Mr. Beattie lied about his age and joined the Naval Reserve at age 17, three days after the United States entered World War I. After 26 months of "distant service," he was discharged honorably as a 19-year-old chief machinist's mate. He eventually took a job with Getty Oil and retired as Superintendent of Engineering. He passed away in 1986.

Articles by Robert Barrie Beattie

top: COURTESY OF AUTHOR, bottom: U.S. NAVY

By Way of the Azores

By Robert Barrie Beattie, Former Chief Machinist's Mate, U.S. Naval Reserve
December 2002
A U.S. Army lieutenant colonel subscribes to the spellbinding memoir of his grandfather, who goes to World War I in a converted fishing boat.