Like most veterans of World War II, my dad never spoke very much about his service, and it never occurred to me to ask about it. I know that he was a Machinist Mate in the U.S. Navy, and I know that he was assigned to a Blimp HedRon near the Caribean.  He was one of about 12,499 Navy personnel assigned to blimps.  He enlisted in 1943, so this article predates him, but the January 18, 1943 issue of Life magazine shows how blimps were used to patrol waters off the coast of the United States to scout for enemy submarine activity.