Bill Melby

Have made all 4 boat rides and hosted one of them. I am the only sailor that did not serve on the Kitty Hawk that makes the rides. I love these men and am honored that I am allowed to crash the party. I was with Bob and Mike Buddy, Lonnie, Bill Grizzard and Ed Krenk, through EEP school at Great Lakes and most of Nuclear Weapons A school. The last cycle I came down with a bad sore throat and fever(maybe Mono). I was hospitalized for 4 days and wasn't able to graduate with Class 45. I graduated two weeks later with class 46. Graduating with class 45 would not have guaranteed that I would commission the Kitty Hawk with my class mates. Half went to the Kitty Hawk and half went to Guam. I could have just as well went to Guam. I instead got orders to Ranger at Alameda. Perhaps that is a good thing because there is no one that went to Guam on the boat rides. I served on the Ranger exactly three years, attained the rank of second class and was a tech monitor and went back to New Mexico in 61 and attended Hazardous material handling school. I was the nuke who took care of the Z spaces, nuclear material and monitoring equipment. A great ride for me with good ship mates and two deployments. At return from deployment in 62, two of class 45 class mates became my ship mates. Ralph Hubbard and Bill Curran came aboard with orders from Guam to the Ranger. I was glad to have them, Hubbard and I were liberty mates and Curran sometimes was also.

Curran was a bit different but I came to really like him, he was generous to a fault and fun to be around. Ed and I have both looked for both of them with no success. I left the Navy in Aug of 63 to attend the University of Montana. Couple years of that and I longed to be back in the Navy. By then I was married and soon after I embarked on my restaurant management career. Other than that I probably would have gone back to the Navy. I did serve in the reserves. Today I am retired and living in Helena Mt. I love the West and in particular Montana sparsely populated and big spaces between the people, and still plenty of Walmarts and big box stores. Finding the Navy Nuclear Weapons Asc, was a stroke of luck. Attended the cruise in 2004 and then found so many of old class mates at the reunion in the Dells, became fast friends with Bill Beard and was invited to the initial Bob Dykoski boat ride. I have many new shipmates, Kitty Hawk sailors to a man except me. Like I said I love these men, and am proud and honored to be able to join them. My wife Carol has made friends with the wives and looks forward to the rides as much as I do.