Bellview – Kenneth Roberts received a draft notice at age 19 Rather than go into the U.S. Army, he enlisted in the Navy in January 1969.
Prior to enlisting, Roberts grew up in Pittstown, N.J., graduating from North Hunterton High School.
In the military, he settled into the field of aviation electronics. He served as an aviation air crewman operating as well as repairing the radar system.
Roberts was stationed in Guam. He and his crew would fly into the eye of typhoons to gather aeronautical data. They would determine the path of the storm.
The flight routes took the crew into Okinawa City in Japan and the Philippines. A couple of the squad’s aircraft were stationed in Da Nang, Vietnam.
For 12 hours at a time, Roberts and his crew would fly reconnaissance missions in Da Nang, looking for any signs of trouble they could radio back in. It was vital for the crew to provide potential threats and weather reports to the aircraft carrier pilots.
“I thought it was a good experience for me. I volunteered to fly. It was good duty and it was exciting. I also enjoyed the fellowship of the other people in the military,” Roberts said.
Some unsettling moments occurred while, “We were flying our missions in and out of Da Nang, people would shoot at us. The enemy would shoot at us and one time they actually shot off one of our wing tips.
“We had to make an emergency landing, but we did OK,” he said.
Roberts served until the end of 1972, when he exited the military with the rank of Petty Officer 3rd class.
Roberts was born in Somerville, N.J., in 1949. College included attending the Florida Institute of Technology and earning an associate’s degree in oceanography. He then switched to environmental engineering with a bachelor of science degree.
He and his wife, Dottie, have lived in Bellview since 2014 after moving from Plant City, Fla. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Roberts enjoys gardening and growing plants from seeds as well as woodworking. His past enjoyments include flying. He was also a certified scuba diver. Roberts and his wife enjoy their children, including an adopted special needs son, Steven.
Ken’s favorite color is candy apple red; he always wanted a car in that color. He attends Calvary Chapel Church in Murphy, where he is a deacon.
If Roberts has any advice to give younger folks, he said it would be, “Put down the cell phones and technology and socialize with other people.”
What he’d like for the next decade of his life is, “To still be alive, I hope. I’d like to travel a bit,” he said.
In his 75 years of life, the thing that has amazed Roberts the most is the computer. “It’s made things easier for the job,” he said.