Beaufort’s Matt Swinsick, 79, joined the Navy in 1960 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. After Boot camp and Electronics Technician school in Great Lakes, Ill., he was assigned to the USS Bushnell (AS-15), a large floating submarine maintenance facility in Key West just as the Cuban Missile Crises broke out nearly next door. While serving aboard, he sailed to various ports including New Orleans, Jamaica and East Coast ports. Having become a serious student, he left the Navy to use the GI Bill to earn a degree in mathematics, and he carried that forward to earn both MS and PhD degrees thereafter, becoming a professor of mathematics at Central Connecticut University. Today he is an accomplished watercolor artist here in Beaufort.
– Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 9. For nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.
