Diver No. 1- Ready!

INTRODUCTION
My name is Benjamin S. Jones, Sr., commonly known as Ben Jones. I began my professional career as an Engineer, graduate of the University of California, Berkeley Sept. 1942. World War II was in full bloom. The Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor just 10 months previously. In February a large French ship, the Normandy, seized by the US, burned and sank in New York Harbor. This meant nothing to me at the time; it was beyond my wildest imagination that a year later I would be diving in waters alongside that ship. Our armed forces were entrenched on Guadacanal and beginning to strike back at the Japs, and in Europe, the tide seemed to be turning against the Germans. The Military needed more men, more guns, more ships, more tanks and planes. The Navy needed Engineers for their shipyards and was offering a Commission to anyone with an Engineering degree. I applied even though I was told that, at 5 feet 5 Inches, I was a little short for an officer. So when the time came for the physical exam, I stuffed my socks with sponges and by stretching a little was able to make the height. At the same time, the local Draft Board was breathing down my neck. Two agonizing months went by while I pleaded with the Draft Board to wait until I heard from the Navy. A week before being inducted as a Private in the Army, I received a large manilla envelope special delivery from Washington D.C. stating that the President had appointed me an Ensign in the United States Navy. I read "And I do strictly charge and require all Officers, Seamen and Marines under his Command to be obedient to his orders. And he is to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time as he shall receive from me, or the future President of the United States or his Superior Officers...". Wow! This was from the President himself! the package had other information and instructions. It also warned that my Commission was probationary based on my completing a three month Indoctrination at a Naval Training School for Officers, Tuscon Arizona, and I was to report immediately