MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – On a Friday in February, Kenneth Perry, his brother David, and David’s wife, Erin, journeyed to Vermont for a get-together.
Traveling from their homes in Virginia, the trio set out to visit the Perry’s parents, Al and Marcia.
“It is lovely to have our family, but part of our family,” Al Perry said. The couple have five more children.
Al, a native of Richford, met Marcia — a college student — when he was in the Navy. “We met washing dishes,” Perry said. It was the end of a party but the beginning of a romance. “Marcia was the date of one of my housemates.”
By the end of the year, they were married — over six decades ago. Perry was about to set sail on a journey of a lifetime on a U.S.. submarine. The modern nuclear subs ran silent and deep under the oceans. Perry was a young officer assigned to the USS Sam Houston, a brand-new boat with a green crew. “Our perspective was we were on our first deployment,” Perry said.
In Late October 1962, the Soviet Union stationed nuclear warheads in nearby Cuba that were aimed at the U.S. The Russians and Americans were on the edge of war. “But we certainly weren’t aware of any problem in Cuba,” Perry recalled.
This reporter was born during the Cuban missile crisis but blissfully unaware of my surroundings. Perry though was under the Atlantic Ocean when the captain and crew received a sobering communique. “We got this message that said, essentially, prepare to launch missile,” Perry said.
He was the diving officer and was in charge of bringing the sub to periscope depth in order to launch the nuclear ballistic missile.
Reporter Joe Carroll: But when you hear, “Prepare to launch,” that brings it to a different level.
Al Perry: Yup, it was the first time for us, except for practicing.
After intense negotiations, the USS Sam Houston was ordered to stand down and the missiles were removed from Cuba. Perry’s Al’s career in the Navy would continue. He became captain of the USS Spadefish. It was an intense career where he would spend months isolated from the world and away from family. “I really didn’t think about home and family when I was at sea. I completely focused on what I was doing,” Perry said. “I had my duty, Marcia had her duty.”
“Yes, I think you had your job and I had mine,” Marcia added.
All four boys followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the Navy, David for 11 years and Kenneth for 32, eventually rising to the rank of rear admiral.
“You don’t want to let him down, integrity is everything,” David said.
“And interestingly for me, the first submarine that I was assigned to as a submarine officer was the same submarine that my dad commanded,” Kenneth said.
In 2021, the Perry’s youngest son, Douglas, was on hand along with his dad at the commissioning of the USS Vermont. At the time, Douglas was a rear admiral. In January, he was promoted to vice admiral.
“Your children and your family are the most important thing you ever do,” Marcia said.
“We have 170 or 180 years of Navy in our family,” Perry said. “Glad that we served, glad that we served.”
