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Lee Mayer QM3
Lee Mayer
1963 Med Cruise


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ABOUT LEE MAYER
in his own words

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.


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