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The items on this page were contributed
by Jim Warwick. You may e-mail Jim HERE
BLEDSOE SCANNED IMAGE # 1
HERE
BLEDSOE SCANNED IMAGE # 2
HERE
A Sam Bledsoe story posted on the BBS
from Jim Warrick:
Cyclin' Sam Bledsoe....
I reported to the USS Patrick Henry
SSBN 599 in August of 1962 and Sam was the COB. He was an E-9 TM and as
good as god to a boot 2nd class. He was in the final 4 to be selected to
be the first senior Master chief of the USN. He was COB for Cdr. R. L.
J. Long CO Gold crew, opposite Capt. Harold Shear CO Blue.
Sam went with Long to Pulaski and was
serving with Adm. Long at Pearl when he retired. Sam died in 1986 and Adm.
Long was behind getting the subschool building named after him.
The first time I went to Scotland with
the crew we were cleaning the boat, I went down to the crews head and here
was Sam with a 2 inch paint brush cleaning a light fixture. I thought to
myself "If they have an E-9 cleaning the head what they going to have
me a boot 2nd doing?" He served on the Skipjack SS184, Seadragon SS
194 Queenfish SS393 and he finished the war aboard Torsk SS 423 where he
won the Bronze Star for action in the torpedo room during an attack on
a freighter and two escorts on Aug. 1945. Sam also served on the boats
599, 633, and 645. Sam was the funniest man in the Navy and I learned a
lot from him. We still tell "Cyclin Sam" sea stories at our 599
reunion.
A scanned CDR LONG
bio article (w/ photo) - Now Admiral Long USN (Ret)
Contributed by Jim Warwick