Charlie and I were stationed together in Adak (70-71 timeframe) and I had not seen or heard from him since that time. On my way to the 60th IUSS reunion I was able to contact another shipmate who was also on Adak at that time - OTCS Dave Herrick who lives near Cape Hatteras.
Dave later called me and gave me Charlies phone number. I had meant to call him but, as we are all aware, various family goings-on, life in general, and this fast paced world got in my way.
Wish I had made that call to Charlie. Maybe we will meet again and I am sure Charlie would understand.
So sorry to hear about Charlie's passing. This story about Charlie is not meant to be funny but I do want to share it with you. Back around 1978 a rumor got started at COSL that Charlie had passed away. "To my shock", he called me one day and told me to please let everyone know that he was still with us!
Well, Charlie has now passed away "and he is still with us".
I spoke with Charlie Heffner a couple of years ago and he was in bad shape with various medical issues, I wished him well and that was it. He was stationed with myself, Dave Williams, John Ellis, George Widenor, and a bunch of other Argentia shipmates circa 1966-1970. He was a great Analyst and I recall his persistency when he was convinced he was right. Problem is he was almost Always right!!! I mean that in the most respectful way. He had taught me so much while in the watch section. He was George's LPO in our watch section. He was a great sailor.
RIP Shipmate.
OTAC C. E. Cable
