GULFPORT, Miss. - Navy Pipe Fitter 2nd Class Talmadge A. Byrd turned 100 years old Sept. 9. The WWII veteran was born in Lumberton, Missi., moved to Wiggins as a young boy. His family lived on a small farm growing crops to eat and sell to make ends meet. He joined the Navy in 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After basic training, Byrd shipped out to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, where he served in the Pacific Theater assigned to a floating dry dock for 18 months. He helped repair battled-damaged ships. In 1944, he was reassigned to Oregon, where he worked on cargo ships being built for the Navy before they were crewed-up. After the war, he made it back to Mississippi, and rejoined the Navy in 1957. He received a medical discharge in 1964 and returned home., and landed a job as a pipe fitter at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, where he worked 22 years before retiring. He now lives in Vancleave. “It was a good experience for me. I just tried to take advantage of whatever opportunities they gave me, and it certainly helped me out,” said Byrd. (Source: NCBD Gulfport 09/09/21) Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport | Facebook
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