A U.S. Army helicopter dangled precariously over the battlefield. Wounded soldiers needed help. Right Now. Speed was critical. But every time the pilot tried to touch down fierce enemy gunfire erupted.
Tom Kelly grew up in Oak Lawn, then moved to Chicago where his father was a Chicago police officer. Tom was the middle child of 3. There were family members who also served in the military.
When you drive up to the lovely Lemont home of Dick and Pat O'Connor, you are greeted by blooming flowers in a meticulously landscaped yard, a White Sox flag in the front garden, and the U.S. flag flying high.
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.
Robert “Bob” Gatenby’s wife and family thought he was comfortably stationed in a base camp during his time in Vietnam. His reality, however, was the exact opposite.
When James stepped off the plane from Vietnam and his feet touched the ground in Hawaii, he got on his knees and kissed the ground. He remembers thinking to himself “you are the luckiest SOB alive”.
Dennis' first deployment came in 1968, in Turkey on the Black Sea Coast. He was responsible for monitoring missiles and spacecraft. There was only one adversary when he was first deployed; there were two at the end of his service.
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba/Bermuda/ Pearl Harbor/San Diego/Norfolk/ Vietnam — Fortunately, Bill Holic, Jr., liked to travel and travel he did. Thirty years in the Navy certainly gives him the title of “lifer”.
Like most young men, high school graduation found Tom William Davidson vulnerable for the draft. He passed his induction physical and then enlisted in the Navy. "As a kid I always wanted to get in the Navy,” he said.
Mike was recognized for serving as an Army Sergeant from July 1967 to July 1969, serving a year in Vietnam as part of the Combat Infantry Division. Mike received a Purple Heart for an injury he suffered during his service.
On August 5, 1967, Jim Davidson’s draft notice arrived in the mail. Six months later, he was an Army grunt in Vietnam. Now, some 56 years later, he remembers the details of every firefight he was in and still can’t get his arms around the fact he made it home while many of his brothers in arms didn’t.
Vietnam wasn’t really on his mind when Willie Floyd Smith decided to join the Army in 1966. Just a few months before, the 173rd Airborne Brigade had become the first US Army unit sent to South Vietnam. Willie was shipped to Vietnam in March of 1967.
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.
Imagine you are flying a fighter or a bomber over the skies of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, or the Gulf of Tonkin and your jet is thirsty. Paul Stromborg’s KC-135 “Stratotanker” will fill up your fuel tanks.
High school wasn’t working out for Ed Helrigel, and as he walked home one fateful day, he passed an Army recruiting office. “I walked about a half block, turned around and went in and joined the Army,” says Helrigel.
Prior to being drafted, Charles “Sam” Merritt, had a fairly routine upbringing. Being the third born of six children of Charles and Mary Merritt, Sam grew up in New Haven, Illinois.
Clyde Hall, Jr. was born in Mississippi in 1948, one of seven children and the son of a World War II veteran. When he was seven his family moved to Chicago, but after his sophomore year of high school, Clyde moved back to Mississippi to help out his grandparents who still lived there.
The son of a WWII Veteran and brother to 3 sisters, John Tourtelot grew up in Oak Park, IL. After his graduation from Oak Park High School, he attended Wright Jr. College where, in his own words, “he was not an overly dedicated student and had a pretty good time.”
At 17 years old, Larry Shaver enlisted in the Marine Corps and his whole life changed – including his name.
Rodney acquired his first trumpet for $2. He didn't want to just make noise with it. He wanted to play “music”.