US Navy, 1961-1964
I was born August 8, 1943 in Chariton County, Missouri, to George and Virlea Graves Pollard. My brother Larry was one year older and I had two younger sisters, Connie Pollard Lane and Brenda Pollard Eastin.
I grew up on a farm one mile north of Indian Grove, spending 1st through 11th grades going to Keytesville schools and then graduated from Marceline High School in 1961.
I enlisted in the US Navy and left for basic training at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Michigan, on August 5, 1961.
It was only the second time I was out of the state of Missouri, having gone to Rockford, IL when I was a high school senior. A few months later I went all the way to Chicago and then to the Great Lakes Training Center.
After Electricity and Electronics Preparatory School (E&EP) I was sent to Sandia Base (an Army base) in Albuquerque, NM for mechanical training. Until discharge I was stationed at Skiffes Creek Annex, a Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, VA. I was in the Navy, but once I got to Virginia I had to drive 50 miles to see the ocean.
I was discharged on August 7, 1964 with the rate of Gunners Mate Technician 3rd Class Petty Officer.
After returning to Marceline I married Linda Eads, my wife of 56 years, on July 17, 1966. We are the proud parents of three grown children — Darrin, David, and Shelly Pollard Wehmeyer, all with spouses, their own children, grandkids and great grandkids.
We have lived in Lawson the last few years. I worked as a pressman for printing companies in the Kansas City area and Linda worked for the Bank of Lawson.
We are retired and enjoy taking interesting short trips around the state while staying close to family, friends and home.