Jim Zwit calls it the driving force of his life. His memories, and his respect for the memories of the eight fellow soldiers killed one evening in Vietnam are too important to be anything else but the impetus behind the major mission in his life.
Terry Schmidt had a long and successful Navy career, with many years of recruiting for the Navy Reserve, but the times he remembers the best are his two tours on a destroyer off Vietnam.
Oops, I Joined Without My Buddy
During Basic Training, they gave Del a bunch of tests and said “you are good in mathematics, we have a deal for you – we want you to be an aircraft AOB (Aircraft Observer Bombardier). There is a lot involved, and it takes about a year and half or so.” Training started at Ellington AFB near Pasadena TX, then on to Mayfair, CA to complete the training.
Basic Training was the best thing that ever happened to him in the service. “It wasn’t that I was a wild kid, I just had a lot of wild and goofy things I was doing. The service helped nail me down and straighten me up.”
Wally Wienert served in the Navy from 1948 to 1952. He was assigned to the USS Boxer CV21, a carrier that made four trips back and forth to Korea.
Can you keep a secret? For many years Pat Gerard wasn’t allowed to talk about what he did during his time in service. But today, he can speak freely.