Warren C. Puck

2012 information
Warren Charles Puck
USNR September 1961 to February 1965

Warren is the son of Willis and Lavon Puck. He has one brother, Ken, who served in the Air Force in the late 1960s, and one sister Peggy. Warren grew up in Manning, graduating from high school in 1957.

Back: Ken, Peggy, Warren
Front: Lavon, Willis

Warren graduated from Iowa State University in May 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Administration. The draft board had informed Warren that he was scheduled to be drafted sometime in the fall of 1961. During June of 1961 he took the exam and physical for admission to U.S. Naval Officer's Candidate School. In September 1961 Warren entered Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. The rigorous physical and mental training to become an officer would take six months.

Warren flew from Providence, Rhode Island, to Chicago, Illinois, for Christmas break. A snow storm in the Midwest grounded his scheduled flight from Chicago to Des Moines but Warren was able to get a ride on the Milwaukee passenger train. The train engineer stopped the train in Manning during a huge snowstorm.

Warren graduated from Officer Candidate School in February 1962 as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was assigned to the USS Noble APA 218, an amphibious personnel carrier stationed out of San Diego. Before joining the Noble, which was deployed to the western Pacific, Warren attended six weeks of Operations and Communication school in San Diego. Upon completion of school, he transferred to San Francisco for transportation via Hawaii to Clark Air Force base in the Philippines. Warren joined the Noble at Subic Bay, Olongapo, Philippines. The evening he joined the ship they had an emergency departure from Subic Bay to avoid being caught in port during a typhoon. His first ride on the Noble was a memorable one while they rode up and down on 40 to 50 foot waves caused by the winds of the typhoon. Warren's first assignment was as Assistant Combat Information Officer. The remainder of this tour in the western Pacific included underway training while visiting Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

They returned to San Diego in early fall of 1962. During September and October they sailed ninety miles up the Columbia River to Portland Oregon for sixty days of dry dock repairs. Upon leaving they made a short visit to Seattle, Washington where the World's Fair was in progress.

In late November of 1962, the Noble joined sixty other ships that moved from the Pacific Theatre through the Panama Canal to "show the flag" during the "Bay of Pigs" crisis in the Caribbean. Fortunately, the show of force defused the tension and they returned to San Diego before Christmas. Things were tense during the trip because of the unknown intent of Cuba and the Russians.

In March of 1963, Sue Miller (later Warren's spouse), traveled to San Diego during her spring break to seek employment as a teacher. She was hired immediately to teach ninth grade English in Imperial Beach, a suburb of San Diego. She would begin in the fall.

The Noble left for another Western Pacific deployment the last week of March 1963. They stopped for several days of R&R in Hawaii. They visited the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor and many other points of interest. The Southeast Asia crisis in Laos and Vietnam would begin to heat up during this deployment. The Gulf of Tonkin incident during August 1963 would be the beginning of several years of tension and conflict. A heightened sense of urgency would accompany our drills during this cruise. They made stops in Hong Kong, Manila, Taiwan, Japan, and Guam before returning to San Diego. In May of 1963 Warren was awarded his LTJG (Lieutenant Junior Grade) bars by Captain Hall of the USS Noble. In June while at port in Subic Bay, Philippines, he received orders to transfer to the USS Cook APD 130 (An Amphibious Personnel Destroyer Escort). He took the place of an officer that had been lost at sea. Warren assumed the duties of Communication and Cryptography Officer.

USS Cook

Sue began her teaching duties in September 1963. The Cook returned from deployment in November. During the Christmas holidays, Sue and Warren visited his Grandparents in Duarte, California, and attended the Rose Bowl Parade. After staying up all night to get ready for a good spot at the parade, Warren fell asleep with his contact lenses still in his eyes and lost one of them. His grandmother found the lens in her vacuum sweeper a few days later.

During March, April, and May, the Cook was in dry dock at Vallejo, California, which is located in the San Francisco Bay north of San Francisco.

While visiting Hong Kong China, Warren had purchased a Triumph Spitfire convertible which was to be shipped to Long Beach from England. They had a grand time touring Southern California. His brother, Ken, still remembers a trip from Pasadena to San Diego jammed between the seat and trunk of the Spitfire.

Sue and Warren became engaged on Valentine's Day and married on July 3, 1964, in her home church near Ocheyedan, Iowa. Sue and her sister, Becky drove the Spitfire back to Iowa, and Warren returned to California via Pikes Peak and Yosemite Park.

Warren's final deployment began in November of 1963. The Vietnam issue was heating up and before this deployment would be over, one of the crewmen of the Cook would be fatally wounded by enemy soldiers while scouting for a shore party. They were to spend the Christmas holiday in Subic Bay, Philippines. On Christmas Day they received orders to get underway for duty off the coast of Vietnam. After several weeks of patrol duty they were allowed a few days of R&R in Bangkok, Thailand.

Warren's tour of duty expired while in Bangkok. He was provided transportation via military aircraft through Saigon, Vietnam; Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, Hawaii, and finally to San Francisco.

Warren received his discharge papers as a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve in February 1965. He is very proud to have had the opportunity to serve his country.

2009 Puck family

Back: Marcy, Emily, Nate, Greg
Steve, Sue, Warren, Andrea
Jennifer, Maria, Alex
Front: Anna, Katy, Adam, Jacob, Nikki, Zach

Warren maintained a diary which consisted of 19 pages...here are the first 2 pages - not yet transcribed into text.

WestPac Yearbook

Community and State Activities
1. Joined his father, Willis Puck, in family John Deere Business in 1965
2. 1968 President of the Manning Chamber of Commerce.
3. Served as Trustee on the Manning Natural Gas Board.
4. Chairman of Citizens Committee to build a new High School.
5. Board member of Low Rent Housing Agency which built the Terrace Apartments.
6. Served twelve years on the Manning School District Board of Directors.
7. Served four years on the Board of Directors of the Iowa School Board Association.
8. Served ten years on the Board of Directors of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund in St. Louis, Missouri.
9. Served on the Founding Board of Directors of the Tall Corn Ethanol project.
10. Served seventeen years as a Trustee on the Manning Regional Hospital Board.
11. Held many leadership positions in the Zion Lutheran Church.
12. Served on the Manning Betterment Foundation as President and Director.
13. Served on the Manning Community Foundation as Director and Chairman of the Manning Hausbarn and Heritage Park. Warren and Sue's children graduated from Manning High School: Andrea MHS 1984, Nate MHS 1986, and Brandon MHS 1993

Click here to read a detailed history of the Puck family history in Manning.