Recollections of President Truman's Navigator
By Captain Robert C Peniston, U.S. Navy (Retired)
A young naval officer's assignment on board the USS Williamsburg resulted in a lifelong acquaintanceship with the ' Man from Missouri' and an encounter with one of history's greatest leaders.
As the shadow of life grows longer, one reflects on the highlights of his or her history. I have several stemming from my time as navigator of the presidential yacht Williamsburg (AGC-369) in the early 1950s. Before sailing in the ship, my wife and I had met President Harry S. Truman at a Washington reception. My first time under way in the presidential yacht, I was again introduced to him, by Captain Donald J. MacDonald, who noted that I was the navigator. The President asked where I was from, and it didn't hurt that I came from Missouri and pronounced it as a native - Missoura. His parting words were to "keep her off the stumps," and thereafter I was identified as the "stump jumper."
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