30 years of naval service captured in autobiographical book by Hamlet native

HAMLET — Growing up in Hamlet, Jerry Pait had seven uncles who fought in WW2.

Like many veterans at the time, they never talked much about the war.

After 30 years of submarine service in the US Navy, Lieutenant Commander Pait decided in 2020 that he wanted his sons and eight grandkids to be able to read about his adventures in service to our country.

“The book part was never in my mind,” said Pait, author of “Submarine-er: 30 Years of Hijinks & Keeping the Fleet Afloat.” “I wrote these stories and they just kept coming.”

Pait, who lived in Hamlet for 18 years (his mother, Martha Pait, graduated valedictorian of Hamlet High School in 1937), began sharing his stories on a Hamlet High School Facebook page, where he received an overwhelmingly positive response.

“The people I knew, people I didn’t know — they just went on and on,” Pait said, who began posting his stories in various submarine groups online.

“Submarine-er”, a 353 page book of about 90 stories, is autobiographical. Pait wanted to write about situations that he was directly involved in, not anything that he just happened to overhear.

The book traces his journey from a naïve student in Hamlet working on neighbor’s tobacco farms to a lieutenant commander who rose through the ranks and journeyed to Orlando, San Diego, Key West and many other locations.

Pait volunteered for submarine service after graduating from Hamlet High School in 1964. He knew of five others from Richmond County who also were in the submarine service. For his first tour, he spent three and half years on an old WW2 diesel boat.

While stationed at Cape Canaveral in a naval ordinance test unit, the Challenger exploded. Pait was selected to command the pierside recovery operations.

“It was a very sad time in my career,” said Pait. “Personally, I could have gone without it.”

Pait received verbal orders to serve in the White House at the end of his career, although a period of downsizing forced his retirement in 1994.

“It would have been nice to go to the White House for duty, but that’s the way it goes,” Pait said.

Other stories in the book include surviving a DELTA rocket engine ignition, discovering a Soviet spy across the street and the everyday lives of men and women on the fleet.

The last chapter details how hard it’s been physically for him and his wife after his life of service.

“Here I was for 30 years doing a job that most people would never do because they considered it so dangerous,” Paid said.

Pait, after writing all of the stories, contacted a former division commander of his who lives in Colorado. That friend was impressed by the stories and was able to arrange for the book to be published.

“Submarine-er: 30 Years of Hijinks & Keeping the Fleet Afloat” became available in September and is available to purchase at Barnes & Noble, Books a Million and Amazon. Pait said that he mentions “quite a few names of people in Hamlet” in the book.

In late August, Pait appeared on the Voice of Indie Podcast to promote the book.

This Thursday, Pait stopped by the Hamlet library to donate a copy of the book for local residents to check out.

This week, he will be making various appearances around the county. On Tuesday, Oct. 25, he will be at the Grille Restaurant. On Wednesday, Oct. 26, he will be at Axe to Grind in Hamlet, and he will also be selling copies of the book at the Seaboard Festival .