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Decade's Doings

R. Bruce Campbell ’49*

I was a Holloway Plan Ap- prentice Seaman, V-5, USNR at USC in 1946. We lived in Newkirk Hall on campus, wore Navy uniforms full time, marched to some events, did PE in the parking lot daily, and were not allowed to drive cars. That was nearly 60 years ago! The program died after one semester and I ended up back at USC in civilian attire with the Navy still paying the bills but no more room and board. Got my orders to Pensacola in October 1947, my Navy wings of  gold  in  1949  and  then  went  off  to  fly  with  VP-­28  and   VP-­22  in  the  Pacific.    Returning  to  USC  was  put  on  hold   by a little problem in Korea and a tour as a multi-engine flight  instructor  in  Hutchinson,  KS  plus  3  years  flying  Su- per   Constellations   for   MATS.     I   finally   returned   to   Troy   in 1958 for my junior and senior years. By then, I was a Navy Lieutenant with a wife, two kids and a house in Van Nuys. It was entertaining to be in class with a lot of straight out of high school freshmen. During that time, I visited  the  NROTC  office  in  the  PE  Building  every  pay- day  and  did  my  flying  out  of  NAS  Los  Alamitos.    Left  the   campus with a BA in Business in 1959 and completed a memorable   career   flying   airplanes   for   the   Navy,   retiring   in 1975 as a Captain.

*Though CAPT Campbell is not a USC NROTC Alumnus, his involve- ment  with  the  NROTC  program  qualifies  him  for  an  associate  member- ship in our League.