Kent Nylander: From Sailing the Great Lakes to Sailing the Pacific

By Carla Khan, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Kent Nylander grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, as the middle child out of five siblings.  His father was a professor in foreign languages and his mother a librarian.  His older brother retired as a Colonel in the Air Force and one of his younger brothers also was an Officer in the US Air Force.  Thus, military life was not foreign to Kent.

He effortlessly completed grade school and high school and then in 1957 entered college where he double majored in chemistry and industrial education. While in college he was looking for a job during the summer months and, as luck would have it, one of the members of his church, Walter Gonska, also was an official at the Minnesota Iron Range. He recommended Kent for a summer job as a “coal passer” on an ore boat.  An ore boat was a vessel of approximately 600 feet in length.  A load of coal was dropped on the upper level and then had to be lowered into the boiler rooms.  Kent’s job mainly consisted of delivering coal into the boilers, maintaining the fire, removing the ashes and dumping those into whatever lake or rivers they happened to be sailing in, cleaning and painting of the engine rooms, and performing similar tasks. 

A roundtrip out of Duluth for instance to Gary or Chicago would take about a week and a typical summer had 15 to 20 trips.  The crew slept on the ship.  Not only were the bunks hot since they were above the engine room, a turbine leaking steam and the constant thumping of the older ship’s engines required some getting used to.  In all, Kent loved his part-time job, the best of which probably was talking with the other, more experienced crew members — one of whom had survived three ship wrecks during WWII.

Already having been a member of the Merchant Marine proved to be an outstanding experience for Kent who, while still in college, also joined the Navy Reserve.  As a Seaman Recruit, he attended weekly meetings at the Reserve Center in Duluth.  His eventual goal was to become an officer on active Navy duty, completing training at Newport, Rhode Island.

It all worked out as dreamed with one minor hurdle.  December of 1961 included his college graduation, the marriage to his sweetheart, Doris Dyson, and his entering the US Navy as an Ensign.  Training completed; Kent was told he had to report at Pearl Harbor but wasn’t allowed to be accompanied by his wife.  Fortunately, once he was in Hawaii, he was told that his wife absolutely should come over and join him.  Within two months, Doris arrived.  She soon secured a job for herself at the Red Cross while Kent was assigned to the USS Lansing, a radar picket escort ship.  

His initial duty was that of Deck Officer, being responsible for “the skin of the ship.”  Later, his duties changed to that of Communications Officer.  During the early 1960’s, the US flew aircraft between the Aleutian Islands and the base at Midway looking for Russian military action in the air or on the water.  The USS Lansing patrolled the ocean along that plane route in the area below, communicated with the aircraft, and sent radar signals to the West Coast.  It was not always as easy as it sounded because the Navy was patrolling during all kinds of weather.  At one time, during a very bad storm, the ship was pounded by 85 foot seas and had to right itself from a 60º angle.  Other times were less stressful and more entertaining, such as when Kent fed an albatross pieces of a hotdog injected with hot sauce.  The big bird was not happy.

Kent and Doris had spent 18 months in Hawaii when he was recalled to the mainland.  He had another two years to fulfill his contract and requested flight training in Pensacola.  However, at that time, he also heard the call to join a seminary and he resigned from the training program.  Instead, he was assigned to the USS Worland, an older ship, and he stayed with her on her last voyage to be decommissioned in 1964. Finally, Kent spent his remaining time as a recruiter in Indianapolis.  In September of 1964, his wife gave birth to their first child, a baby girl.  Thanks to military medical care, the total bill for hospital and other medical care amounted to $8.75. As Kent deadpanned: “she still hasn’t reimbursed us”.

Kent completed seminary and had a long career as a Lutheran pastor in the Chicago area serving three different congregations.  Kent and Doris have three children, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.  They have been married for 61 busy years and are currently enjoying their retirement in the Chicago suburbs.