Mom and I have struggled with this next chapter of Dad’s life, not because she didn’t know his stories, but because she struggled to organize them chronologically. We decided to only state the dates that we could verify. His stories may not be in order but we did want to share as many of them as possible. He enlisted in the Navy in March, 1963 and was discharged in February, 1967. He had enlisted in Anchorage and was honorably discharged in San Diego. At that time, he listed Gresham, Oregon as his permanent address. While in the service, he received the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal. The latter was important years later when he applied for medical VA benefits. He didn’t consider either metal as being significant, because he never set foot in Vietnam. San Diego was his home port whenever the Sea Fox was not patrolling in the Pacific. He did talk about shore leave in Hawaii and in Japan.

While in San Diego, he renewed his love of cars. At that time, he owned a 1956 Ford Crestline Victoria that he entered in formal drag race competitions. Also at that time, he had participated in a racecar training program. After his strokes decades later, that training allowed him to continue driving because it was an automatic function. He often talked about his love of that Ford, and the fun that he had racing.

While still in the Navy, Dad had started dating his future wife, Kay. They married in San Francisco in April, 1967. Their first son, Robert, was born later that year. After the wedding, they made their first drive to Iowa for Harry to meet his in-laws. Dad liked to say that subsequent trips from Washington to Iowa were straight through drives, stopping only for gas and food. Mom was always quick to say that would never be how we would travel. Kay and Harry had their second son, John, in Portland four years later. Harry had a number of jobs during the years of living in Portland, but he spoke most often about being manager of a Western auto store while he was still in his mid-20s. He told of resigning that position when he refused to lay off most of his staff. The new manager, of course, followed the directive, and laid off the staff, but Harry was proud of standing by his principles.

Part 3 will move on to Dad’s time as a father to his human sons and his career in automotive repair.