"I would say it was interesting, having been involved in the Nimitz project so long, our communications center had been up and running years before the ship was commissioned."
Master Chief Radioman Waldo J. Brunner, USN
The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the March 2020 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Master Chief Radioman Waldo J. Brunner. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Master Chief Radioman Waldo J. Brunner at the USS Nimitz CVN 68 reunion being held at Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the Fall of 2018.
Master Chief Radioman Waldo J. Brunner joined the United States Navy in 1956, the day he turned eighteen. Two days later, he was at Great Lakes for basic training and learning the time-honored heritage and traditions to become a sailor. He hoped for greater challenges at bootcamp, being used to throwing haybales in Kansas, he took Great Lakes in the winter with strides and was ready for more. At Bainbridge Maryland, he attended Class A Radio School, and prepared for his first assignment with the fleet.
His first ship was to the submarine tender, the USS Howard W Gilmore AS 16 where he quickly learned 
on the job training in the Communications Department from a World War Two Veteran. His assignments included listening to radio signals and recording over 36 words a minute. While there he went to work on a submarine and then to a submarine rescue ship. Based on his high evaluations, he was assigned to be a communications liaison to the United States Army Cable Ship, Albert J. Myer. He recalled, “at the time we were working on a top-secret operation,” installing communication cables to different islands in the Caribbean and between military instillations. Upon completion of this assignment and a number of other duty stations, his next orders would be to the pre-commissioning crew of the USS Nimitz CVN 68.
When reflecting on his service on the USS Nimitz, Brunner shared, "I would say it was interesting, 
having been involved in the Nimitz project so long, our communications center had been up and running years before the ship was commissioned." He spoke fondly of his Nimitz service and vigorous nature of sea trials and continuously checking of equipment before the ship was ready to join the fleet. He would serve on the USS Nimitz during for her first cruise to Europe before retiring in 1975.
Throughout the span of his naval career which began in 1956 and concluded in 1975, Master Chief Radioman Waldo J. Brunner served on the USS Howard W. Gilmore AS 16, USS Trutta SS 421, USS Petrel 
ASR 14, USS Bayfield APA 33, USACS Albert J. Myer, USS Point Defiance LSD 31, USS Princeton CVS 37, Naval Station Argentia Newfoundland, Naval Facility Antigua, Naval Electronics Lab San Diego, and was the Project Officer for the USS Nimitz CVN 68 Communications Systems, and with his final assignment being the USS Nimitz CVN 68.
The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Master Chief Radioman Waldo J. Brunner, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at http://navylog.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.
To view this interview please visit the USS Nimitz CVN 68 Collection on the Navy Memorial Stories of Service page.
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part One Memories of Training at Great Lakes in 1956 and Class A Radio School in Bainbridge Maryland
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Two Service on the USS Howard W. Gilmore AS 16 and Memories of the Communications Department
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Three Service Memories and Operations of the USACS Albert J. Myer
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Four Memories of Naval Station Argentia Newfoundland and the Cuban Missile Crisis while Stationed in Antigua
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Five Memories of Amphibious Squadron 7 and Operation Starlite During the Vietnam War in 1965
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Six Receiving Orders to the Naval Electronics Lab and Working as the Project Officer for the USS Nimitz Communications Systems
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Seven Memories of the Sea Trials and Commissioning of the USS Nimitz in 1975
Interview of Waldo Brunner Part Eight Service on the First Cruise of the USS Nimitz in 1975 and Retiring from the Navy