After JFK was assassinated, Joe decided that while he believed killing was a sin, he was willing to volunteer to serve in the military if that would put him in a position to potentially protect a good man like Kennedy.
It’s the silence that the old soldier remembers most vividly. The still quiet that hung like a cloud over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, whether under the hot, humid, blue sky or alone in the black Virginia night.
The ships just kept coming. It was April of 1975, the closing days of the Vietnam War. Aircraft carriers, destroyer escorts, freight vessels, even smaller fishing vessels were arriving in Guam loaded with thousands of evacuees fleeing South Vietnam.
Mike (“Doc”) was deployed overseas to Vietnam from October 1969 to October 1970 as a combat medic (corpsman). He spent time at LZ Baldy and LZ Ross during his deployment, with 3/7 1st Marine Division.
As was customary for an 18-year-old, Larry reported to the draft board in late October 1966 just after his birthday. He looked around and spied a rack of pamphlets each featuring Army service options. One caught his attention: “You can learn to fly.”
At 17-years-old Juan Sandoval was academically bored with high school and looking for a change of scenery so he enlisted in the Marines. For over 50 years his military career offered him plenty of that in hot spots like Bosnia and Iraq.
On September 11, 1965, Daniel Ehart married his sweetheart, Linda, whom he met on a blind date a year earlier. The couple looked forward to building their lives together, but four years later, the Vietnam War put those plans on pause.
“Radar Man” was a critical job during the Vietnam Era. Surveillance and intelligence were paramount in tracking enemy movements. Locating potential ambushes and guiding gunship attacks were part of the mission of the radar man.
After graduating high school in 1962, Ed decided to enlist in the Navy. His dad was for him signing up, calling the Navy the ‘King Cruize’. His mom on the other hand was not happy with his choice.
Robert grew up in Chicago's far South Side area commonly known as South Deering. He attended St. Francis de Sales High School but dropped out in 1968 to work and help support the family.