Thank you, Rick. I just don't know. He did work for the shipyard before he joined the Navy and then once he got discharged. But my aunt says he was sick at the time of discharge or shortly there after and so stayed in California with his sister till he felt well enough to travel back to Alabama. Of course he could have gotten something before he joined the Navy and it just did not manifest until later. It's just such a mystery! I am beginning to think I may never find out exactly what the problem was!
Diane