Page 92 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2023 - Online Magazine

Mary Catherine
Campbell
ven though Lubbock
resident Mary Catherine
ECampbell has a family
history of service in the Navy,
her main reason for joining
that branch of service made me
chuckle. “I liked their cover (hat)
better than the other branches.”
That’s the first time in over 11
years of interviewing veterans
that I’ve heard that reason—and
I’m pretty sure she was serious.
Her dad, John Kuharik, and
mother, Mary, were both in the
Navy during WWII. John was a
draftsman, and Mary joined the
WAVES, training as a Parachute
Rigger in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The role was vital to the safety of
the Navy’s thousands of pilots
and aircrewmen during the
war. She was one of over 84,000
WAVES who served during
WWII.
The second born of five siblings,
Mary’s life began in Binghamton,
NY near the Pennsylvania border.
She was active in Girl Scouts
92 Lubbock Senior Link
A Naval Legacy
by Larry Williams
stations included stops in Seattle;
New Orleans; Ogden, UT;
Whidbey Island, WA; Orlando;
San Diego; and Bellevue, WA
(Navy Recruiting District).
“After dad retired as a tool and
manufacturing engineer at
IBM at Endicott, NY in 1982, he
and mom moved to Tucson. I
used to drop in there between
assignments. I put a lot of
miles on several GM and Ford
vehicles.
“On February 4,1987, I requested
recall to the TAR (Training and
Administration of Reserves). I
was accepted the very next day
and went to Orlando for Navy
and enjoyed ice skating and Veteran Indoctrination, then to
swimming. She graduated from New Orleans for Navy Reserve
Binghamton Central High in 1966 Management School, then to
and continued her education at Naval Reserve Readiness Center
State University of New York in in St. Louis, where I also attended
Morrisville. She enlisted in the the University of Missouri.
Navy in March 1969 and spent After that, I transferred to the
ten weeks at the Recruit Training
Center in Bainbridge, MD.
Mary’s first duty station was in
Norfolk, VA at CINCLANTFLT
(Commander in Chief Atlantic
Fleet) where she spent two years.
After three years at the Naval
Air Facility in El Centro, CA, her
first stint of active duty ended.
She joined the Naval Reserve
in October 1975 and worked at
the Area Analysis Unit at North
Island in San Diego for two
years. After a Temporary Active
Duty (TEMAC) assignment in
Orlando, Florida, she returned to
San Diego for 14 months.
From October 1980 to October
1986, Mary crisscrossed the
country many times. Her duty