Personal Histories
James L. Yandell F1/c
After the Hadley was de-commissioned, I still did not have enough points to be discharged from the Navy, so after my leave, I reported to San Diego, California for reassignment. I was assigned to the Wake Island CVE 65 . It was then at San Diego, but was sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to be decommissioned. After this decommissioning I was sent to Charleston, So. Carolina and assigned to the Healy DD 692, it too was to be decommissioned in 1946. Finally with enough points to be discharged, I was sent to Camp Wallace, Texas City, Texas where I received my honorable discharge as a F1/c.
I returned to my home town Post, Texas. It was great to be a civilian again, except jobs were hard to find. I took jobs as an extra in the oil well drilling business until got enough experience to work full time. I worked in Texas, Wyoming, and California before I started working in other countries. My first foreign job was in Australia. Then in South America I worked for about 20 years, in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Guatemala. After South America, I started working in Algeria, Egypt, Togo, and Nigeria. Last I worked in many European countries. I felt that I must explain why I worked in so many countries. After advancing in the oil drilling business to tool pusher, then Drilling Superintendent, I finally became a “Fishing Tool Operator.” This job title means fishing out tools to do the job that might get stuck in the well. Or maybe just getting the well back to operating, or a million other things that could go wrong with drilling for oil. Any one job could last one day or five to six weeks. This is the profession I performed until I retired.
While working in Venezuela, I met and married my wife, Rigoberta. The enclosed photo is, my son in law, James F. Minor, my grandson, James Franks, my wife Rigoberta, me James Lynn Yandell.
See picture mentioned above in the Site MISCELLANEOUS SECTION.
Webmaster: Jim started on that final cruise 19 September 2006.