Jerry Conner served on the USS Princeton from Jan 1952-Dec 1956. Ken Boyer was transferred from the destroyer base in San Diego to the USS Princeton in 1953. Ken worked in the navigation office on the ship. He met Jerry when he delivered papers to the communication office, where Jerry worked. The two found it ironic that two rural South Dakota boys from home towns so close together (Buffalo and Belle Fourche) were stationed on the same ship. The two remained friends after being discharged, but lost contact over the years because of moving and family. Boyer recently reached out to Callie Hulm, Home Health Clinical Manager for Heartland Home Health and Hospice, in an attempt to locate his Belle Fourche friend, Jerry Conner. Unbeknownst to Boyer, Conner was also a patient of Heartland Home Health and Hospice. After obtaining permission from both men, a “reunion” was organized in the fall of 2023.
