By John Montesano
The Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club has named Stan Carpenter the August 2019 Veteran of the Month.
Stan Carpenter, born July 10, 1946 in Spencer, Iowa, grew up on a farm just outside of Ayrshire, Iowa. In 1957, a tornado forced the family to move to a farm near Leonard, Mo., where Stan lived until graduation from North Shelby High School, in 1964.
He immediately enlisted in the Navy, because he could sign up at age 17. Another incentive was that he would work in aviation, which is what he wanted, mostly. He didn’t care what he was doing as long as it involved aviation. His designation was an ADJ, aviation machinist’s mate (jet engine mechanic). After basic training in Millington, Tenn., he went to San Diego, Calif. for survival training, which he survived; and, finally to Moffett Field, Calif. where he trained turbo prop engine mechanics.
By early 1965, Stan Carpenter was stationed at Naval Air Station Barber’s Point, Oahu, Hawaii. (Tough duty, but somebody had to do it). There, he worked on P2V and P3 Neptune, maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. In September 1965, he was deployed to the Philippines at Naval Station Sangley Point, Manila Bay. During the Vietnam War, the Neptune was used by the U.S. Navy as a gunship, an overland reconnaissance and sensor deployment aircraft, and in its traditional role as a maritime patrol aircraft. They flew out of Sangley Point and he was a flight engineer.
Following his time in the Philippines, Stan was sent back to Barber’s Point, Oahu, Hawaii in June 1966 to resume his duty as an aviation mechanics mate. However, in June 1967, his good weather string ran out when he was sent to Adak, Alaska, an island at the western end of the Aleutian Islands in the middle of the Bering Sea. The good news was that his Navy service time ran out in July 1967 and after only 37 days, he mustered out of the Navy, as a petty officer third class, and went to Seattle, Wash.. He stayed in Seattle for three months and worked for Boeing. He returned to Missouri and went to work for Electrical Wheel in Quincy, Ill.. By March 1968 and following a strike which ended with nothing accomplished for the workers, Stan decided to go back into the Navy, He reenlisted and was stationed at Glenview Naval Air Station outside of Chicago. Among other duties, he trained reserves on the weekends on the A4 Skyhawk. He received an early out and was discharged in early 1971.
January 10, 1972, Stan began work for Mercy Nursing Home (now Presence Mcauley Manor in Aurora) as a maintenance man. It was obviously a good fit for him because he worked there for 41 years and retired in April 2013.
Stan Carpenter is married to Carol, whom he married June 13, 1970. Long time residents of Aurora, Stan and Carol have two sons and two grandchildren.
An active member of the Air Classics Museum of Aviation, in Sugar Grove, Stan helps out on the weekends and gives tours.
He said found his experience in the Navy was: “Good and educational.”