Norman Paul was 17 years old in 1944 and like most Americans wanted to his part in the war effort.

He first had his eyes set on the Marines, but could not join because he was too young, so he settled on the Navy.

Paul, now a resident at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough, was assigned to the USS Tucson, an antiaircraft cruiser attached to the 3rd Fleet. His ship’s purpose was to protect the aircraft carriers, he said.

He spent the majority of the war in the Pacific, but said his ship was never hit, which was fortunate since it was loaded with diesel fuel and ammunition.

Being attached to such a large battle group, which was growing as ships from Europe were brought to the Pacific, was an amazing sight.

“For 360 degrees every day out there I could see ships as far as the eyes could see,” he said.

Of course patrolling the Pacific during the end of the war the group did see some action. While Paul said his boat did not see a lot he did witness kamikaze attacks, some of which were successful and others that were deflected by the ship’s defenses, forcing the planes to crash into the ocean.

Paul said he was lucky to survive the war, but there were many other sailors who were not as lucky and funerals were a regular part of the job.

“There were burials at sea ceremonies and we would observe these at a distance,” he said.

Paul was patrolling off of Japan when America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9 respectively. Prior to the bombs being dropped, Paul remembers the nightly air raids over Japan that stopped at sunrise.

When Japan finally surrendered on Sept. 2, 1944, Paul was able to witness the historic event occurring on the USS Missouri from aboard his ship.

Paul was discharged from the Navy in 1948 and returned home to Lebanon, Maine. But he was again called into active duty in 1950 during the Korean War. He was stationed aboard the USS Des Moines, a heavy cruiser that patrolled the Mediterranean Sea. He was discharged after 18 months.

He again returned to Maine and to his wife, Jean, whom he had married one day before returning to active duty. He also returned to a promising baseball career that he put on hold during World War II, resumed for a couple of years and again stopped due to the Korean War.

Paul, who was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame last weekend, started playing baseball when he was a child.

“We played after school, on Sunday, anytime someone called up and wanted a game, we had it,” Paul said.

By the time he was 15 years old, his pitching ability was starting to generate some notice and he was awarded a jacket from a local sportswriter and sporting goods store owner in Sanford named Red McCann.

While he played as much baseball as he could while in the Navy, it was not always possible since his ship was often out patrolling. But when he returned home in 1948 he began playing baseball for the Lebanon Townies in the Sanford Twilight League.

Eventually he was given a tryout with the Giants at their facility in Florida. There were some 400 people at the tryout and Paul was one of just 50 to receive a contract from the club. His contract was for $1,500 and was assigned to their Lenoir, N.C., farm team.

“This is like someone sent me out onto a playground and I’m getting paid for it,” he said about his tryout.

But just before the season started he was told that he had been traded to an independent team without any major league affiliation.

“At age of 22 that blew my mind and I was disappointed and I went home,” he said.

He continued playing for the Townies before leaving for the Korean War. When he returned and picked up where he left off, he played well during the 1950s, routinely leading the league in many pitching statistical categories. He retired in 1956.

“I just got away from it after a while,” he said, adding that he then had a family and was a member of the Sanford Police Department.

Paul’s accomplishment on the baseball in Sanford was recognized on Friday night when he threw out the first pitch at a Sanford Mainers game. Paul said it was quite an honor and said that he has been on cloud nine for the past several days.

Paul was member of the Sanford Police Department for 27 years and after retiring was a member of the Maine House of Representatives, for a portion of Sanford, for two terms.

Norman Paul