From the Farm to the Fleet

About the Book

This memoir goes from a farm in rural South Dakota in 1925 through an entire thirty-one year career in the United States navy until the author´s retirement in 1974. He reports on his progression from a junior officer aboard a destroyer in the Far East in 1947 to a tour as Commanding Officer of a missile cruiser in 1971. He served aboard ten different ships and was privileged to command four different ships. He served as an aide to a fleet commander in chief as well as the Commanding Officer of a Naval Communications Station in Greece.

About the Author

Robert Thorson had never met a naval officer or seen a navy ship when he enlisted in 1943. After graduating in a high school class of 43 students, he entered a Navy college training program at the University of Minnesota and found himself at one of the largest undergraduate universities in the country. The Navy chose his major and he earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree and was commissioned an Ensign in February 1946. He served in ten ships, commanding four of them, and retired as a Captain, U. S. Navy in 1974.