Donald C. Gonder: 1950s Camp Lejeune Navy Officer from PA

By Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist, State Archives of North Carolina

Donald Cook Gonder was born on August 11, 1931, in Pennsylvania to Raymond Monroe and Beatrice Elva Cook Gonder of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. By 1940, the Gonder family were living in a house at 125 North 27th Street in Camp Hill, and Raymond (or “Ray”) Gonder was working as a bookkeeper. The family’s home was eventually renumbered as 127 North 27th Street in Camp Hill. Donald Gonder attended and graduated from Camp Hill High School. Little is known about Donald Gonder until 1952. It is unknown for sure when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve, but a date of June 15, 1952, exists for Gonder entering military service (in an official U.S. military register from 1960). On September 13, 1952, he married Elva M. Wallace in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Gonder was serving with the rank of Ensign in the Navy by July 1953. Little is known about his life between 1953 and 1956. He would be serving until July 1956 at the U.S. Navy Officer Procurement Office in Philadelphia. Being sent from the Navy Receiving Station in Philadelphia, Gonder arrived for duty at the Base Dispensary connected with the U.S. Naval Hospital at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC, on July 8, 1956. He was assigned in this role, serving with the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade), while attached to Headquarters Company, Headquarters Battalion, at Camp Lejeune.

CLDW 83.S26: Color slide of a photograph of the U.S. Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

CLDW 83.S25: Color slide of a photograph of a distant view of the Headquarters Building for the Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

CLDW 83.S23: Color slide of a photograph of the Goettge Memorial Field House at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

His wife Elva and their new child Debbie moved to Camp Lejeune by Christmas 1956, with the family living at 211 York Street in Jacksonville, NC. Eventually, the family came to live in the house at 3105 MOQ Boulevard on base sometime after spring 1957.

CLDW 83.S5: Color slide of a photograph of the front of the house, with Christmas decorations, of U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder and his family at 211 York Street in Jacksonville, NC, in December 1956. Photograph taken while Gonder was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC (December 1956).

CLDW 83.S8: Color slide of a photograph of Elva Gonder (far right) and her parents-in-law Raymond (left) and Beatrice (center) Gonder sitting next to the decorated Christmas tree as they watch Elva’s daughter Debbie play with her new Christmas presents in the living room of the Gonder’s house at 211 York Street in Jacksonville, NC, in December 1956. Elva Gonder was the wife of U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, at the time (December 1956).

CLDW 83.S44: Color slide of a photograph of the outside of the house at 3105 MOQ Boulevard on Camp Lejeune, NC, which is where U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder and his family lived in 1957. Photograph taken while Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

CLDW 83.S108: Color slide of a photograph of the family station wagon in the driveway of the house at 3105 MOQ Boulevard in the spring of 1958 on Camp Lejeune, NC, which is where U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder and his family are believed to have lived. Photograph taken while Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1958].

CLDW 83.S78: Color slide of a photograph of Elva Gonder with her daughter Debbie walking on the lawn towards the tennis courts at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Elva Gonder was the wife of U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder, who was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

Donald Gonder would serve at Camp Lejeune through the fall of 1958, during which time it is thought he was working in the base dental clinic in the dispensary. By January 1958, Gonder was appointed as a regular Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps.

CLDW 83.S38: Color slide of a photograph of the Base Dispensary, Building 15, at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

CLDW 83.S31: Color slide of a photograph of the floral garden at the entrance to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

CLDW 83.S28: Color slide of a photograph of a view looking out along the coast of the New River towards the U.S. Naval Hospital, taken from the 6th Marine Regiment Avenue on Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

CLDW 83.S111: Color slide of a photograph of the main road in the Rifle Range at Camp Lejeune, NC, with several buildings seen along the road in 1958. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune (1958).

CLDW 83.S121: Color slide of a photograph taken from the water on Wallace Creek of the Marston Pavilion at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1958. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1958].

CLDW 83.S143: Color slide of a photograph of U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder holding his daughter Debbie Gonder outside on a picnic table near some swings in a park believed to be at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1958. Photograph taken while Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1958].

CLDW 83.S46: Color slide of a photograph of U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder’s daughter Debbie, wearing a winter coat, sitting on bench with the U.S. Naval Hospital in the background on Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].

Between September and November 1958, Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959. It appears he left from Camp Lejeune around August 1958 for his ship’s duty assignment. He would end up visiting Barcelona, Spain, and Sicily, Italy, during the exercises.

CLDW 83.S149: Color slide of a photograph of a view of the Upper Barcelona Harbor in Barcelona, Spain, around late 1958 or early 1959. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [circa 1958–1959] [slide printed date: February 1959].

CLDW 83.S154: Color slide of a photograph of an unidentified U.S. Navy sailor, holding a high-end Navy camera, standing in the Roman amphitheater of Syracuse at Sicily, Italy, during a shore party tour of Roman sites there around late 1958 or early 1959. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [circa 1958–1959] [slide printed date: February 1959].

CLDW 83.S156: Color slide of a photograph of a group of U.S. Navy sailors with a shore tour part in Syracuse at Sicily, Italy, around late 1958 or early 1959. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [circa 1958–1959] [slide printed date: February 1959].

The Sixth Fleet would participate in NATO exercises in 1959 in the Mediterranean, following the U.S. Navy’s involvement with the Lebanese Civil War of 1958. It is unknown for sure how long Gonder was stationed in the Mediterranean, or what his assignment was in the United States after returning from his tour of duty overseas.

CLDW 83.S164: Color slide of a photograph taken from a tall building along the harbor looking at the heavy cruiser USS Des Moines (CA-134) docked in the harbor at Barcelona, Spain, around late 1958 or early 1959. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [circa 1958–1959] [slide printed date: February 1959].

CLDW 83.S163: Color slide of a photograph taken from an unidentified U.S. Navy ship, of the USS Pawcatuck (AO-108), a T3 Ashtabula class replenishment oiler tanker, sailing up close to the ship during a consolidation in the Mediterranean Sea around late 1958 or early 1959. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [circa 1958–1959] [slide printed date: February 1959].

CLDW 83.S174: Color slide of a photograph taken from an unidentified Navy ship of the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet ships in conference at Augusta Bay in Sicily, Italy, around late 1958. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [1958] [slide printed date: February 1959].

By the 1961–1962 school year, Lt. Donald Gonder was teaching in the Dental Department of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He would be selected to attend general post-graduate training at the U.S. Naval Dental School at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, starting in September 1962. Little is known about his service details after this, apart from his remaining in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Gonder did become a commander in the Navy Dental Corps on July 1, 1967. He would reach the rank of Captain in the Navy Reserve on August 1, 1973. The exact date is unknown, but Gonder would retire from the U.S. Navy Reserve.

CLDW 83.S183: Color slide of a photograph taken from an unidentified Navy ship looking at the heavy cruiser USS Des Moines (CA-134) at sail somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, around late 1958. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was assigned to an unspecified ship participating in the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from late 1958 to early 1959 [1958] [slide printed date: January 1959].

While serving in a reserve capacity, Gonder became a doctor of dentistry, and had a private dental practice in Pennsylvania. By the 1990s, Gonder had come to live in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. As of 2021, Donald Gonder was living in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

The Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina has acquired a set of 187 color 35mm slides taken by Donald Gonder and his wife Elva while they lived at Camp Lejeune between 1956 and 1958. There are also slides of the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean in late 1958 to 1959, when Gonder was serving aboard a ship involved in the exercises. The photographs show how a Cold War era Navy family lived at Camp Lejeune in the 1950s. The slides are available to view online at the State Archives’ Flickr page here.

Resources

1. Donald C. Gonder Navy Slides, CLDW 83, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.