Judy Siver, who is helping to locate people for the 1962 Hackensack High School class reunion, told Mike Roberts about our website and told him to contact me. On
October 6, 2012, Mike Roberts called me and we spoke on the phone for about
20 minutes.
Mike Roberts told me that he grew up in Rochelle Park and attended Hackensack High School from the fall of 1959 until graduation from Hackensack High School in 1962. While in high school, Mike was on the wrestling team and was the manager of the baseball team for two years, where he met Joe DeFalco, who came from Emerson.
Mike Roberts joined the Navy in 1965 and served until 1969. The ship Mike served on was the U.S.S. Warrington DD-843, an old Destroyer that saw action during World War II and was stationed out of Newport, Rhode Island. From 1966 to 1967, Mike Roberts and his ship served off the coast of Vietnam giving gun support for the troops on the ground.
Mike Roberts said during those four years of service the ship seemed to always be at sea passing through both the Suez Canal and Panama Canal. Mike Roberts stated that while serving on board the U.S.S. Warrington he had visited 44 countries. Mike also recalled how they were by the Arctic Circle near the Scandinavian countries of Finland and Sweden, keeping an eye on a Russian submarine since this was also the cold war era.
Mike Roberts was a Petty Officer 2nd class when he left the Navy in 1969.In 1984, he rejoined the Naval Reserves for 16 years until he retired from Naval service altogether in 2000.
Written by:
Bob Meli
October 7, 2012 |
