Brian Kingston, a U.S. Navy veteran and former Commander of Wells-Hussey American Legion Post #42 in Damariscotta, recalls his military service with fondness.
After volunteering as an 18-year-old in Sept. 1962, Kingston served four years in the U.S. Navy, spending the last year and a half aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea.
“My four years in the Navy was very enjoyable,” Kingston said. He recommends the experience for others, namely, anyone in high school without immediate plans for higher education.
“It’s good for you,” Kingston said. “You learn something” and, after discharge, the military will assist former service members if they decide to return to college.
Nearly 45 years after his own discharge, Kingston, 68, of Warren, regrets not making a career of his military service. Instead, he spent 25 years with Central Maine Power as a lineman and line inspector before layoffs brought his career there to an end.
Elsewhere in his post-military career, Kingston worked as a plumber’s helper for Louis French, sold boats and snowmobiles, ran Townline Video Plus and worked in the rental department at Damariscotta Hardware.
Along the way, Kingston, at the invitation of friends, began attending Legion meetings. Eventually, he’d serve three terms as post Commander and a single term as the Commander for Lincoln County. In the early 1970s, he and a small group of members built the existing Legion hall on Bus. Rt. 1 in Damariscotta.
“It was just a good time,” Kingston, a Damariscotta native, said of his membership in and service to the organization.
About 30 years ago, Kingston, formerly of Damariscotta and Edgecomb, moved to Warren and, citing the commute, eventually let his membership lapse. He didn’t join another post.
Before the Legion days, Kingston was a high school graduate “doing push-ups in coal yards” during a frigid boot camp in Chicago.
Following boot camp, Kingston became a “classified control yeoman” in the Navy. He described the job as a “secretary” who handles only “top secret” information. “I could type in high school so I got all the cushy jobs,” he explained.
Kingston spent time in Norfolk, Va., and Brunswick before his transfer to Carrier Division Six and the Mediterranean Sea.
Kingston’s service began during the escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and Kingston volunteered for a transfer into the theatre of war. Fortunately, perhaps, for Kingston, his Admiral denied the request.
“He figured he wouldn’t get a replacement,” Kingston said.
In April 2010, doctors diagnosed Kingston with stomach and liver cancer, initially giving him “a couple months” to live. “That was a year ago so I beat them,” Kingston said.
Kingston received three rounds of chemotherapy at Maine Medical Center and travels to Tijuana, Mexico once a month for treatment not available in the U.S.
Kingston is optimistic in his hopes for a full recovery. He enjoys fishing with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren on his 27-ft. boat and hopes to travel around the states.
Even in San Diego, where Kingston stays during treatments, he and his wife, Sandy Kingston, sightsee when they can. They visited the U.S.S. Midway Museum (“He was my tour guide,” Sandy Kingston said) and the San Diego Zoo. “There’s so much to see here,” Brian Kingston said.
Travel costs, including airfare and hotels, and the cost of the treatments in Tijuana, not covered by Medicare, add up quickly. The Wells-Hussey Post is hosting a fundraiser for Kingston at 5 p.m. on Sat., March 26.
The evening will begin with a spaghetti supper to be followed by a sock hop, event organizer Mary Jane McLoon said. Admission for both events costs $5. Attendees can also bid on various items in a silent auction throughout the evening.
