The Reminiscences of Capt. Charles J. Merdinger, USN (Ret.) (1918-2013)

Escaped injury as an ensign in the USS Nevada (BB-36) when she was bombed at Pearl Harbor. Transferred to the USS Alabama (BB-60) and was in Murmansk Run and later participated in bombardment of Nauru and Tarawa in the Pacific. He then studied at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute in preparation for entering the Civil Engineer Corps. Then handled construction for the CEC in Panama Canal Zone. In 1947 was appointed a Rhodes Scholar and spent two years in Oxford, England, studying and producing a dissertation which was published as a book entitled Civil Engineering Through the Ages. Later duties were: NAS Miramar, California, Point Hueneme, Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, Japan; head of English, History and Government Department, USNA. He headed Seabees and Multinational Force in Vietnam in 1967-68, and was CO Western Division, NavFac Engineering Command in San Bruno, California, before retirement in 1970.