FTM1 E-6 James Belanger / United States Navy

Jim Belanger knows cold! He can also speak French. Belanger began his interview with, “I was born in Van Buren, Maine. That’s 27 miles north of Caribou. We were so close to French-speaking Canada, that everyone spoke French. Later, I moved to Nashua where I worked for several years at Sanders Associates, and then moved to Hollis.”

Belanger was born in 1943, one of eight children born to French-Canadian parents, and graduated from high school in Caribou, Maine in June 1960. Six days later, he was in another cold place for the U.S. Navy; Great Lakes Recruit Training Center in Illinois. Since he had an aptitude for electronics, the Navy sent him to school to learn electronics repair. From there, he was sent to Groton. CT where he would train for submarine duty and was slated to be part of the USS Nautilus crew, America’s first nuclear-powered sub.

Belanger’s training only lasted a couple of weeks, however. He explains, “About 3,000 of us applied to go to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. About 300 of us were selected to go not to the Academy but to first go through the Naval Academy Preparatory School. This is a school for people who did not yet have a college degree. Of the 300 that went to the Prep School, I was among the 80 that moved on to Annapolis.” According to their website, “The mission of the Naval Academy Preparatory School is to enhance midshipman candidates’ moral, mental, and physical foundations to prepare them for success at the U.S. Naval Academy.”

Belanger attended the prep school for a year and then went on to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Belanger notes, “I made one year at Annapolis… but didn’t pass chemistry. The next thing I knew, I was on the USS Neosho, a Navy oil tanker.”

The USS Neosho, in service from 1954 until the 1990’s, named after the Neosho River in Kansas (AO-143) was the lead ship in her class of Navy “oilers.” Belanger explains the Neosho’s job, “We carried 11 million gallons of fuel including jet fuel and diesel fuel. Our job was to refuel aircraft carriers and smaller tankers while out at sea. We could refuel maybe five or six aircraft carriers, depending on how low they were on fuel, and then we had to refill our tanks. When our tanks were empty, the ship rode 30 feet higher above sea level than we did full. When we were empty, to fill the tanks took three days, pumping day and night, 24/7.”

The USS Neosho, along with a host of other Navy ships were sent to Cuba in October 1962, ordered by then-President John Kennedy, to form a blockade; forcing dictator Fidel Castro to dismantle what were believed to be nuclear missiles on the island. Belanger said, “It was a tense time. You could feel the tension on board the ship.”

Belanger’s time was almost up in the Navy and he had to decide what to do with his life. “By this time,” he said, “I was married and had kids. I didn’t know what I would do in civilian life. The Navy seemed to be a pretty good place to be. The work and the pay were steady… so I signed on for another four years.” Belanger had married Sandra St. Pierre, also of Van Buren, ME and had three children.

Belanger then found himself on the USS Biddle, a Belknap class, guided missile cruiser. While we were deployed, just to make sure everything was working OK, I raised one of the missiles. I don’t know what was going on at that particular minute but the captain about had a stroke!”

Asked if he had visited any interesting ports of call, Belanger chuckled, “We didn’t travel too far. The most exotic port was New Orleans. We also went to Jamaica and Gitmo. (Guantanamo Bay) At Gitmo, there was a HAM radio station for Hams to use when off the ships. I am a HAM operator so I knew how it worked. The HAM operator on Gitmo could contact another HAM operator anywhere in the US. They in turn, would place a collect long-distance call to the ship-mate’s family wherever that happened to be.”

In November 1967, Belanger mustered out of the Navy. His final rank was an E-6 with a designation of FTM1 as a Missile Fire Control Technician First Class.

He next settled in Nashua where he worked for Sanders Associates for several years. Around this time his fourth child was born. Being civic-minded, he got involved in the city’s Civil Defense operations where he was a Civil Defense Police Officer. He also started a small business in his basement called Belanger Electronics where he repaired televisions, built and repaired radios, and designed and built communications systems of the type used by police and fire dispatchers.

Needing more room for his business, he moved to Hollis, NH, changing the name of his business to Beltronics. He designed and built a communications system for Hollis, Milford and surrounding towns in NH and Mass. At the time. Milford was dispatching for around nine fire departments in southern New Hampshire.
At the time, Hollis had a Police Chief, but no Police Department as such. Several volunteers served as police officers as needed. The department had a couple of cruisers so whoever was on duty was either driving a cruiser or had it at their home. The volunteers could also have blue lights on their personal vehicles. Likewise, the fire department had equipment, but no paid firefighters, only volunteers. Their equipment consisted of five firefighting vehicles: a ’42 Dodge, a ’56 Ford, ’63 Ford, an Army surplus Dodge, and an International truck. Being as civic-minded as he is, Belanger served concurrently as both a police and fire volunteer. He also served on the Hollis School Board, Board of Selectmen, Highway Safety Committee, and various other positions over the years. He was also elected an NH State Rep for five two-year terms. He has calculated that between Nashua and Hollis, he has provided a total of 329 years of community service.

Of his father, Jim Jr. wrote, “Dad has always looked at something and figured he might be able to “make it better” so jumped in with both feet. I don’t think there is a committee or board or department he hasn’t served on for the Town of Hollis. He is much like my grandfather who was similarly involved in Van Buren Maine while my Dad was growing up.”

Jim Jr. goes on, “My Dad is the founding commander of the Hollis VFW and has been a director and/or superintendent at the Hillsborough County fair for 33 years. He was a 4-H leader when I was younger and also the Scout Master when that job went vacant. My Dad always says ‘Don’t let my lack of formal education be an indication of my intelligence.’”

US Service Personnel Profiles
By Gary Ledoux January 17, 2025