Gail enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was stationed aboard the USS Nevada (BB-36). Gail saw action in many of the major naval campaigns of the war including the Normandy Invasion (D-Day) at Cherbourg, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Saipan, Guam, Ulithi, Leyete, Aleutian Islands, Algiers, Toulon, and occupation forces in Tokyo Bay. He received the American Area Campaign Medal, European-African Area Campaign with 2 stars, Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with 3 stars, World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and 2 commendations. He was an electricians mate third class and following his honorable discharge on November 24, 1945, he returned to Portland.
Gail then attended an electrician technical school and was employed by Union Pacific Railroad. It was in Portland that he met his wife, Edna Elizabeth McKean, who was working in the banking sector and in September of 1949 they were married in Portland. They moved frequently across the nation during the 1960s. He worked for U.S. Army Corp of Engineers working on U.S. air bases and missile silos (including those in Moses Lake and Warden, Washington. Gail worked at Cape Canaveral (later known as Cape Kennedy) in Florida during the construction of the Vertical Assembly Building. The family also lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis during their residence in Florida.
Gail and family moved frequently following the expansion of hydroelectric projects within the United States. In 1968, they moved to the Grand Coulee Dam area where he was employed by the Bureau of Reclamation until his retirement in 1982. Gail and Edna lived there for 34 years and in 2003 moved to Wenatchee to make their home.
Gail was a 50-year union member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and member of the Veteran's of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Gail enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was stationed aboard the USS Nevada (BB-36). Gail saw action in many of the major naval campaigns of the war including the Normandy Invasion (D-Day) at Cherbourg, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Saipan, Guam, Ulithi, Leyete, Aleutian Islands, Algiers, Toulon, and occupation forces in Tokyo Bay. He received the American Area Campaign Medal, European-African Area Campaign with 2 stars, Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with 3 stars, World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and 2 commendations. He was an electricians mate third class and following his honorable discharge on November 24, 1945, he returned to Portland.
Gail then attended an electrician technical school and was employed by Union Pacific Railroad. It was in Portland that he met his wife, Edna Elizabeth McKean, who was working in the banking sector and in September of 1949 they were married in Portland. They moved frequently across the nation during the 1960s. He worked for U.S. Army Corp of Engineers working on U.S. air bases and missile silos (including those in Moses Lake and Warden, Washington. Gail worked at Cape Canaveral (later known as Cape Kennedy) in Florida during the construction of the Vertical Assembly Building. The family also lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis during their residence in Florida.
Gail and family moved frequently following the expansion of hydroelectric projects within the United States. In 1968, they moved to the Grand Coulee Dam area where he was employed by the Bureau of Reclamation until his retirement in 1982. Gail and Edna lived there for 34 years and in 2003 moved to Wenatchee to make their home.
Gail was a 50-year union member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and member of the Veteran's of Foreign Wars (VFW).
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