<Begin Segment 4>

TI: Let's go back to your father now. So he, he went through Annapolis, and then what did he do next after that?

MH: Well, they had the usual cruises and then he went into the submarine service.

TI: And this was, like, right after the first World War and that period?

MH: Let's see. He graduated in 1910, and so... yes, he was in the submarine service, and he, actually, during the war, he went over to Britain at one point in the submarine service, I know that.

TI: And we should note that submarines during that time, it was not...

MH: They were primitive instruments.

TI: Exactly. Nothing like we think of today...

MH: Indeed, not. [Laughs]

TI: ...in terms of submarines as this sort of glamorous, high-tech kind of service.

MH: They didn't even have escape hatches.

TI: Well, in fact, I mean, that's some of the things that they were learning. I mean, your, in some ways, your father's generation, they were the guinea pigs. They were the ones would forward the technology to what we see today.

MH: That's true.

TI: So I just wanted to establish, so they were very primitive in terms of, almost experimental in many ways, these submarines.

MH: They were. And getting in the electrical systems, which, that was in its infancy, too, so to speak. At least, not more than a high school level, if there.

TI: So from what you know of your father, so when I think of, of going into something like submarine service, I mean, that's kind of, today, I think of, like, people who like innovation or new things, they tend to be high risk takers in some ways, and they like to go for those new things. Is that, is that how you describe your father?

MH: No, I don't think so. I think he was looking forward to it as an instrument for the Navy in case of war. Because he was, he was always a planner. He always was, he made war plans for the U.S. Navy, I think, throughout his career.

TI: So he saw this as, as a potential tool or weapon that needed to be refined as quickly as possible.

MH: Oh, yes, indeed.

TI: For the betterment of the Navy.

MH: Yes. And also, I think it was -- I don't know exactly what period this was, but he wanted to go into, actually, he wanted to go into the air arm of the Navy, but he was colorblind, and so he wasn't allowed to join that. And that colorblindness, you know, goes from father through... from father to daughter, but she doesn't get it. It then goes down to her son, and my son is colorblind.

TI: Oh, I didn't realize that genetic pattern.

MH: Yes, yes.

TI: Interesting.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.