It has been said that great accomplishment is born in dreams.
But dreams, if they are to be realized, must be nourished,
given time and a place in which to grow.
Here, on four hundred seventy acres of the James River in the Tidewater area of Virginia, is such a place.
Clanging, immense, powerful and in its own way, beautiful.
In 1978, the first thing that runs through my mind was like most people: this is not the place for me.
If I live to get out of here this afternoon I'm finding something else to do.
When I came in I discovered I loved my job.
My mother didn't understand it. She said, "Why don't you go get a woman's job?"
And I said, "Mom. I love what I do."
I said I'm going to work here for six months, a year.
But the boys said, "Don't drink that water. You drink that water, then you can't go nowhere.
And I've been here ever since.
I had a full paying job to provide for me and my family.
I met a girl when I was in seventh grade and she and I had dated all through junior high and high school.
And I was able to get married on August 5, 1978.
I actually was married to the shipyard before I was married to my wife.
My cousins that worked here in the past, they said it'll be a great place to work.
So I just put my name in the hat and thank God I got hired.
My first day of work I started out in the shop because I actually was hired as an apprentice pipefitter.
And if you saw what I wore the first day you would understand I had no clue what I was getting in to.
I had on my nice peach-colored pantsuit. The next day I was in jeans.
My first ship was the Carl Vinson. And the guy I interviewed with took me on a tour with that.
And I thought it was amazing that you had such a huge, huge ship that did so many things and it was powered by two plants.
12 Dry Dock. North Yard.
That's where I started. If you can make it there, you can make it.
I call that basic training. Everybody should go through basic training when it comes to the shipyard.
My very first job was a shop machinist.
I was in the Apprenticeship Program, so I was working in the machine shop in Building 65.
Well I can literally say, "James Pugh in 1978 was half the man he is now."
Because I probably only weighed about 105 pounds.
So I was a small guy that came in. I was second-generation shipyard because my father worked here.
But still, hearing about it and seeing it is two different things.
I came in and I worked three weeks in X31 pulling cables.
Then, I heard there was layoffs from the gas tankers that they had, you know, the price of natural gas had dropped.
So I was telling this gentleman that had worked here for a while,
I said, "Look, I'm a little worried now because I understand that maybe they'll have a layoff."
He said, "Don't worry about it. And in fact, I'm gonna put a good word in for you."
So, come Friday at 1:00 o'clock I was told to report to personnel.
And you can imagine this country boy thinking, "Man, he actually did put a good word in for me. They may even promote me."
So when I got there, they said, "Well, Mr. Pugh, sorry, you know, but we had to lay you off."
I packed up, I came home, and I saw my wife. And I said, "Sweetheart, you know, I have some news to tell you."
And she said, "I got something to tell you, too."
And she said, "Well, you know James, we're expecting."
I said, "Wow! That's great because I don't have a job."
So, you know, I went from that to this. I came back in a couple of months and reapplied.
I was hired in the machine shop and, like I said, the career sort of took off from there.
And I haven't missed a paycheck in 40 years. So I really haven't had a bad day in 40 years.
I've kind of flown through life by the seat of my britches. I actually was the accidental apprentice.
I came down to the shipyard, I put in my application.
The man said, "We'll call you." I said, "Forget you'll call me. I know you hired people off the street and I want a job."
So he asked me, "Do you know anything about The Apprentice School?"
I said, "Nope. Give me an application."
And I already had two plus years of college so they called me almost right away.
And the apprenticeship wasn't my intent but I'm so glad now that I did that.
And I had a four-year plan: finish The Apprentice School and then maybe go back up to New York.
I wasn't sure. But, as you see, I stayed a little bit longer than that.
Tenneco was booming.
Aircraft Carriers. Submarines. LNGs and all that stuff like that.
Work in the cold, eat in the cold, change clothes in the cold.
I said, "Man! Why did I come in here?"
But then I toughed it out, man. I had just got married, I had a kid.
So I had to keep on going.
I love my job. How could I come every day if I didn't love it?
I work eight hours a day, and I'm here every day, don't miss any time.
When I came in the shipyard and I got with my first supervisor and he started calling me "John Boy."
And that name stuck me with me for 40 years.
I love the shipyard, man. I do all the presses. If I can get it in the house I can press it.
I press everything: mild steel, HY80, HSLA65, you name it, I press it.
Well, I am from the small town of Merryhill, North Carolina.
And when I get up here, I feel, man, I'm out in the city. I see all the great ships and and it was just exciting to me to see all of this.
When I came in back in 1978, I was making four dollars and twenty four cents an hour.
I believe it was four dollars an hour and that was all the money in China to me.
I do, but I don't want to even discuss it, it's so pitiful.
But it was the times and if I'm not mistaken it was three dollars and sixty five cents an hour.
Oh my goodness. I do not remember how much I was making in 1978.
My first car was a smurf-blue Plymouth Arrow.
That was a real good old gal. I could take five dollars and fill it up and ride all week long.
I got a home, I got cars. If it wasn't for the shipyard, I wouldn't have all of that. It made me what I am.
This whole place is a package that keeps me coming back.
You just, you grow into trusting and respecting shipbuilding.
The energy that is put in to bringing everything together. It's mind-blowing to me that we can take a drawing,
as human beings, and keep connecting the pieces like a puzzle. It's just like Noah building the ark.
The past 40 years, the calculation technology has
improved so much where you've gone from hand calculations, to calculations you
perform on a computer and have number results, to where actually you can visualize what you've done 3-D.
And I think that's a tremendous step.
And I've enjoyed working here. It's been a challenge, it's made me think.
Sometimes I had to think on my feet other times I could sit down and at a desk and think about what to do for certain problems.
But it's challenged me and it's been rewarding.
Me being around for 40 years? Like I said, it means a lot. Because I had no idea I would be here when I left.
I took military leave back in '03. Fighting in the Iraqi war. I may not have made it back.
But we made it back now I got 40 years and it means a whole lot to me.
I'm bigger, I'm slower, I'm grayer.
A whole lot of changes, man. Yet I'm still here.
I think a Master Shipbuilder has responsibilities to set the example.
I really love helping people to be better.
To me, training, teaching, you know, you're helping people be successful and when I look at those
young faces I just think possibilities. They just have so much ahead of them.
If they understand that life is short and the only thing they're gonna leave behind is what they leave in others.
These are the good old days, because, you know, 40 years has almost been a blur.
But I enjoy working, I enjoy doing what I do.
And God's given me my health and strength which is what allowed me to do a lot of different things.
I'm still active and playing different sports, still active in church. So, yeah I'm living the best of both worlds.
I heard people say about the good old days. To me these are the good days.
I am Gaynelle Love.
I am Rolax Walton.
I'm Mike Peters.
I'm James Arnold Pugh.
I'm Ritamary Bruce.
I am Herman Holley. We are proud to be Master Shipbuilders. Yay!
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