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Paul Sweet - Cold War Era
Paul Sweet of New Berlin, Illinois served in the U.S. Navy from 1966 through 1969, most of that on the USS Canopus, AS-34, a submarine tender assigned to the Atlantic fleet. The ship operated out of Rota, Spain. Sweet first worked in the galley as a mess cook, then became a damage control firefighter. In 1976 he joined the 3637th Maintenance Company, an Illinois Army National Guard unit based in Springfield, and in 1980 Sweet transferred to the 183rd Fighter Wing in the Illinois Air National Guard, where he worked in the Civil Engineering section. During his many years in the 183rd, he went on several overseas deployments. After his retirement from the service, he was instrumental in the construction and dedication of the New Berlin Veterans Memorial in July, 2013.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
A sailor commits suicide at sea.
Abstract
Interview Session (Audio)
Transcript
Photos
Caption
From left to right, Edward Schroder, Ken Kern, Charles Thurston, and Dave Stark participate in the noon-hour card game held in the carpenter/pattern shop aboard the USS Canopus AS #34, circa 1967.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
Circa 1967
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Paul Sweet participates in a noon-hour chess game, sitting on the bow of the USS Canopus AS #34. He served on the ship from June 1966 through July, 1968, which was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
Circa June 1966 through July, 1968
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Anthony Borgia and Paul Sweet standing on the starboard side of the USS Canopus AS #34, looking aft. Anthony is the great, great, great nephew of the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia Borgia, who was born on April 18, 1480 in Subiaco, Italy.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
Circa June 1966 through July, 1968
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
From left to right, Tony, Edward Schroder, Ken Kern, Paul Love, Kenneth Anderson, Chief Petty Officer Femino, Charles Thurston, and Paul Sweet gather in the carpenter/pattern shop aboard the USS Canopus AS #34 to celebrate Femino's birthday.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
Circa June 1966 through July, 1968
Ownership:
Narrator's photo)
Caption
From left to right, Kenneth Thomason, Paul Love, and Paul Sweet pose for a picture in the carpenter/pattern shop aboard the USS Canopus AS #34, in 1967.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
1967
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Paul W. Sweet on the fantail of the USS Canopus AS #34, facing aft. The Canopus saw service in the Atlantic Ocean.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
Circa 1966-1968
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Paul on base in Rota, Spain, enjoying liberty off the USS Canopus AS #34, in 1967.
Where:
Rota, Spain
When:
1967
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Taken aboard the USS Canopus AS #34, this photo (circa 1967) shows the ship's starboard side, next to the SSN John Adams 620 and the US Navy-YD 166 (Yard Crane) with Navy divers.
Where:
USS Canopus AS #34
When:
Circa 1967
Ownership:
Narrator's photo)
Caption
This cofferdam was built for SSN George C. Marshall on the pier where the USS Canopus AS #34 docked in Rota, Spain in 1967. The Marshall had been rammed by a Russian trawler (spy ship).
Where:
Rota, Spain
When:
1967
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Paul W. Sweet sets up along the defensive perimeter at the Tempelhof Airport (German: Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof) in Berlin, Germany, in April 1989 while the 183rd Fighter Wing, an Illinois Air National Guard unit, was on deployment.
Where:
Berlin, Germany
When:
April 1989
Ownership:
Narrator's photo)
Caption
The USS Canopus AS # 34.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
The Civil Engineering Group at the entrance to the cantonment area of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Sadie Arabia , in February 2000. The blue arrow points to Paul Sweet.
Where:
Sadie Arabia
When:
February 2000
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
The defensive perimeter for the cantonment area where the unit’s Civil Engineering section billeted while stationed at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia in February, 2000.
Where:
Saudi Arabia
When:
February, 2000
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
The Civil Engineering section billeting area in the cantonment area at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia in February, 2000.
Where:
Saudi Arabia
When:
February, 2000
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Master Sergeant Tom Clark leans against a wall in the Civil Engineering section’s billeting are, located on the cantonment area at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The 1983 Fighter Wing served in that country in 2000.
Where:
Saudi Arabia
When:
2000
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
From 2008 to 2013 Paul Sweet was one of the key players behind the planning, fund-raising, construction and dedication of New Berlin Illinois’s Veterans memorial, which was dedicated in July, 2013.
Where:
New Berlin Illinois’s Veterans memorial
When:
July, 2013
Ownership:
Szoke Photography: May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.