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September’s Avon Veteran of the Month is Ralph Andersh. Andersh served for 20 years of active duty in the Navy. He is a Veteran of the Gulf War and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. At the young age of 17, Andersh enlisted in the Navy on November of 1978, but was not actually active duty until August 28th, 1979 when he turned 18. Andersh had a choice from three different locations as to where he wanted to attend basic training. He had the choose between Orlando, FL; San Diego, CA; and Great Lakes, IL. Andersh chose to attend basic training in Orlando. After basic training came Navy A School, where he was trained as a Navy Quartermaster. A Quartermaster in the Navy has many duties including being responsible for the safe navigation of the ship; bridge watch duty; find, fix, use and stow navigational and oceanographic charts and publications; monitor and record the weather; ensure that there is reliable communication with other vessels and land stations; maintain navigational instruments and keep correct navigational time; performs honor ceremonies; send and receive visual messages; etc. After finishing A School, Andersh knew that he wanted to pursue being on a submarine, so on February 14th of 1980, he moved to Groton, CT, which is also known as “the Submarine Capitol of the World”, to attend Naval Submarine Base New London. Upon completing submarine training, Andersh attended dive school at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Pensacola, FL. He then decided when that training finished, he wanted to become a Navy SEAL. To become a Navy SEAL, Andersh had to complete an intense course designed to test every aspect of him both physically and mentally. After graduating from Navy SEAL training, Andersh become a United States Navy SEAL sniper. One of Andersh’s first missions was in Iran in 1980, when he and his team were sent into a situation where the mission was to rescue American hostages being held captive. Unfortunately, Andersh was shot in both the hand and leg, which ended his Navy SEAL sniper career. After Andersh had healed and made a full recovery from his injuries, he was then stationed on the USS Groton SSN694 for five and a half years. Throughout the years, he had tried to transfer to other ships, but was not able to until mid 1985 when he boarded the USS Whale SSN638 spending another three years on this vessel. Andersh then decided to be land bound for two years in which he did two tours as a Naval Instructor where he taught the basics of living and working on a submarine. The final vessel that Andersh was stationed on was the USS Tucson SSN770 from 1995-1999. All together Andersh spent 12 years at sea. Andersh finally retired on August 31st of 1999 with a rank E6 1st Class. During his 20 years of service, Andersh received many medals and ribbons. These included Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Military Unit Commendation, Navy Battle E Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Persian Gulf Ribbon, National Defense Medal, Sea Service Ribbon and the Artic Sea Service Ribbon. Some of the interesting things that Andersh has been a part of or experienced during his time in the Navy has included being a blue nose (which means that he has traveled to the North Pole); a part of the Order of the Rock (which is unofficially awarded to Naval sailors that have passed through the Strait of Gibraltar); Order of the Ditch (which means that he traveled through the Panama Canal); Shellback (which is a title given to sailors who have crossed the equator); and Order of Magellan (which is given to those who have circumnavigated the globe). Andersh has actually received the Order of Magellan three times and the Order of the Ditch eight times. During his military career, Andersh has been a part of some monumental experiences. He was on board the USS Pittsburg SSN720 when the United States Navy first conducted submarine-launched Tomahawk missile attacks into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was also assigned to be the ships’s photographer which had him accompanying the ship’s captain everywhere he went as a security guard. While on one submarine, diving was needed and as Andersh had attended dive school, he went out to do a security swim and ended up having a 22-foot-long hammerhead shark swim next to him. He has also climbed Mt. Vesuvius and looked down into the crater of the active volcano. Andersh also had two bricks from the Berlin Wall from 1989. Andersh has also met some high-profile people during his Navy journey. He gave a ship tour to the 1996 US Olympic team and the team in return signed three plates with all of their names; one was given to the ship, one to the captain and one for himself. Andersh has met every United States’ President from Jimmy Carter to George Bush with President Bill Clinton attending Andersh’s retirement ceremony in Hawaii. He had met Princess Diana and Prince Charles before they were married; met various European Kings and Queens and even met Pope John Paul. Andersh shared a rather captivating experience the time he met the Pope. He and some of his crewmates had traveled to Vatican City and one of the crewmates had jokingly asked Andersh if he knew the Pope as to which of course Andersh said yes. To prove it, Andersh walked up to the door and spoke with the guard explaining his situation. The guard allowed Andersh past the front door where he took him to another part of the building where he ran into the Pope himself. The Pope said that he would go out on the balcony and wave and Andersh was to wait behind the curtain. The Pope would stick his hand through the curtain when it was time for Andersh to join him on the balcony. The crewmate saw Andersh waving with the Pope and was so shocked that he grasped his chest and needed medical assistance while in the crowd. Ralph Andersh is the son of Richard and Dorothy Andersh and grew up with five sisters and two brothers. Andersh spent his childhood in Wagner but since he was such a talented athlete, Andersh received a scholarship to O’Gorman in Sioux Falls. During his high school years at O’Gorman, he participated in cross-country, track and football for the Knights. He graduated from O’Gorman in 1979 afterwards immediately beginning his military career. After officially retiring from the Navy, Ralph moved back to the Avon/Wagner area. He worked for S & S Masonry in Wagner for 18 years before taking his current position with Manitou Group Ameritas in Yankton. He has worked for Manitou for the last seven years. Andersh also owns and operates the New Horizons Animal Rescue located several miles outside of Avon. Andersh is the proud father of three extremely talented daughters. His oldest daughter, Robin, lives in South Korea with her husband and both of them are working as ammunition inspectors. Andersh’s middle daughter, Laura, is a Harvard graduate who works as a biochemist for Pfizer. Laura created one of the covid booster vaccines. His youngest daughter, Lynn who works as a special education teacher in Connecticut. Andersh is also the proud grandpa to seven grandchildren four are grandsons and three granddaughters. Over the years, Andersh has enjoyed many hobbies including model railroading and mountain biking. He has also been a very active Veteran and has joined the Avon American Legion, the Wagner VFW and the Sub Vets of Sioux Falls organization. When asked why he first thought about enlisting in the military, Andersh said he had actually be set to play football for the University of Nebraska, but due to a tendon injury was not able to continue on that path. Instead, he began being recruited by the Army, Coast Guard and Navy with the Air Force recruiter not making it to their scheduled meeting. He joined the Navy because he wanted to truly see the world. Andersh knows that he has done and experienced more in his 20 years in the Navy than most people do in their lifetime. Thank you, Ralph, for your service and dedication. On a personal note, talking with Ralph was a fascinating experience just because of all of the interesting things that he has seen and done. If you ever have a chance to talk with Ralph about his military career, I would highly recommend it.