Veteran Salute: Fighting the enemy and the ocean

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Studying Horticulture at K-State, the Korean War would bring Topeka native Ed Kelly into an environment he never would have imagined. Serving in the Navy, the Fire Control Technician would fight both enemy forces and the wrath of the ocean.

Transitioning from the farm to the ocean wasn't exactly smooth sailing for the Kansan.

“First time I got seasick," Kelly said. "That was in San Francisco out in the bay. I think people may not have the right idea about the Navy. It actually is fighting two different wars. One of them’s against the enemy, the other is against the ocean the typhoons, and we saw plenty of typhoons.”

Kelly would see plenty of combat as well, playing a role in the longest naval blockade in modern history according to the U.S. Naval Institute, the Siege of Wonsan. That bombardment lasted 861 days.

“That was to keep the Korean Navy from using it to refuel and reestablish their troops," he said. "So we were in that Wonsan harbor. Generally it was about 30 days at a time we would be in there. They credit us with having three or four direct hits over there, and we never had an injury and never got hit.” 

Through his time in the Military, Kelly held two drastically different roles.  

“As a Deckhand, you’re chipping, painting, wrapping the coils around the lifelines, hanging over the sides," He said. "Probably the most dangerous job we had was when we were doing refueling. When you’re on board ship, there’s no such thing as 4 on 8 off, you’re active most of the day.”

Not wanting to stay in that role, Kelly requested Fire Control Technician schooling.

“I then was working with the fire control," He said. "We had worked with the gunfire controlling the guns. We would align the guns horizontally, using the stars and that sort of thing. Maintaining the radars for the guns, both the 40 millimeter and for the main one, that’s how I got involved.”

After his time in the Navy came to an end, Kelly was hired on to work with IBM across Topeka, Kansas City, Arkansas and more for 35 years. He attributes landing that position to the skills and education he learned through his time in the Military.