Eddie Fletcher

Eddie Fletcher was born on January 28, 1928 in Greensboro, Alabama, the son of the late Eddie and Cealie Fletcher. After graduating from school, Mr. Fletcher immediately went into the Navy, where he first received his basic training in Bainbridge, Maryland. The Navy later sent him to Shoemaker, California, where he was assigned to a troop transport ship as a messenger-man during World War II.

On this ship, Mr. Fletcher traveled thousands of miles to different islands in the Asian-Pacific Region. While at these islands, he and his team would leave the ship to enter war zones and pick up fellow soldiers, injured and sick, to bring them back to the United States to recover. Near the end of World War II, Mr. Fletcher was sent on a second tour to the Battleship Missouri in Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as a cook. At the end of World War II, the Battleship Missouri received orders from Washington, D.C. to go to Tokyo, Japan so the surrender ceremony could be signed on the ship. 

Mr. Fletcher decided to stay in the Navy after the end of World War II, where he was reassigned to active duty. He was later discharged from the Navy, and once the Korean War began in the 1950s, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Fletcher was an Airman First Class in the supply room for five years and was honorably discharged from the Air Force.

Today, Mr. Fletcher lives in Harlem with the Taft Rehab development. He enjoys traveling to different cities and watching the news. He is a very active 91-year-old veteran who has an unceasing love for his country.