Robert Sabol:
CLASS OF 1958
St. Francis De Sales High SchoolClass of 1958
Mckees rocks, PA
Robert's Story
Raised in the Rox. Went to St Marks grade school. Graduated in 1958 from St. Francis de Sales in the Rox.
Enlisted in the Army 1962. My MOS
was 723.1 and 723.0. Basic training at
Ft. Gordon, Ga. Company C-2-1., Was transferred to HQ 5-56 In Wilmington, Ohio. May 10th, 1963 shipped out to MAAG, HQ. Came back to U.S.A. May 1964, and was in Co. B special troops, Ft. Knox, Ky. At the Communications center and honorably discharged March 30, 1965. Transferred to USNR Unit 4-42 at Neville Island as a RM 3. That unit was transferred to Forbes Ave in Pittsburgh. I was promoted to RM2. During my time with the Navy Reserves I had to learn about their radio gear and other communications equipment related to my MOS. I had a job with Rox P.D.
1969 - 1972. When my mother passed away I returned to active Duty as a RM2. My first active duty station in 1973 was NAVSTA, Gitmo.
In 1974 I was transferred to Piraeus, Greece which was homeport to the ship I was going to. USS Manley DD-940, and was part of DESRON 12. After my 2year tour on the Manley I Was transferred to the USS Mullinix DD-944. I also received my Enlisted Surface Warfare qualification pin. It was on the Mux that I was appointed as the Catholic Lay Leader. My responsibilities were to hold Catholic services for members of the crew on weekends and Holy days. I also was allowed to distribute the Eucharist to personnel in attendance. The Eucharist was kept in a Catholic Officer stateroom in a separate safe from his personal one. In my capacity as the Catholic Lay Leader I acted as a conduit between the squadron chaplain and the crew. I was allowed to do the readings and Gospel nothing else except Distribute the Eucharist. I would always ask for someone to do the readings. Both the C.O. and X.O. were Catholic and only one of them would attend a service at a time., and I did a Saturday night service and mornings service on Sunday and an afternoon service. That appointment went with me to all my ships. I re-enlisted on her for 6 years more in the Navy. I spent
18 months at NAS Bermuda. In the ASWOC center. Rough duty ( cough, cough. ) (While at Bermuda & Gitmo, and on the ships I was taking college courses in Criminal Justice.) i got assigned to the NAS Bermuda, PD. When they found out I had law enforcement experience. On my off time one weekend I went flying on a P-3 Orion. And one weekend I went up in a chopper piloted by an officer I knew that would come in for commo briefings at the ASWOC center. I had a blast and enjoyed it. When I got transferred I was sent to a communications school in San Diego. After 3 months there I was sent NAS Sigonella, Sicily. Once again I was in the ASWOC communications center. Once again the shore patrol requested some personnel for shore patrol 3 months duty. Yup, I was sent there. It was a good experience because it gave me a chance to practice my Italian.
I was also able to continue my college courses in criminal justice.
I lived out in the local Community.
I had to take an English course as one of my college classes and took Journalism 101. One of the classes our instructor brought the editor of the La Sicilian local paper. We had a Q&A session with him about 15 minutes before the end of the class.
I raised my hand and asked, “ I see men with shotguns at gates guarding places. I heard that they are part of the Mafia.” His response was,”There is no mafia in Sicily.” That wasn’t a satisfactory answer for me and I followed it up with,” I was up in Palermo the other day and a cop knew I was American, asked what I was doing in Palermo and how long I intended to be there?” I told him I just wanted to visit the town and take some photos. He told me, “ not to be in Palermo after 4pm, because there are a lot of shootings and killings by the Mafia. “ Seeing as it was already 3:30, I said yessir, got in my car and left.” His response was “there’s no Mafia in Sicily.” He then thanked our instructor and left.
The next day I went up to a restaurant run by a family that I made friends with and as soon as I stepped into the place, the mother and daughter started saying, “Roberto, there’s no such thing as the Mafia in Sicily., tu Patso, you’re going to end up Morte!” The question threw me off guard, so I asked what they were talking about? The daughter brings over a copy of the La Sicilia paper and on the front page is a picture of th...Expand for more
e class asking questions of the editor and smack dab in the picture is me in a Pittsburgh Pirates tee shirt. I still have the newspaper, but I got rid of the shirt. Lol.
From Sicily I got selected to change rates to a new MOS that the Navy was starting. The Master-at-Arms which was the law enforcement rate onboard ships and on bases. I went to training at Ft McClellan, Alabama.
During my 2nd week of classes I got a fever that put me in the hospital for 10 days My left leg was swollen and I had a red line going all the way up my leg. Diagnosis was I got bit by a brown recluse spider. During my time in the hospital my classmates brought my homework and books to me so I wouldn’t get dropped from the school.
Upon graduation my rate was no longer a Radioman 1st class, but I was now a Master-at-arms 1st class.
We all received new orders. I was sent to COMNAVSUPPACT, London, U.K. Which was in Eisenhower’s old HQ during WWII. I was there from 1984-1985. It was in London that I got my Associates degree from the University of Md. my last two classes were on a history of the papacy ( which I did in Rome) and a class of Greek art and Greek architecture (One week in Athens. ) I was going through some messages that came to my office and saw one requesting crew members in certain rates to be on the Recommissioning crew of the USS Missouri ( BB63 .) I put in my request for the transfer and it got approved. I had cut my London tour short by 6 months. On May 10,1986 the
USS Missouri (BB63 ) was recommissioned in San Francisco,Ca. I am a plank owner. Being a History buff that was the highlight of my military career. I had passed the chiefs exam and was promoted to MAC on our way to Pearl Harbor, HI. That was our first stop on our Around the World cruise and showing our flag. We arrived in Sidney, Australia to take part in the 175 th Anniversary of the Royal Australian Navy. Many ships from all over were anchored out in Sidney Harbor. The Queen of England was there in her yacht. The last day of the celebration was with a fireworks display from the Sidney bridge.
After the celebration and ships were leaving we got a berth at the pier for visitors who wanted to see the Missouri the next day. I was awakened by the petty officer of the watch and told me the OOD wanted me topside right away. This was at 0300. I got dressed and reported to him. He asked what he should do about the crowd on the pier. We went outside and I was aghast. On the pier were approximately 300-400 people jammed there and a line of people 4 rows lining up on the road. We decided to let the C.O. Be aware of the crowd issue and recommend the police come for crowd control. By the time the tour of the ship was to start at 0800 the police estimated the crowd to be a mile and half long and 2-3000 people in line. Extra police had to be called in because of the number of people on the pier itself was dangerously high. We were passing out souvenirs of the ship to the visitors. We ran out of things to give people and started giving a ships mug but one to a family. After our 3rd day in port we were asked to go and anchor out in the harbor again. People were passing out in the crowd from the long waiting in line, so it was a safety measure. I’ll have to look at my cruise book to see how many miles we traveled.
In 1987 because we had 9 chiefs in our security department and top rank heavy 6 of us new chiefs got transferred. I was sent to the USS Mount Vernon. ( LSD 39 ). Homeport, Long Beach, Ca. While on the Mt Vernon we were sent to the Persian Gulf as part of the escorting of tankers going through the straits of Hormuz. I retired off the Mt Vernon as a Chief Master- at -Arms on September 30, 1989 with a combined total of twenty-seven and a half years and 10 years of sea duty.
As of this post I am still serving Masses, I started serving mass in 1950 after making my first Communion at St Marks. I’m a 4th degree in the Knights of Columbus Padre Pio Council 7117, holding the position of Deputy Grand Knight and a member of St Vincent DePaul society. I was active for 8 years in the Prison ministry.
In 2004 I moved out to the Pacific Northwest My current residence for
The Past 16 Years is in SW Washington state.
Besides living all over the world I’ve lived in and Worked in Pa, Aspen, Co., Ketchikan, Alaska, Jacksonville, Fl., Seattle, Wa. and Wakurusa, In.
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