Veteran's Corner: Norm Teitrick

COLFAX - During the Korean War, local Norman Teitrick joined the Navy on November 29, 1950.

Having spent his entire life in Colfax, Teitrick explained that when he joined, he was 17 and had just graduated.

"I joined up in Lewiston, Idaho," Teitrick said, adding that he was sick and tired of trains due to riding them for two days when he got to San Diego.

"I had a brother that was on a destroyer," he said, adding that his brother had written about his service.

"I was going to serve with him on the ship," he said, explaining that he couldn't because rules changed so that they couldn't pair up with close relatives anymore. The rule change was due to five brothers killed on a cruiser in Alaska. "That's why I went to Guam and Alameda Naval Air Station," he added.

Teitrick went to the Naval training center in San Diego, California, finishing his training in early 1951.

"We didn't have time to do anything except learn how to march and wash our clothes," Teitrick said of boot camp, adding that they also could train on the rifle range.

After Naval training, Teitrick went to Guam, located in the Mariana Islands chain of the Pacific Ocean. He would travel to Guam on the troop transport ship USNS Fred S. Ainsworth and spend one and a half years at the Guam Navy Base, where one of his duties was security for a radio station that received and sent messages to the Pacific fleet.

After serving in Guam, Teitrick would go to Alameda Naval Air station in Alameda, California, where he was attached to the VR1 squadron.

The squadron's job, he explained, was to transport troops and supplies to Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands.

Four large seaplanes would transport in the squadron called Mars Flying Boats.

Teitrick explained that many people think that when you're flying over the ocean, you're home-free because you're in an amphibious plane, but that's not true.

"The waves and everything else, and then once you get down there, you're stuck to the water," he said, adding that the plane had four engines on it which, when the pilot gets to speed, helps it take off.

"The choppier the water, the better," he said.

While Teitrick suggests going to college, he says military service is a good way to spend your time, and he'd recommend it to anybody.

"If they want to grow up in three years, that's a good place to go," he said.

When Teitrick served, he stated that they were looking for anyone with two legs and two eyes, but if they wanted to take a test, they could rate high and move up quickly.

"Didn't interest me," he said, "the only reason I wanted in there was to get on my brother's ship with him, and that was impossible."

Teitrick's met his wife Florence when he was on leave, Mrs. Teitrick explained.

"We were married in '54," she said, adding that they had two kids, a son and a daughter.

"Our son was in the Army, and he went to serve on tanks," Mrs. Teitrick said.

Mrs. Teitrick believes that service is good and that joining has benefits.

She explained that their son, who served in the Cold War on tanks in Germany, went to college and became an Engineer on the G.I. Bill, went to junior college for two different certificates, and bought a house.

"There are rewards if you use them," she said.

The Teitricks live in the house he built, which Mrs. Teitrick designed, on a hill in Colfax, where they spend their retired time enjoying the view.