Navy memories is the theme for the Hallway Cabinet in June. It features memorabilia from the Navy careers of several Orchard Ridge residents. It also reflects the longstanding friendship that brought three Navy comrades to Orchard Ridge. In the late 1960s, Dave Boslaugh, Jerry Fee and Dave Smith served together at Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California. Jerry Fee was the junior of the three; Dave Smith was two years his senior and Dave Boslaugh, who died in March, was the senior officer. All three were engineering duty officers, meaning that their job was the repair, design, building and maintenance of ships. At the time, the Navy had only about 1,000 people who were qualified in this specialty.

While the three officers forged bonds on the job, their wives, Nancy Fee, Nancy Smith and Marian Boslaugh, were becoming close in the shared experience of being Navy wives and raising children. After several years at Long Beach, they all went off to separate duty stations but stayed in touch. Jerry Fee was the last to leave Long Beach. In fact, Jerry took over Dave Smith’s job as project officer for recommissioning ships when Dave deployed as chief engineer of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany for three combat deployments to Vietnam.

When they retired, Dave Smith and Dave Boslaugh moved to Northern Virginia. Jerry Fee stayed in the Navy the longest but spent the latter part of his career in the Washington, D.C., area. So, the three mates and their wives were able to deepen the friendship that had developed in Long Beach. Eventually, the Boslaughs moved to West Virginia, the Smiths to Winchester and the Fees to Shenandoah County. They regularly met for lunch in Winchester, usually at the Amherst Diner. When they heard about Orchard Ridge, the Fees immediately decided they would move here, and the Boslaughs quickly came on board, becoming the second family to move in (by one hour!). After the death of his wife, Dave Smith came in 2019, so the three friends were together again.

On display is a large emblem from the battleship reactivation program that Jerry Fee led in the early 1980s. There were four ships in the program, including the USS Missouri, on which the Japanese surrendered in September 1945. Jerry is particularly proud of the plaque he received for helping to build the USS Morton in the 1970s using “lessons learned” from World War II.
The caps on display are only a selection of the hats these officers received. There are two distinct types of ballcaps. One is a working ballcap that displays position, i.e., engineering officer, “within a ship,” such as the one displayed for Dave Smith’s service on the USS Oriskany. The other is an honorary ballcap that displays service “on behalf of” but not service directly “in a ship.” Jerry Fee’s caps featuring his first name are from ships that he designed, built and delivered. Dave Smith is also displaying two ceremonial Japanese teacups and four cigarette lighters, one from each of the ships in which he served. The display was supposed to include mementos from Dave Boslaugh, but none are available due to his death.

The display in the Hallway Cabinet features not only memorabilia from the three friends but also from other Navy veterans. Dave Matthes enlisted as a submariner in the late 1950s. He is exhibiting a memento of his service on the USS Diablo and his dolphin submarine badge. He cherished the mentorship of World War II veterans on that ship. When time for re-enlistment came around, he was tempted. However, college and a life with his future wife, Paulette, beckoned more than life at sea.

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