USS SLC...Enlisted Navy...Ronald F. Tucker, Jr., RT3c

Ronald F. Tucker, Jr. passed away on April 18th, 2014. Information from son Jeff Tucker

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July 22nd, 2005

I enlisted in the Navy on Feb. 18, 1944, my 17th birthday. I reported aboard the SLC on or about June 27, 1944, having spent the intervening time in Radio Technician training in Chicago, IL, College Station, TX and finally at Treasure Island, CA where I was awarded the rating RT3c. After 30 days leave, I was shipped to Pearl Harbor where I was assigned to the SLC.

On or about Oct. 7, 1944, after the SLC was ordered back to the USA, I was transferred to the fleet minesweeper USS SWIFT AM122 to replace a Radio Technician, who had considerably more sea duty that I, to return to the States. Therefore, there are no pictures of me while on the SLC.

Some later pictures were taken after I was promoted to ETM2c (the Navy had changed the name of the rating from "Radio Technician" to "Electronic Technicians Mate" to more accurately describe our duties) while on the USS SWIFT, shortly before the SWIFT was ordered to Shanghai for Christmas R & R. The pictures were sent to my mother, but I never could find them after my discharge on June 9, 1946. The photo above could have been taken at Shanghai or San Diego, where the SWIFT was being prepared for "mothballing" or possibly just before my discharge at PSC Lido Beach, NY.

Best Regards,
Ron Tucker

Radio Gang List

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2007 SLC Reunion


Obituary

Dr. Ronald F. Tucker, Jr., 87

FEB. 18, 1927—APRIL 18, 2014

Dr. Ronald F. Tucker, Jr., Ph.D., age 87, of Bloomington, died Friday morning, April 18, at the Owen Valley Health Campus in Spencer, Indiana. Born February 18, 1927, in Plattsburgh, New York, he also lived and raised a family in Palatine, IL, for nearly 40 years before moving to Bloomington in 2008. He was the son of Ronald F. Tucker, Sr., and Mildred Ellen (Chittenden) Tucker. He was a WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater. He worked as a research scientist & design engineer who retired from Sargent and Lundy Engineering in 1990. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and his Doctorate in Physics degree from the University of Illinois. He loved classical jazz music, sports of all kinds, dining out, and family.

He is survived by his loving family: his wife, Carol (Cripe) Tucker, of Bloomington; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Jeff and Holly Tucker of Indianapolis, and Eugene Tucker of Chandler, Arizona; one daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Ed Blanchard of La Quinta, California; one sister, Nancy Curran of Ballston Spa, New York; and six grandchildren, Ryan, Joseph, Sam, Jamie, Andy and Bryce.

There will be no services or visitation at this time. Private family services will be held at a later date.