UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Dennis Bokemeier joined the U.S. Navy in hopes of becoming a cook. That didn’t happen, but what he did learn in the military helped him beat cancer three times.

“Even though I wasn’t in the war zone, I credit the military with giving me the drive and the fortitude to keep going,” he said.

Bokemeier joined the Navy in 1966. He took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. The results suggested that he become a Communications Technician. Neither the counselor nor he had any idea what the job entailed.

“I said, ‘I’d like to be a cook.’ And he said, ‘Well, your tests show that you should probably go into a communications technician.’ And I said, ‘Well, what do they do?’ And he says, ‘I don’t know, it’s top secret.'”

He was stationed at a small military communications base in the middle of rice paddy fields, just outside of Yokohama, Japan. He began by learning Morse code, then transitioned to cryptic intelligence.

“We were there gathering signal intelligence from other countries, and we were then trying to break their codes and send that information back to Washington, DC,” he said. “I had a completely Japanese neighborhood – Japanese neighbors got to know them. I love the food. I love to cook Japanese [food]. And so I just kept extending over there.”

Bokemeier also sang in the Navy Blue Jacket choir.

“We were going through the line to get our clothes and stuff, and this one gentleman stopped all os us and said, ‘If any of you can sing or play an instrument, go upstairs.’ So I went upstairs and I told him I could sing, and he played a couple of notes on the piano, said, ‘Sing,’ and I did, and he says, ‘Okay, you’re in the Navy Blue Jacket choir.'”

He played sports for the base as well, mostly fast-pitch softball.

“We would go out on goodwill tours,” he said. “We would go out for maybe a week at a time. We would travel to Japanese cities.”

At 80 years old, he’s still competing, thanks to his friend, Ken Rice, whom he met at the Erwin YMCA.

“At the time, I was battling my first bout of cancer, and he suggested that I might try the shot put,” Bokemeier said. “He was into the senior Olympics.”

Bokememeier and his wife continued to work out at the Y three days a week, pushing through the cancer battles.

“Some days, all I could do was sit there. I wasn’t strong enough to even do anything. Other days, I felt strong enough that I would try some of the weights,” he said. “And I might not do three sets. I might be able to do just half of one set, but at least I kept going and kept trying. And you know, as things went on and progressed with the treatments, I could do a little more each week.”

Bokemeier later started throwing discus and javelin.

“I had two more bouts of cancer, but I think going to the Y and having this goal of going to the senior Olympics, on the state level, has been a great help in me combating and beating cancer,” he said.

This past summer, he represented Tennessee in the National Senior Olympics after qualifying while being treated for cancer. He placed 6th in the Javelin competition, 9th in the shot put, and 13th in the discus.

As of May, Bokemeier is in remission.