County Loses US Navy Veteran

This story is being reprinted from the Aug. 27, 2014 edition of the Sun-Telegraph in recognition of Rudy Virgil's passing.

Traveling south on 11th Avenue in Sidney is a restaurant that sits just north of the First Methodist Church and across the street from the bowling alley.

The workers at "Virgil's" maintain a low profile while serving up a lot of good food. The owner, Rudy L. Virgil, is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He served from April 1957 to May 196 and again from April 1967 to May 1971.

Rudy enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17. He hadn't quite finished high school, but his dad signed for him, allowing him to enter this branch of the U.S. military. Rudy had been talking to the Navy recruiters. He liked ships and the aspect of being at sea. At the time, he weighed 103 pounds. Working on the family farm, he said he burned off every calorie he took in.

The recruiter sent him to Denver for a physical examination and, once he had passed, he was ticketed on the first train going to the Chicago area, where the U.S. Navy's Great Lakes training facility is located.

At Great Lakes, he was in a group of other young men who were new to the Navy. After a formal greeting, the men were formed into squads and marched to the clothing issue point where each man was handed a "sea bag" and began walking the line, gathering up all the clothes and equipment they would be using for the next few months. Even though he didn't weigh much, he still had to carry the load back to the barracks.

At the training facility, Rudy familiarized himself with the place and the other guys pretty quickly. His training there lasted about nine weeks. Rudy liked the instructors and those who were in charge. Rudy did his time in the dining facility doing KP duty, he stood his share of fire watch and clothes line watch. These buildings were built during WWII. They were susceptible to fire. A rotation of guards was required, just in case

Rudy liked just about every phase of the training. The pay was about $54 a month. The test scores he achieved at enlistment enabled him to be sent to Supply School in Newport, R.I.

This school was nine weeks in duration. Besides classroom work, Rudy was assigned more duties as needed. Some of this was walking an area as a security sentry during nights and weekends.

Rudy turned this into a money-making event because some men preferred not to do the work. They paid Rudy $15 to take their post for them. He was promoted with another stripe when classes ended.

The next step was for Rudy to move out and join his "ship." The ship was at port in Portsmouth, Va. The ship was there in dry-dock for refurbishing. Rudy went directly to the ship. On arrival, he boarded it and found that there was no one there.

He didn't want to disobey any orders so he stayed on the empty ship his first night. He met up with the rest of the men the next morning and fit in where he was supposed to be.

He became a worker in the supply section of the USS Henley (DD762). He completed a number of tasks including ordering and supplying food for the ship.

He also managed the supplies for the electronics, engineering and GSK (general shop tools), and ordered for the commissary. He had quite a lot of book-keeping responsibilities. He knew that there were men there who outranked him, but he kept his head down and worked harder.

The ship's commander was a man from Omaha. They would get together for chats about the Huskers.

On one occasion/inspection, the men on the ship earned an excellent rating. Their captain wanted to reward them. A superb meal was planned, but having adult beverages on the ship was not allowed. At the party for the achievement, the steaks were grilled and ready. The men had a plan.

They put a lifeboat into the water and had it stocked with beer. The lifeboat was being towed so it was not considered part of the bigger ship. The guys took turns rotating to the lifeboat so they got a little beer with their meals.

The USS Henley – a destroyer – was part of the Carrier Group Forrestal. The Forrestal also provided the USS Henley with fuel and other supplies. The Carrier Group went to the Mediterranean and had several ports of call. Rudy pulled shore patrol duty and here he got his "feet wet." He would help over-intoxicated sailors back onto the ship.

Rudy was promoted to Store Keeper 3 in 1958. He couldn't comprehend the questions on the promotion test so a senior sailor read him the questions. It was good enough to pass the test! But SK3 is a non-commissioned, petty officer slot.

That was a good thing for him. He did the work that those much senior to him should have been doing. His ship did a considerable amount of sailing. At one point, in Jamaica, the Henley's commander wanted to show that he was friendly toward local people. The commander commissioned locals to paint the Henley. The ship was painted in one day!

The locals also diluted the gray paint with white paint. It didn't exactly meet U.S. Navy standards.. The next morning, the Commander of the Henley was directed to report to the Forrestal so he could tell the Group command why his ship looked so light. The sailors had to repaint it, real battleship gray.

When the ship returned to Portsmouth, Rudy was due for 30 days leave. The officer in charge of Rudy's section wouldn't let him take time off. Plan B: Rudy was teaching another officer how to speak Spanish.

The other officer and Rudy filled out the leave request in Spanish. The first supervisor couldn't read it and signed it anyway. Rudy got his vacation! After serving from 1957 to 1960, Rudy was discharged and returned to the Denver area. He was assigned to an inactive status in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He completed his contract with the Navy in about 1963.

During the mid-1960s, Rudy was a parts manager for the Chrysler dealership in Greeley, Colo. He was now married and had a family. In 1967, he received notice from the Department of the Navy that he was being involuntarily called back to the Service.

The U.S. military was now engaged in a conflict in Vietnam. Rudy thought he was headed to southeast Asia. Instead, he was tasked with being an instructor teaching aeronautical supply to new sailors. He carried out this assignment for nearly four years.

After the assignment was completed, Rudy went home. He returned to work for the Chrysler Corporation. He was made aware that Sidney had no authentic mexican food establishment. Thirty nine years ago, he and his brother opened their establishment.

During some of his re-locations, his sea bag containing all his uniforms, ribbons, medals and dog tags disappeared.

Somewhere, somehow, some of his "stuff" will come back to him.

Good job, SK3 Rudy Virgil! Thank you for your selfless service!