.  All three gentlemen were wonderful storytellers and really offered a glimpse into their lives as servicemen.  From the moment I asked the first question, these men took us back in time....to a time in their lives, where their decision to enter military service would have an enormous and appreciative impact in the present day and in their future.
    To begin the session, I asked for them to talk about the days leading up to their decision to join the service.  Was there someone in the community who had influenced them or was it just a desire to go see the world?  What was going on in the world at the time?  It was the early 1950's and Freddie Lewis had crabbed all summer long and made only $27.00.  Not much money to live off of.  He was newly married to Rhonda Allen and they were trying to make ends meet.  He explained that his father had been a Coast Guardsman, and he knew if he was going to make a better life for him and Rhonda, he needed to do something.  He made his way to Norfolk to the recruiting station and signed up for the Coast Guard.
     For Floyd, he had the opportunity to assist a Coast Guardsman at the old Hobucken Coast Guard Station when it was just a two-story building for aids-in-navigation.  Tom Thumb Caroon was stationed at Hobucken, and on a Christmas Eve night, a beacon light needed repair out in the mouth of Goose Creek.  Tom didn't want to call up any of his men. It was Christmas and they were with their families celebrating the holiday.  So he called up Floyd to come help.  Floyd eagerly met him at the station, rode out the beacon light and they repaired it.  Floyd said, "You know, this could be a good job for me. Riding around in boats, fixing a stray beacon light or marker."  On that night, he was convinced that joining the Coast Guard would be a "fun" job.
     It was  Gene Lupton's senior year of high school.  A Navy recruiter had been to the school looking for new recruits.  Gene had always helped his father on the family farm and working on the water.  It didn't take much for the Navy recruiter to convince Gene that joining the Navy would be an adventure.  Gene graduated on a Friday night and within a couple of weeks he was headed to basic training in Maryland with seven other boys from Pamlico County.
     Freddie and Floyd both went to US Coast Guard basic training in Cape May, New Jersey.  Gene went to Navy basic training in Maryland.  All acknowledged, that to this day they can remember their training instructors and the rigid process that came with "getting them in shape" for their careers.  Freddie remarked that when he arrived in Cape May and was being issued his clothing and equipment, it was the first time in his life he had ever owned two pairs of shoes at one time.  Floyd said his training instructor was a man of 135 pounds "soaking wet" and if you'd have stood him to the head of Oyster Creek on a stiff northeast wind, you could have heard him hollering all the way to Swan Quarter!
     Gene said once he got to Maryland for basic training, over 200 boys from North Carolina was there.  For him, the Navy basic training was only 10 weeks.  Freddie and Floyd had to go for 13 weeks.  Once basic training was over, all of them came home for a couple of weeks to await their orders for their new found careers.  Freddie went to Portland, Maine.  Floyd went to Portsmouth, Virginia and Gene went to Annapolis, Maryland.
     All three men shared many wonderful memories and stories about their careers, their training and their travels.  From their early days in basic training to running supplies via aircraft to Vietnam, the stories they shared was vivid in detail and it was evident they were proud of their accomplishments and proud of their service. Once they got talking and sharing, it was hard for them to stop.  I believe they could have talked until midnight!  But what was most evident of their stories, was all three of these men made sacrifices to better themselves and their families.
     Traveling was a large part of their 20+ year careers.  Gene made many trips to sea on aircraft carriers and C130 airplanes.  Freddie and Floyd on Coast Guard cutters.  All acknowledged that in their early years, they had to leave behind wives, children and their homes to make a better life for their families.  Long stretches at sea, leaving behind the wife to take care of the home, children and family needs was a sacrifice they did not relish.  Whether repairing a channel marker in the Mississippi River, or breaking ice in the North Atlantic for merchant ships to navigate, or making sure our troops had the supplies they needed in Vietnam, these men were committed to stand behind our nation.
     If you missed Saturday nights story telling, you missed a wonderful experience.  Their stories and selfless commitment reinforce life's lessons that we all want our children to learn. By sharing their stories, they have provided our children a deeper history lesson about our communities and our nation. Gene Lupton, Floyd Campen, Freddie Lewis and all of our Island Veterans, service members, and their families are role models.  They have shown young people what it means to be an American. At the heart of their service was their sacrifice for the greater good, a greater country and a greater life. I appreciate all they have told and I hope that by capturing their stories, our future generations can learn from their service.