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Syracuse University Libraries

Service Souvenirs: Objects that Speak Our Stories, Nov. 1-27, 2024: Matthew S. McCarthy (U.S. Navy)

By invitation from the Libraries, student veterans created a collection of items from their time in service that hold special meaning for them as it connects to place. These are on display for the month of November 2024 in honor of Veterans Day.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 2014.

About Matt

Branch of Service: United States Navy

MOS/Rate: Fire Controlman Aegis 2nd Class. Operated and maintained the SPY-1D Radar system.

Program & Graduation Year: B.S. Electrical Engineering / December 2024

A Temple Book: to get stamps at various temples, both Shinto and Buddhist, in Japan.

 

This picture was taken shortly after I had finished basic training in June 2014. I was scheduled to start further education training in my job field at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois and had the weekend off to spend with my parents. I believe this picture was taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where we had traveled to and attended a Polish festival.

The temple book culturally ties me to the land in which I was stationed. I was stationed on the USS John S. McCain DDG 56 for four years, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. The temple book was like a timestamp and a record book which indicated each temple I had visited with my girlfriend and got their own unique stamp. Although I have filled out many pages in the book thus far, it still serves me as a reminder of what I still have not finished. My next goal with this book is to return to the top of Mount Fuji again and get the temple stamp there.