John was in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1955 and was a second class petty officer. He spent his entire navy career aboard the U.S.S. Estes (AGC-12). While on the Estes, he participated in both the Operation Ivy Atomic Bomb tests at Enewetak and the Operation Castle Atomic Bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. On his last cruise, which was supposed to last 6 months and was extended to 12 months. During that extension, the ship went to "IndoChina" to help evacuate Vietnamese from the North to the South. Over 500,000 Vietnamese were relocated during Operation "Passage to Freedom".
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