Longtime Waterloo resident Ed Billings says being drafted in 1969 set him on an unexpected path: basic training in Illinois, technical schooling and four years assigned to a U.S. Navy destroyer patrolling the Southeast Pacific during the Vietnam era.
From the Midwest to the Pacific
Billings, who was about 19 when he was drafted, grew up in Wisconsin before his family moved to Waterloo where he completed his final years of high school. After nine weeks of basic training, he stayed on for additional training to qualify as a boiler technician. He was then posted to a destroyer based in San Diego, where most of his time at sea was spent in the ship's boiler room, responsible for keeping propulsion and auxiliary systems running manually.
Ship duties, port calls and operations
The ship operated on repeated six-month cycles at sea followed by about six months in San Diego for maintenance and repairs. During deployments, the vessel performed patrols along the Vietnamese coast and provided fire support when requested by ground forces. Ports of call included destinations across East and Southeast Asia where crews resupplied and took brief shore leave.
- Primary role: boiler room technician, manual operation and maintenance
- Typical deployment pattern: ~6 months at sea, ~6 months in San Diego
- Regional activity: coastal patrols off Vietnam, resupply stops in Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong
“just have a good time”
Billings recalled that port visits were short—often less than a week—and offered the crew a chance to rest and socialise between operational spells. He described the ship’s routine of spending roughly three weeks on station off Vietnam before moving to a nearby friendly port to reload supplies, including ammunition.
After service: return to Waterloo and farming
Billings returned to civilian life in the spring of 1973. He married in December 1972 and after discharge went back to the family farm near Waterloo. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison briefly but ultimately decided to pursue farming rather than continue with school. His post-service years remained rooted in the Waterloo community where he lived for many decades.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1969 | Drafted; basic training and boiler technician school |
| 1969–1973 | Served aboard a WWII destroyer out of San Diego; deployments to the Southeast Pacific |
| Dec 1972 | Married |
| Spring 1973 | Returned to Waterloo; resumed farming |
Billings’s account provides a first-hand local perspective on the daily work aboard navy vessels during a turbulent period and on the transitions veterans made returning to civilian life. His experience — technical training, long stretches at sea, short port visits and a return to farming in Waterloo — reflects a path taken by many who served during that era.
