Theodore “Ted” Payne wasn’t much of a student when he was growing up in the southeast Iowa town of Brighton, so when a recruiter approached him about joining the U.S. Navy in the early 1960s, he jumped at the opportunity.

Before long, he was headed down to basic training in San Diego and kicking off a 26-year career in the Navy, which included stints on ships with such names as the USS Caloosahatchee, the USS Allagash, the USS Mauna-Kea, the USS Firedrake and the USS Rainier. Over the next several years, he was deployed to Vietnam five times aboard ammunition ships and tankers supporting the battle groups in hostile fire zones in the waters along the coast.

When his first four years were up in 1965, Payne almost left the military for good, receiving an honorable discharge and deciding he was going to hitchhike from California back home to southeast Iowa. He got a ride to Kansas City and eventually returned, working on a road crew in ditches for about a month before re-enlisting in 1966.

“I said, ‘I’m gonna go back in the Navy and make a career out of it,'” he said.

He did, and after a trip to Des Moines, he was officially back in to restart what would become 26 total years of service. In 1968, he was on a ship bound for Vietnam when he received word that his then-wife Eleanor had given birth to their daughter, Allison. He later remarried and had four more children with his second wife, Peggy, before they divorced in 1978.

Along with his deployments to the coast of Vietnam, Payne spent time at various postings around the U.S. and the world including Italy, Malta, Spain, Africa and Sri Lanka. In 1974, he started a three-year assignment with the Seabees in Gulfport, Miss., and his final station before retirement came at the Leo W.O. Brian Federal Building, Navy Recruiting Area, where he served as the Logistics Support Officer of the Supply Department from 1985 to 1987.

Payne said he was never treated badly as a result of serving in Vietnam, and he always remained proud of his service. He passed his test to become a contracting officer for the government and retired April 1, 1987.

After that, he worked a number of jobs including selling car batteries, driving a truck, delivering lumber, working at a construction equipment parts store and in recreational services in New York. He’s now been at IVH since 2009 and said he enjoys it.

“We’ve got good doctors and nurses here. We’ve got good food,” he said.

Payne left the service with a long list of awards and medals including the Navy Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.