Editor’s note: This tribute is one in a series of reader-submitted tributes to World War II-era veterans that will be posted during September.

SK3 JOHN ABRAMS, USN 

Hometown: Kingston.

Branch: U.S. Navy.

Years of service: World War II.

Highest rank attained: Storekeeper third class.

Significant duty stations or deployments during the War: Stationed in Seattle and San Francisco; served onboard the USS Andromeda (AKA-15) and the SS Alcoa Patriot (U.S. Naval Armed Guard). Carried combat equipment to invasion-staging bases and beach heads. The ships also brought wounded soldiers and Marines home. Saw action in the Battle of Okinawa onboard the Andromeda, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf on the Alcoa Patriot.

POST-WAR CAREER: Graduated from Western Washington University and Columbia University; served for 30 years as a teacher, school counselor, principal, and assistant superintendent in the Bellevue School District.