Francis Rimbach

Francis Rimbach

I was born in June 1926 in Concord, Massachusetts. I enlisted in the fall of 1943, and entered the Naval Pilot Program (V-5) on July 1944 at Dartmouth college. When the

program ended, in 1945, men who had flunked out, in an effort to get to sea, were threatened with Portsmouth Naval Prison.

At Great Lakes Special Boot Camp, we learned that the Rear Gunner Program was filled, and were rejected by udt (underwater demolition team). I was assigned to the U.S.S. Nassau (CVE-16), and one day out of San Francisco, V-J Day occurred.

I was assigned to Forward Deck Division with six months mess hall duty and four-on and eight-off watches. Good Guys, Good Officers, and Good Ship. We mothballed the Nassau in Washington state, and took a cattle car to Boston for discharge.

I married Joan Mceiroy in 1959. We have one daughter. Lisa Anne Rimbach and one son, Jonathan Ledyard Rimbach.

I retired USNR-R on I May, 1970 with 2 active and 18 reserve.