Ray Boro, USN Korean War Vet-- Part 4: Love That Pensacola and Ray Gets A New One

"I loved my liberty time.  My absolute best liberty was at Pensacola," Ray said smiling.  Pensacola was also his best duty.  "It was like a country club.  But when you got on a ship you find out what the Navy is all about."  He has great memories of those white sand beaches.  A trip to the Pensacola NAS museum is strongly recommended.

One time while he was at Jacksonville NAS and on guard duty at the Flight Line, where the planes were parked, the pilot of his plane came out to take a look at the plane.  Standing orders were that everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY had to gave proper id to be anywhere near that line.  The pilot, a newly commissioned ensign, did not have his and Ray wouldn't let him near the plane.

The pilot said, "You know me."  Ray said, "Yes, but I have to follow orders."  The pilot walked off muttering he'd get Ray back.  There would be payback.  The next day Ray preflighted the plane and everything was alright.  However, the pilot went over the plane with a fine tooth comb and found a speck of a hydraulic leak and that downed the plane for the day.  "Boy did I get in trouble.  The leading chief cut me a new one. Navy Chiefs were like gods."

The pilot was new to the game, but afterwards he and Ray became friends.  Ray says he became one of the better pilots and was good at gunnery, bombing and air-to-air.

--Cooter

Ray Boro, Korean War Navy Vet-- Part 1

I visited with well-known Legion member Ray Boro in March and interviewed him about his service to our country.  He is a regular at the Drop Zone Bar at the Legion and called "OROB" because of his name.  In the service, his nickname was "BoBo" though he is not sure why, perhaps they didn't know how to pronounce his name.

He was born in Chicago on August 30, 1930, but spent most of his life growing up in Lakemoor, Illinois.  At one time he attended a one-room schoolhouse there and was a graduate of McHenry High School.  For awhile after graduation he delivered milk door-to-door.

Ray and his buddy enlisted in the Navy on October 13, 1950, at age 20, with the hopes of serving together,  and spent eleven weeks doing basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station.  At least here, he and his buddy were near each other, but in different training groups because they were placed alphabetically.  But that ended after graduation.

Pensacola, Florida's Corry Field was Ray's destination.  His buddy went to Guam.  Here Ray received his AD classification as an airplane mechanic.  He was there for 18 months when he was transferred to the VF-44 Squadron based at Jacksonville NAS in Florida.

--Cooter

A Short History of Pensacola, Florida: 450th Birthday

From the Feb. 23, 2009, AP.

Pensacola was celebrating its 450th birthday back then. On Feb. 19th, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain visited the town.

It is sometimes called the "Gateway to Florida's Redneck Riviera."

In the 1950s, adopted "City of Five Flags" slogan: Spain, Britain, France, Confederate and US.

St. Augustine, founded in 1565, claims to be the "Nation's Oldest City," but Pensacola's first settlement was de Luna's failed 1559 attempt to colonize the future state. A hurricane sank 8 of his 11 ships and the settlement collapsed in 1561. Spain did not return to the area until the 1600s.

In 1781, the Spanish defeated the British at Pensacola. In 1821, Andrew Jackson was there and there was Civil War action (see my Civil War blogs).

In 1913, the new airplane came which led to another slogan, "Cradle of Naval Aviation."

A Favorite Stop of Ours in the Winter Gulf Coast Trips. --DaCoot