Nominated 2013
After serving as Senior Class President and graduating from Berlin High School in 1956 and then Northwestern University in 1960, Jim Carey was not sure where life was going to take him. Then the war in Vietnam and the draft board helped make that decision for him and intent on doing his duty to his country, he joined the Navy in 1962, graduating from Officers Candidate School as ENSIGN Carey, and made two overseas deployments to the South China Sea and Vietnam aboard U.S.S. TOPEKA. He returned to start a business career in Chicago in 1966 and by 1972 was named President of the Chicago Offset Printing Corp. By 1977 he had started his own business in international military training to foreign navies. These international activities brought him national recognition and to the attention of newly elected President Ronald Reagan in 1981, who designated Carey a Presidential Appointee as a Commissioner of the U. S. Federal Maritime Commission. He was elected Vice Chairman of the Commission in 1983, reappointed by President Reagan in 1985, and then appointed Chairman of the Commission in 1989 by President George H. W. Bush, where he served until 1991. He is the recipient of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission GOLD Medal Award for Leadership, the Commission’s top award.
James Carey spent 33 years serving in the U. S. Navy and later, the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of Rear Admiral. His list of personal decorations included four awards of the U.S. Legion of Merit and numerous other awards and recognition, ranging from those of the United States to world governments and organizations. He has also served “In Special Consultative Status” with the United Nations and is the elected National Chairman of a war Veterans organization of over 3500 USA military admirals and generals.
He has indeed “given back to America” throughout his life and has a long and distinguished career in the field of humanitarian aid and charitable good works. With his interest in the youth of the U.S. becoming future national and international leaders, he founded the Washington Scholars Fellowship Program in 1984. In 2008 he launched the Admiral Carey Foundation, “the purpose of which is to endow organizations, programs and projects that will help train young Americans as future national and international leaders.”
Never forgetting his hometown, Admiral Carey has named several Berlin organizations to receive Admiral Carey Foundation funds. He has also supported the FFA at Berlin High School, the Berlin High School Alumni Assn. and the Boy Scout program in Berlin and throughout the USA. He himself attained the rank of Eagle Scout while at Berlin High School and in 2013, in recognition of his lifetime of achievements and accomplishments, was designated one of 235 out of 2.2 million Eagle Scouts to receive the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award.
A thought to share: Win a few, lose a few, but suit up for every game.