Bernard Dobbins, a local veteran who served on a Navy minesweeper during WWII. Submitted photo

Bernard Dobbins, a 98 year old local veteran, had a hard time getting used to being in the Navy when he first entered service.

“I had just graduated high school in June and by August I was in boot camp in Illinois,” Dobbins said. “I had no time to visit after graduation with my family and friends. I was 18 years old and it was one of the first times I had been away from home so it took some getting used to. After I was out of boot camp it got easier.”

Dobbins served on a Navy minesweeper during World War II. His job involved putting hoses and equipment over the side of the boat and out into the water. He served in San Francisco after his time in Illinois for boot camp. Dobbins said they were about 30 or 40 miles away from the Golden Gate bridge, putting equipment out into the water to attract any potential mines.

“I liked San Francisco,” Dobbins said. “It was a beautiful place. I was on an island in the bay. After San Francisco I was shipped off to the Hawaiian Islands, which was another beautiful place.”

Dobbins arrived in the Hawaiian Islands around a year after the bombings at Pearl Harbor. He referred to what he saw at Pearl Harbor as awful.

“It was an awful sight to see those huge ships that were bombed,” Dobbins said. “The Arizona was just sticking out of the water. There were ships all around.”

Dobbins added that his biggest thing about the service was getting used to it, saying that “it took a lot”. His return home was something he remembers happily.

“It was great,” Dobbins said. “I could’ve stayed on in the Navy for a while. They tried to get us to reenlist and some of us did, but I was so glad to go back home.”

Even though he was glad to be back, Dobbins said his time in the service turned his world upside down and that it took a long time to get situated again. He was married for 71 years before his wife passed away, and he had three children — two daughters and a son. Dobbins said one of his daughters has also passed away. His father was in World War I, and his brother was in WWII with Dobbins. Another of his brothers served in Korea and another in Vietnam.

Originally from Meadville, PA, Dobbins came to Jamestown following his time in service and began to work at a church. He said he worked in the church for quite a while after, and it became a big part of his life.

“I figured that with what I went through, I believe that the Lord took care of me,” Dobbins said. “I had a lot of friends who did not come back.”