Golf great Palmer to get Lone Sailor award

[wackychick]

Arnold Palmer may not have slipped into any green jackets during his years in the Coast Guard, but he still remembers his time in the service fondly.

“I have to say that my three years in the Coast Guard was three years that I value very highly,� Palmer told Navy Times. “I think that it — the experience of being in the Coast Guard had a lot to do with the success I’ve have had in golf.�

Although Palmer is known for his links battles with archrival Jack Nicklaus and not his years as a photo technician at the 9th District headquarters in Cleveland, he is to be recognized this September with a Lone Sailor Award from the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Palmer was a senior at Wake Forest University in 1950, playing on the college golf team, when his roommate was killed in a car accident.

“We were very close; I was very distraught about the fact that he had gotten killed,� Palmer remembered. “I finished the semester but I continued to be upset, so I decided to get away and do something else, so I went to Washington and I joined the Coast Guard.�

In January of 1951 he reported to Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J. After he finished basic training, a base commander ordered him to stay on as a physical training instructor for new recruits.

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