Jeff Whetsel:
CLASS OF 1972
Arlington High School 722Class of 1972
Indianapolis, IN
Jeff's Story
Immediately after HS I just kicked it a while. Went to Ball State for spring semester '73. Didn't go to many classes, but didn't miss many parties. Moved down to Columbus IN that summer, got a job in a saw mill, then went to work in an iron foundry. Finally in Dec '75 I joined the Navy. I signed on as a Radioman (which is not a DJ)in the Advanced Electronics Field. Spent the first 18 months in San Diego going through schools. And here I thought I was all through with school! My first duty station was in Australia. It was considered an isolated site (we were outback of the outback, 200 miles to the nearest town) so the tour of duty was only 15 months. I worked at the reciever site some 60 miles from the main base. I worked 4 days and then off 4 days. The base was on the Northwest Cape which is national wildlife refuge. Lots of kangaroos and emus. It was a great place for fishing and diving. But mostly we just got drunk. Joined a band. I played guitar and sang. We did alright. We were booked about every weekend and managed to make some money. In September of '78 I was assigned to the USS Worden, a guided missle cruiser homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. I loved it! Loved the ship, the crew, Japan...it is by far the best duty I ever had in my entire career. The first time I went to sea, we sailed right into the teeth of a Nor'easter with 40' seas and gale force winds to assist a diabled Japanese fishing vessel. That really put the hook in me! This was real high seas adventure. We spent a lot of time at sea, but we were rewarded with some great port visits. We visited Korea, the Phillipines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Kenya, and Australia. All those stories you hear about drunken sailors in foreign ports, they are all true. And after 3 or 4 days of drunken debauchery, we were ready to get back to sea. But it wasn't all fun and games. A routine day at sea could last from 16 to 20 hours. This was the heighth of the Cold War and we were on the front lines. There was constant training and drilling, not to mention the e...Expand for more
veryday work required to maintain the ship. And it was rewarding in other ways. We rescued 4 boats filled with refugees from Viet Nam. And we participated in the failed attempt to rescue the American Embassy staff that had been held captive in Tehran, Iran. In August of '80 the Worden changed homeports to Pearl Harbor, HI. And in October of that year I was reassigned to the staff of the Allied Commander Southern Forces (AFSOUTH) in Naples, Italy. Along the way I married Kate Kennedy. We left for Naples the day after a major earthquake hit the area and killed 5000 people. We were flying into a disaster area. One could make an analogy to our marriage, but I wont. Anyway...I was assigned to the Primary War Headquarters, which turned out to be a hole in a mountain, about 50 miles north of Naples. It was a facility similar to NORAD HQ in Cheyenne mountain (made famous in the movie "Wargames"). It was great duty. I worked a 24 shift, and then was off for 3 days. We saw quite a bit of Italy. Being a history buff and seeing all those places we had read and studied about, made it a very rewarding experience. My father fought in WWII and had landed at Salerno and fought his way to Naples. He fought at Monte Casino and had liberated Rome. So visiting those places had a very special meaning to me. I joined another band. This time I played bass. They didn't like the guy they had, and even though I had never played bass before, I knew I could do better than him. It started out with 7 people and was typical of the bands that was formed overseas by military members. A little bit of rock n roll, a little bit of country...not good, but it didn't suck too bad. We whittled it down to 4 pieces and it became best band I ever played in. We had 2 of the best guitarists I have ever heard, Monty and Alan, and those boys could play anything. Everywhere we played, we stole the show. Other acts refused to go on after us. People said we were the best live band they had heard since the Stones. No brag, just fact. We Rocked! More to follow....
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