Swengel, Charles

RD2 CHARLES FRANKLIN SWENGEL 7 January 1955

I Charles Franklin Swengel was born 24 June 1936, in Nebraska. My eyes are brown and so was my hair. In 1953, my senior year of high school, I enlisted in the USNR and served on weekends at the Naval Air Station, Olathe, Kansas. I joined the regular Navy 3 June 1954, at Kansas City, Missouri. I went to boot camp at San Diego. I was 17 years old.

I, on purpose, “washed out” of cryptology school at Imperial Beach because I did not want shore duty in the Aleutians. I’d joined the U. S. Navy to see the world aboard ship and pursued that goal.

As initial cryptology acceptance required a “secret” clearance (FBI, in home neighborhood with schoolmates interviewed, etc.), when I got aborad USS FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754), I was assigned to file and up-date BuNavOp manuals when not doing mundane side cleaning, yes over-the-side with a bucket, brush, and “Babbo” powder cleaner. I had little conception what the charts, tide, or buoy markers and depth changes really meant. But I knew it was important and made the changes accurately, despite some being outrageously funny at the time, say Peru or Scotland or India. In my adulthood, and with more maturity, I realized the need for such manuals to be up-to-date irrespective of DD-754 being back-andforth from Long Beach to Westpac; dry-dock at Hunter’s Point in San Francisco Bay, etc.

I later took correspondence courses for Radarman and served as such for the last couple of years aboard DD 754. In addition, I was a mail clerk because no Teleman was assigned in port or going into port. I sold money orders, stamps, etc. as might be expected, but really liked the mail duty because it allowed me first man ashore, via the Captain’s Gig, to get the mail sacks. Since the PX or “geedunk” was usually near the Post Office, I could buy the 25 cent malt or hamburger as respite from “SOS” or other ship’s food, which I liked, generally. My worst duties pertained to the 5″ guns in the loading areas or magazines. The blasts really “shook” or startled me.

Generally, my two and a half years aboard FRANK E. EVANS, my only ship except in transit, are recalled with favor and admiration. I never knew of any drug use, contraband, or illegal activities as I’ve overheard others tell about.

As it turned out, I lived less than a mile in Kansas City, Kansas from LTJG Hopson, on the bridge that fateful 3 June 1969. By then, I’d been home 14 years, but what a coincidence of two young men from middle America even being on the same “tin can.”

Chuck currently resides at 12546 Augusta Drive, Kansas City, KN 66109-3196. You can reach him at cswengel@wycokck.org or 913-721-1053 (H), 913-573-5221 (B), or 816-868-7436 ©.