C. R. (Chris) Christophersen
Quartermaster - Navy

He was in the U.S. Navy assigned to the USS Tripoli; served in Vietnam. He was born in 1943 is Seattle and raised there up to graduating from the University of Washington in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree. He started active duty in the U.S. Navy a month after graduating from UW.

He spent a few months at the Navy base in Norfolk, VA. He was then sent to the former Navy Base in Phila to help organize supplies for the USS Tripoli which was being built there. After 6 months or so, the USS Tripoli set out to sea trials and eventually came through the Panama Canal to San Diego Naval Base.

After a few months there, they went to Long Beach, CA before heading over to Vietnam. The USS Tripoli was an amphibious helicopter carrier carrying a Battalion of U.S. Marines and their helicopters. Chris' main job was handling all the ordering for the U.S. Marines onboard; his secondary job was part of a 4-man medevac team that carried dead Marines from the helicopter to the medical office to care for their bodies.

The USS Tripoli went back and forth, 5 miles offshore of Vietnam, from the Danang to the DMZ --- back and forth for weeks. The USS Tripoli would take a couple weeks to resupply and to give the crew some liberty in Olongapo in Subic Bay, Philippines. Carl got to go to Manilla for some R&R a couple of times where he was able to confirm his scientific thesis that Pilipino women's anatomy was the same as Caucasian women's.

After 9 months or so, the USS Tripoli headed back to the U.S. stopping at Yokohama, where Carl was able to take time off to visit a friend in Tokyo. Then a brief stop in Okinawa and 2 days in Hawaii where Carl and 3 other sailors, with a day of liberty, rented a jeep and drove all the way around the island. Then back to San Diego where Carl finished his active duty.

Carl returned to Seattle and enrolled back at UW with the goal of getting into Grad school until he could not stand it and joined IBM as part of their Boeing Team. He did his initial training in Seattle, but when Boeing hit a rough patch, he was transferred to Denver, CO. He decided to go by "Chris" --- which he did for the next 30 years. Denver was where he met his future wife.

He was recruited by his boss's boss to play Rugby for Denver Barbarians "Barbos" RFC (Rugby Football Club). He was the 1st Team Scrumhalf for their 7-a-Sides team. The Barbos won the 7-a-Sides ERRFU (Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union) Championship both years he was Scrum Half. After 5 years of honing his skills in Denver, he was promoted causing he and his new wife to move to a suburb of Atlanta, GA called Marietta.

While living in Marietta, GA, he earned an MBA from Georgia State University --- he was awarded the status of Summa Cum Laude. He had spent 13+ years with IBM by this point. He got sidetracked by a religious adventure that, while highly interesting, deeply damaged his retirement financial plans. 

Chris met a lady who was a co-Founder & Vice President of a software house in L.A. called MCBA who had accounting software for DEC, Data General, HP, Wang and Texas Instruments. She was looking for someone with vast experience in manufacturing Applicaiton software development, which Chris had spent years doing. After year of back-and-forth discussion, she hired him away from IBM by doubling his salary. 

Unfortunately, Chris did not understand the cost of housing in L.A., but he managed, greatly assisted by his wife getting a job with Unisys. He became a Senior VP for MCBA. After resigning from MCBA, he held a variety of jobs, usually managing IT departments in smaller companies. 

He is the 2022-2023 VFW Post 3348 Commander. He has been the VFW Post 3348 Commander since 2010. He is looking for a successor. 

 

 

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