HONOR OUR VETERANS

CESARE "CID" CERCHIAI

Age: 71

Hometown:  East Hampton, NY

Branch of Service:  NAVY

Rank:  Boatswain's Mate

Years of Service:  1955 to 1959

Duty Station: USS Cotten DD 669

Military Biography:  Bootcamp at Bainbridge, Maryland and A school destroyer duty USS Cotten DD 669.  Two Caribbean cruises and two Mediterranean cruises, one to South America across to West Africa, south to Cape Town crossing the equator which made me a "shellback".  North to Kenya, Pakistan, and Ethiopia for 6 months.  Patrolled the Red Sea during the war between England and Egypt when the Suez Canal was blockaded.

Most Memorable Moment:  When the air vent hatch near the officer's mess became unsecured I was sent to secure it.  Seas were high but not breaking over the bow.  I put on my life jacket and was securing the vent when the bow went under the sea and a wall of water came rushing at me.  I locked my arms around the bulkhead railing but the force of the water broke my grip and pushed me to the break near the boat davit.  My legs were outboard but my life jacket kept me from going overboard.  That was a scary experience but having to go back to finish the job was worse.

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"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do"    Confucius