In 1936, a young man from rural Mississippi with a great love for his country enlisted in the Navy. Having been raised in a close-knit community with dirt roads and cotton fields, he was embarking on a journey that was drastically different from the life he had known. As he traveled over 4,000 miles away from home, the scenery was breathtaking and unlike anything the country boy had ever laid eyes on. Though military life was quite an adjustment and he missed his family, he was overwhelmingly proud to serve on the U.S. naval base, Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, Hawaii.