The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the August 2022 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class Joseph R. Pierce. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class Joseph R. Pierce at the VP-68 Alumni Association reunion in the fall of 2021.

Joseph R. Pierce decided to join the Navy at the age of 17 in 1970. He aspired to go to art school and saw the Navy as an avenue to reach his goals. His impressions of basic training at San Diego were positive. He shared, "I enjoyed boot camp, if the whole Navy experience was like boot camp it would be a piece of cake... in the Navy they educate you, the tests you take are very accurate."  Following his time at Naval Training Center San Diego, Pierce was sent to Jacksonville to become an Aviation Electrician Mate. He was assigned to helicopters and began learning the role of a crew member on the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite.

After successfully becoming an Aviation Electrician Mate, Pierce was ordered to NAS Lakehurst. He was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 4, flying SH-2s. He recalled, “ Half the planes went to Vietnam and the other half went to the Mediterranean...my first cruise was on the USS Wainwright DLG 28.” After completing a workup cruise and becoming acquainted with sea duty, Pierce was sent with a crew to the USS William H. Standley DLG 32.

The USS William H. Standley was assigned to Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. While in the Mediterranean, the Standley faced a tragedy with the loss of its helicopter. Pierce spoke of a life changing moment and shared, “On my first cruise we lost a helicopter…I was supposed to take that flight.” He recalled the moments before the crash and how he had participated in a night flight hours before. Another crew member had taken his seat for the next day’s mission. Pierce continued with, “they were about 3 miles from our ship, we could see them, they called mayday, the tail rotor failed, and we saw them splash. I did a drawling of three helmets that were on the flight deck when they brought them up.” The fourth helmet was not recovered. Pierce reflected on the fragility of life and how the crew supported one another during this time of loss. The helicopter crew onboard was given the option to remain at sea or return home. Each member decided to continue with their mission and a new helicopter was flown to the Standley.

Upon returning home, Pierce would be assigned to larger Amphibious Assault Ships before shore duty assignments at Jacksonville, Willow Grove, and back to Lakehurst. His aviation experiences would change dramatically with a new assignment at  NAS Alameda working on  A-7 Corsair fighter aircraft. After working with helicopters and attack aircraft, his final assignment would be with a patrol squadron flying the P-3 Orion. Pierce reflected on proud memories with Patrol Squadron 68 and anti-submarine assignments during the Cold War. Having begun his naval career with a desire to attend art school and teach, AE1 Pierce became Mr. Pierce and proudly taught art in the Cleveland Public School System.  He achieved his goal and positively enriched the experiences of thousands of students before retiring.

The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class Joseph R. Pierce, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.