Darrell Williams, A spy who came in from Maryland

By Trailboss Stan
Darrell Williams graduated from Jefferson in 1965 and enlisted that fall in the Air Force. His brother had been drafted. The Air Force physicians said he was color blind so they made him a Radio Intercept Analyst. He was actually working for the National Security Agency doing electronic monitoring. Remember the USS Pueblo? That's the Navy side of eavesdropping. Darrell spent 18 months in the Phillipines monitoring south China weather reports and then relaying them on to U.S. networks.
After a closing tour in Maryland, he couldn't wait to return home and to civilian life. He married Judy, a woman he'd met in Maryland, and started a career as an electrician, something his father also did.
But a serious auto accident disabled him and he's been on Social Security for the past 20 years. He keeps busy with home chores and serving as a local fix-it man.
"Having two daughters with 90-year-old houses keeps me pretty busy," he laughs. One lives in Duluth and the other in Minneapolis. A son is a member of the Renaissance Festival circuit that plays in Shakopee every fall.
Darrell and Judy have two grandchildren that he describes as truly a joy.
"Looking forward to seeing you again. They say I look a lot like my Dad did. . . bald and gray!"