(Editor’s note: The following short bio was written by Mary Bear of Fort McDowell. Her father, Sam Little, recently received his 60-year pin from the Fleet Reserve Association, and she wanted to commemorate the event).

The “official” birth date of Sam Little is Dec. 31, 1920.

But this date was only a guess because there were no written records at that time. No written names, birth certificates or marriage licenses were issued.

Later in life he was told that he was born in a year when people were falling off their horses and dying, and the month he was born was when corn was almost four feet high.

We estimate it was probably September during the year of the 1918 flu epidemic on the Navajo reservation.

But according to Sam, he remembers seeing his uncle return home from WWI (1918) and he believes he was around four years old. So his real age still remains a mystery to our family.

Sam was attending New Mexico Highlands University when Pearl Harbor was attacked and when war was declared on Dec. 8, 1941 he was ready to enlist.

He completed his sophomore year then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and began his basic training on Sept. 23, 1942 at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Farragut, Idaho.

After completion he was promoted to seaman second class then trained at the U.S. Naval Advanced Training School at Treasure Island, San Francisco. After receiving the second highest honor he was promoted to petty officer status in April 1943.

Shortly afterward he was promoted to second class petty officer and transferred to the USS General Morton, a personnel transport ship to do duty in the Pacific Fleet in wartime.

The USS Morton was to transport military personnel of all branches i.e., Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard and certain civilians, into battle zones or from one battle to another or combat area to another -- ever moving north to Japan.

He was honorably discharged on Dec. 22, 1945.

After his discharge he returned to New Mexico in 1947 where he married his high school sweetheart, Catherine, and completed his college degree.

He taught briefly at the Phoenix Indian School in 1948 but quickly became disenchanted with the poor treatment he received and re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Aug. 10, 1948 and was transferred to the Eleventh Naval District Headquarters, San Diego, Calif., where he served on the staff for Admiral Baker for the next five years.

In 1953 he was shifted to the staff of the Commander Naval Force, Far East, headquarters in Yokosuka, Japan.

He worked for Admiral Callahan, who was in command of all the naval units and ships in the Far East. Then in 1956 he was transferred to the USS Caliente for six months where he participated in a classified secret mission named the “Red Ball Operation” testing nuclear atomic bombs.

He was transferred back to San Diego, Calif. in 1956. In 1960 he was transferred to Washington, D.C. for duty on the staff of the Commander, Naval Support Force Antarctic, Atlantic Fleet.

After completion of his tour he was transferred to the Pacific Missile Range, Point Mugu, Calif. His final promotion was on Nov. 16, 1965 to the grade of senior chief petty officer.

Later he was deployed on the USS Yorktown and the USS Hornet (both aircraft carriers) during the Vietnam War. Both ships performed line duty off the coast. On Dec. 15, 1969 he retired from active duty into the Fleet Reserve. He retired from the U.S. Navy on Nov. 1, 1974.

He served honorably in the United States Navy for over 25 years. He participated in WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and took a vital part in “Operation Deep Freeze” out of Washington, D.C., deploying semi-annually to the Antarctic Continent.

On Dec. 1, 2014, Sam was recognized for 60 years of continuous membership and loyalty, protection and service to fellow shipmates of the Fleet Reserve Association.

He is the first and only member of FRA Branch 163 to receive this honor.

Members of the FRA came to Fort McDowell on Sept. 1, 2015 to present the award.

Sam Little has been a Fort McDowell community resident since 2012 and is the father-in-law of Raphael Bear.