ORANGE PARK, Fla. — He left his home as a young boy and became a man while he served our country. This week's Stories of Service focuses on Kenneth Plummer, a man whose life of service continued on after leaving the military.
"The ward I was assigned to had quite a few veterans from the South Pacific," said Plummer who enlisted in the Navy and served on a hospital ship after the surrender of Japan in 1945.
"My first patient was a Marine who had been paralyzed from here down from a sniper bullet," Plummer told First Coast News.
Plummer served on the USS Consolation and tended to his patient every two hours to prevent bed sores.
"There were other sailors out there in the ward with pretty serious injuries," said Plummer. "I always felt privileged to be able to take care of them."
Plummer served in the Navy for three years. In 1957, he suited up in a different uniform while taking a job with the Jacksonville Police Department, which would later become the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office post-Consolidation. He served in a variety of roles and eventually joined JSO's Aviation Division, in which he flew planes to transport inmates.
Plummer was married to his wife for 74 years, has children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even a few great-great-grandchildren. But, while taking some time to flip through a photo album and looking back at pictures taken throughout his lifetime, Plummer insists there is one consistent message.
"I grew up in the Navy," said Plummer. "I matured in the Navy."
First Coast News thanks Kenneth Plummer for his service to our country and Duval County. If you have a Story of Service that you would like First Coast News to profile, send an email to storiesofservice@firstcoastnews.com.