RIO RICO, AZ — The World War II vessel USS New Jersey is the most decorated battleship in the history of the United States Navy. In the last 20 years, many thousands of tourists in Camden, NJ, have walked on the deck of the ship-turned-museum and admired the nine enormous guns, grouped in fearsome threes on the broad decks.

John Lichter, the sales manager of Lisa Inc., here, not only served four years in the U.S. Navy aboard the New Jersey, but also was aboard when all nine of these 16-inch cannons were fired simultaneously. “They did it once. It was the last time,” he said.

Each cannon has the power to shoot a 2,300-pound projectile 25 miles.

Lichter, working in the scenic, but very dry clime of Rio Rico, AZ, has very fond memories of serving in the Navy from 1984-88.

His Western Pacific tour involved multiple port calls in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Hawaii.

As to the day the nine cannons were fired, Lichter said the ship endured a tremendous lurch from the recoil. Lichter was below decks during the firing and has difficulty expressing the New Jersey’s enormously violent jolt. But it is telling when he adds that so much structural damage was inflicted that the crew worked for two weeks to repair the mayhem of the grand experiment of blasting an empty sea. Among the damage, duct systems fell in the bowels of the ship.

Lichter was assigned to the New Jersey in Hawaii. She had just arrived after patrolling the Libyan coast for nine months.

While firing all nine of the ship’s major guns was a one-time event, it was more routine to fire one at a time.

A more experienced sailor asked Lichter as a novice seaman if he wanted to stand beside a cannon as it fired. Lichter jumped at the chance. Lichter’s companion led him to stand right behind the cannon. Before such a firing, loudspeakers give a 4-3-2-1 countdown in anticipation of the blast. As the countdown approached “one,” his friend jumped for cover in a stairway. Lichter was blown backward off his feet. “The heat singed my eyebrows,” he said.

He had learned of a hazing ritual aboard the New Jersey.

While he had suffered a painful and embarrassing lesson, serving as a “hull tech” aboard the New Jersey was a prestigious position on the ship. This role involved being a welder and firefighter. “I was a damage-control man.”

The firefighters had to always be available for an emergency, thus he enjoyed special privileges to facilitate being immediately accessible. The ship carried two million gallons of fuel for the ship plus jet fuel for helicopters.

Among the potential dangers of a fire aboard the New Jersey was the possibility of it being caused by a helicopter crashing as it landed on the battleship’s deck. His training involved being dressed in a fireproof suit and climbing into a flaming helicopter to save the pilot.

How long was he exposed to the fire?

“Until I got the pilot out.”

Under his watch, there once was a fire in the laundry. “There is no minor fire on a ship,” he said.

The New Jersey was preparing to enter the Middle Eastern theater for Desert Storm as Lichter’s first tour of duty was coming to a close. He reluctantly took the advice of his father, Juan Lichter, and shipped out to active duty in the Rio Rico produce business.

Had he stayed in the Navy he would have received the Navy Achievement award for his efficient work in retrofitting the New Jersey to have quarters for an admiral. His work saved the Navy $500,000 from what the cost otherwise would have been.

Despite growing up in bone-dry Rio Rico, Lichter always loved the water. He was an avid water skier, having started at age 8. He graduated from high school in 1980. After a couple of brief stints in colleges he left with a girl for Florida. By 1982 he was a crewman for a man he met in a bar, serving on a St. Petersburg, FL-based, 45-foot fishing yacht.

“I’ve seen snapper and grouper bigger than me and you,” he said.

Is he glad to have ventured from a conventional path?

“Definitely, for sure. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I still like to travel.” His youth “was awesome.”

Now he enjoys working in this family business, which promotes the “7 L’s” label, which represents the seven Lichter family members in the business.

The family also ships the “Gala” and “La Flor” labels. Lichter’s uncle started farming in Mexico in 1955. His father started receiving the produce in Nogales in 1964 and opened Lisa in 1978.

The company ships tomatillos, pickling cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, banana waxed and jalapeno peppers.

Lichter said Lisa’s products meet all Primus food-safety standards and the vegetable line is produce-traceability compatible.