Service in the
US Navy: I entered the
Navy Reserves near the end of my junior year in high
school, and my first summer duty was Great Lakes.
The following summer (1961) I reported aboard the
USS Cook in San Diego. Then in 1962, I went to Long
Beach and was assigned to the USS Talladega. Then
it was college, and in October of 62 there was the
Cuban Missile Crisis. I really thought I was going
to miss all the action, and so I went on active duty
- my mistake. By the time I got a duty assignment,
the crisis had ended and I was "stuck" for
two years. I became a QM. Best decision, lots of time
on the Bridge, where I could see most of the action.
I left active duty in the Navy in 1965, and joined
the Illinois Bell Telephone Co. Stayed with them until
1969 at which time I joined the Rosemont Police Department
which is where I retired in 95.
Career as a policeman: In 1975, the Mayor of
Rosemont decided that he could get the Village a better
Fire Insurance Rating by combining the Police and
Fire Departments making them what we called a Public
Safety Dept. We all had to become Certified Police
Officers, Certified Firefighters, and Emergency Medical
Technician - basically we were all Police Officers
trained to fight and investigate fires. My job responsibilities
included all criminal investigations, which also included
the bomb/arson investigations and I had to also become
a certified Arson/Cause & Origin Investigator.
I am still employed by the Village as a Court Liaison
Officer with the 3rd Dist. Court of Cook County.
Lee's plaques: Here are
some photos of some of the plaques I have created
and a little bit about how its done. You see a photo
of 3 wooden blanks. Actually I will glue four blanks
together at the corners and cut them out after adding
the pattern.
The words and names
are added after the main design is cut,
and the middle rings are separated unless they are
what I call the generics like the United States Navy
or Army or Marine Corps. Those are cut while the wooden
blanks are still glued together.
There is a plaque for the Chicago Fire Dept., one
of our shoulder patches, and K-9 unit designs, and
some other designs that I thought you might find interesting.