Family, tradition and honor are words military personnel think of when asked why they enlist. The same is true for Robert Thorson, Tech High School parent and U.S. Navy veteran. Thorson followed in his naval grandparents’ footsteps. He boasts that his grandmother was one of the first officers in the U.S. Navy WAVES, (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) a United States Naval Reserve established in 1942 during World War II.
Thorson was a petty officer third class as an aviation machinist mate, much like his grandfather who was a boatswain petty officer third class. The duo also both served in the NMCB25s (Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25). Later, Thorson served with the military police.
The military stories his grandparents shared throughout his life inspired him.
Thorson’s grandmother was extremely proud of her veteran history, and in particular, her time working with some of the first space monkeys, Abel and Baker.
“Hearing all her stories and hearing my grandfather’s stories talking about when he was at the space station … drove my interest,” explains Thorson.
Now retired, he has his own stories to share.
Thorsen remembers the night before the 9/11 attack as clearly as if it were yesterday. He’d been driving home from work and had a strange feeling as he looked toward the sky but shook it off. He was awakened the next morning by his wife telling him that his commanding officer was on the phone. The officer was calling because there had been an attack on U.S. soil. He was needed at base immediately.
“When I did report to base, walked in the hangar bay, people were crawling all over the aircraft trying to get them up and running,” recalls Thorson. “We had three aircraft that were down and one that was up and running. Down meaning they weren’t able to fly out. … It was like ants on an ant hill. … We helped in getting a bunch of the Navy SEALs, main military personnel, cargo and tanks over to the middle east right after that occurred. When the commanding officer came in, you could hear a mouse squeak. … The commanding officer shouted, ‘That’s what I want to see.’ He took off his flight jacket and climbed up on the aircraft and started working.”
For the next several days, work was at a high tempo. Thorson slept sitting or standing and ate when he could. He couldn’t even contact his wife. Work was never the same again.
After 9/11 and while in the reserves, Thorson met his friend Jaime Jaenke. She assisted him with a field exercise and a medical emergency, and the two became good friends. After the pair came back home, Thorson was not allowed to deploy to Iraq with his unit due to medical reasons.
He still remembers the day Jaenke ran up to him and exclaimed, “Hey, I get to go in your spot!”
She was deployed for convoy security. Three or four days later in Iraq, she was killed.
Now he looks at that memory as a second lease on life.
“When Veterans Day came around, and when we had the mobile wall of vets that had passed away, I was able to find her picture,” says Thorson tearfully. “To know that I can celebrate that on Veterans Day. I try to celebrate it [second lease on life] every day.”
As he remembers the past, Thorson looks to the future. His son, Matt, wants to follow in his footsteps into the Navy after high school. Although his grandmother has passed, he hopes his grandfather will watch their next generation carry on the family tradition with honor.
I AM honorable. I AM U.S. Navy. I AM a veteran.
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