Veterans History Project

In the summer of 1952, the Korean War was in-progress. Many of the young men and women in the Midwest were joining the various branches of the service. Aldon Eckland (Al) fancied the US Navy. He and his best buddy from school went to the recruiter at the same time and decided to sign up. They had both completed high school and their whole future was in front of them. Al had a job with the local meat processing plant. He worked in the maintenance section and did quite a bit with the boiler part of the heating system. His supervisor told him that if he went into the service, there would always b...