In my many years as a high level writer and marketing professional, I have never worked for a more interesting company than CFKR Career Materials in Auburn, California.
I worked for Francis Ferry from 1998-2004, during my reserve years in the army. I loved working for Fran and his wife Genevieve, or Gen as we called her. They operated CFKR, hands on. They were in the office every single day except Sundays. As time went on and I learned more about the man and his story, I became truly humbled.
To many, Fran was a generous and kind but strong business owner. However, he was actually much more than that. Fran was a true life World War II hero as an SB2C bomber pilot in the U.S. Navy. Coincidentally, on the same aircraft carrier as George Bush Sr., which as you may know was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Commander Ferry and his team set out on April 4, 1945 to complete their biggest mission, known as ‘Operation Ten-Go’. Cmdr. Ferry become one of 3 pilots to take down the Japanese battleship called The Yamato. This was the largest battleship ever constructed and conclusively signaled the end of the “all-big-gun” battleship era of naval warfare.
I am wearing the actual flight suit Cmdr. Ferry wore on April 4, 1945.
This image of my leg is the flight uniform he wore that day; showing evidence of the damage he sustained from the previous week when he was nearly shot down. The second battle was dubbed ‘Ferry’s Revenge’ by fellow pilots.
In early 2003, Commander Ferry (US Navy Retired) was gifted an incredible rendition of that day off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. The oil painting was crafted by artist John White from California, who created only one original but sold many signed reprints.
As an experienced writer I can not put into words how I feel about this man and what he actually did for the world. Break that down further to what he did for me as one person and he becomes much more than a hero. The faith he put into me and my abilities has stuck with me to this day. He is the man that expected nothing less than full effort and commanded respect while encouraging you to push yourself beyond your imagination. Francis turned 100 on January 30, 2020.
