Doug Strasburg says he was born with the ‘go fast’ gene. He loved figuring out how car engines worked. So naturally, when he entered the Army, he was trained as a heavy equipment operator driving very slow bulldozers in Vietnam.
Terry Welch says he’s lived a charmed life. It does seem that way. Despite being wounded twice during his one-year tour in Vietnam, multiple skydives and almost crashing his Cessna airplane, his life has certainly been charmed and interesting.
As an Air Traffic Controller, Emery spent his Air Force career staring at a radar screen in a dark, windowless room. Being an Air Traffic Controller is a stressful job anywhere but in Da Nang, Vietnam, with mortars targeting his building, it was not just stressful but also dangerous.
Glen Heinold spent a year in Cu Chi, Vietnam, without being fired at by the enemy. He was an ambulance driver on the Army base, and when asked, drove the medics to the local villages.
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.
Kenneth ‘Ken’ Christy lived his life as an adrenaline addict, from breaking horses at the age of 15, being awarded a Silver Star in Vietnam after being in country for 19 days and working as a fire fighter in Indiana. “I’ve always had to have an adrenaline rush.”
By the age of 18, James Cox had never flown in any type of aircraft. Despite that fact, he wanted to fly helicopters so he enlisted in the Army. He was given that opportunity twice in Vietnam.
When Ronald “Ron” Parker was drafted into the Army he was assigned to the infantry. He said he loved being an infantryman, even when he served in Vietnam. So much so that when he became an officer with other options available, he asked to be assigned to the infantry.
According to Robert Smith, no matter what job you had in the Army, you were a soldier. When they needed you to pick up a rifle, that’s what you did.
Don was the DJ in Qui Nhon and his sign-on slogan on the Music Machine show was, “How sweet it is! Hello out there in Qui Nhon Land!” Qui Nhon was one of the six areas in Vietnam that broadcasted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Jerome Koutny was sent to Vietnam as an infantryman and then volunteered for one of the more dangerous jobs as a tunnel rat, looking for the enemy by going into their tunnels.
Bob Carnagey arrived in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Even though he was a non-combatant, he said death was all around him
Donna Cooley enlisted in the Army at a time when military duties that were traditionally done by men started opening up to women. She said “it was a tough time for women because the Army wasn’t prepared and didn’t know what to do with us.”
Talking with WWII Veteran Raymond Gervais, he said “I always wanted to be doing something”, from his WWII and Korean days, to playing volleyball in his 60’s, or working with his canine search and rescue team. He has certainly kept himself active.
Ignacio ‘Nacho’ says he’s a Navy man that never set foot on a ship. Still, he’s proud of his naval service as a crew chief on a C-121 Constellation known as the Typhoon Tracker that traveled throughout the Pacific.
James Sawyer called himself a reluctant soldier but he said there was never a question in his mind that he wouldn’t report to the induction center when he was drafted in 1970.
Fred Hoffmeyer was a young Marine when 70 years ago he was exposed to an atomic bomb test in the Nevada Testing Grounds. Despite that, he has lived a long and healthy life.
Many years have passed since Mark Bonen’s two tours in Vietnam, where he was responsible for the care of multimillion dollar fighter jets, to being called Grandpa Uber.
Steven was one of five siblings born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in Dolton. His mom and dad met in Washington D.C. during World War II; his mom was in the Navy and his dad a Marine.
Oscar was sent to Fort Knox in Kentucky for Basic Training and his Advanced Individual Training as a Medical Corpsman. The Medical Corpsman training was a three month course learning how to triage medical emergencies, treat illness/injuries and administer drugs.