John Roberts joined the United States Navy in September of 1966 and upon graduation from Bootcamp at Great Lakes, attended Gunners Mate A School. His first ship was the USS Douglas H. Fox DD 779. Aboard the Fox, Roberts spoke of the ship’s participation in a Mediterranean Cruise, Operation Springboard, and the loss of the USS Scorpion. He reflected on the moment the Fox was ordered to search for one of their own, "They called us in and we went to sea, after we had gotten to sea, they told us the United States was missing a submarine, which was the USS Scorpion." The USS Scorpion SSN-589 which was a Skipjack Class Nuclear Submarine had failed to report to its homeport and was listed as missing. A combined search and rescue mission was launched and months after the disappearance the wreck was located off of the Azores. From the search of the Scorpion, the Fox was then ordered to Vietnam.

"We went to Vietnam from Norfolk," Roberts recalled, "We were up a river beyond Vũng Tàu...we were gunfire support. We were basically floating artillery. We would fire what they call harassment and irritation fire..." While on station along the coast of Vietnam, Roberts was promoted to serve as a mount captain. “I moved up and I was a mount captain. At 20 years old I was over a twin five inch gun mount with an 18 man crew...that was a big achievement for somebody my age.” From its fire support role off the coast of Vietnam, the Fox was ordered to Korean waters in response to the capture of the USS Pueblo and North Korean hostilities. When remembering the experience in Korean waters, Roberts said, “we were in the condition cruising, we had guns...ready to go and ready to fire...it was foggy, terrible conditions, cold and miserable place...that was probably one of the most tense moments of my time in the Navy.” From the Fox, he would then be ordered to the USS Charles S. Sperry DD 697 and then depart from the Navy until entering the Navy Reserve and would serve in the Seabees.

Speaking of his Seabee service Roberts proudly stated, “I ended up being closer to the Seabees then I was to the Fleet Navy. The comradery of the Seabees is more lasting...I’ve always heard that your last duty station is your best duty station.” He would serve in Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24 almost consecutively from 1976-1998 at a variety of locations including the Middle East.

The United States Navy Memorial honors Senior Chief John Roberts, USN, featured within this series titled, Stories of Service, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial.