The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the July 2022 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Vincent Diomede. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Vincent Diomede at the USS Harwood Reunion in the Fall of 2016 and again at the Tin Can  Sailors Association of New Jersey DESRON 2 - Phoenix Squadron in the Summer of 2021.

Vincent Diomede knew from an early age the Navy would be in his future. He shared, "What led me into the Navy was by best friend John. His father was a carpenter on the USS Missouri, he was Navy from early on and that's all we talked about...there was no considering any other service.” Tragedy had struck Diomede’s family during World War One which left his father hesitant about his son’s decision to join the Navy. Diomede shared, “My father was not too crazy about it, my grandfather was Vincent Diomede, I was named after him. My Grandfather was a dockworker. His job was to prepare coal driven ships at Hoboken and the Navy crew would take the ship out after the steam was brought up. It was 1918, the ship he was on was the USS Agamemnon. If you know the name Diomedes and the Trojan war, he went to war with Agamemnon and didn’t come back. My grandfather went on the USS Agamemnon, it was a ship that was captured by the Germans and there was a steam explosion and 7 men, including my grandfather died.” His father eventually supported his son’s aspirations and Diomede reported to Bainbridge Maryland for basic training.

He reflected on the value of teamwork and the forming of a Navy family at basic training. After graduation, he returned home for a short leave and proudly reconnected with friends and family before traveling to Electrician Mate’s School at Great Lakes. Diomede commented, “there were 8 hours of classes and they covered everything in hindsight that I needed to know when I got on the ship.” After extensive training, Diomede would receive orders to his first ship, the USS Harwood DD 861. He quickly realized the close bond between the crew and enjoyed new assignments on a United States Navy Destroyer.

The Harwood was ordered to Central and South American waters in 1957. Diomede spoke of visiting Cuba before the revolution. He shared, “Cuba was a nice and beautiful place, there were people that would approach you and show a badge. It was one of Castro's undercover people. They would take a (U.S. Navy enlisted man) and offer him $1000.00 to become an officer and train guerrillas.” At the time, no one knew what was about to unfold in Cuba, as Castro’s forces increased efforts to overthrow the government. Diomede was walking with friends, touring the grounds of the Presidential Palace when he found himself in the middle of a revolution. He shared, “we were walking around the gardens at Batista's Palace, all of a sudden, these cars pulled up, took out machine guns, and began shooting at the palace. The guards of the palace were shooting back and here was 3 sailors on the garden in-between the crossfire. We crawled through the flower bushes and people were waving to us. We were directed to avoid the main streets. What had happened was Castro attacked Havana.” Help for the 3 United States Sailors arrived hours later and the Harwood put to sea as fighting erupted in different parts of the country.

Unhurt, Diomede was an eyewitness to a critical moment of Cuban history. The Harwood would return home to resupply before being ordered to the Mediterranean. Diomede spoke fondly about visiting numerous foreign ports and new experiences. Soviet naval and air forces were known to be throughout the region and the Harwood was on alert to report any hostile activity. From one hostile location to another, Diomede recalled the USS Harwood’s efforts of escorting United States Marines to the beaches of Lebanon in 1958 in a peace keeping effort before returning home again.

His adventures in the United States Navy would continue on the USS Yosemite. He returned to the Mediterranean and would be assigned to Shore Patrol, most memorably in Turkey during the Cold War. Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Vincent Diomede’s service history reflects the changing landscape of the Cold War and United States efforts to preserve peace and protect American interests abroad. The Navy Memorial film crew that met Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Vincent Diomede enjoyed learning his service history in 2016. It is not often that our interview teams get to interview a Veteran a second time. Our interview teams were grateful for the opportunity to spend additional time in 2021 to further document his service career. The words and memories shared by Vincent Diomede are an invaluable account of Cold War history. Future generations of Americans will benefit from his words and eyewitness accounts of key moments in time.  

The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Vincent Diomede, 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.

To view this interview please visit the USS Harwood Veterans Collection and the Tin Can  Sailors Association of New Jersey DESRON 2 - Phoenix Squadron Collection on the Navy Memorial Stories of Service page.