If you are a veteran of our military, this is the day we honor you.

Let's hear your service record, serious or funny moments in the military, and/or your outfit and dates of service.

I'll start it off.

I was about to be drafted in the Winter of 1966 and chose to enlist and select my MOS (Military Operating Specialty) -- and thereby the course of training.

I went through Fort Knox - 8 weeks -- then to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville AL for 32 weeks, then to Europe where I was assigned to repairing the Ballistic Missile Pershing's launch station (21J20). Our class started off with 30 students; by the end of the school, 4 made it. The others got re-assigned to infantry school.

Of course at this time the Viet Nam war was well underway. I figured with a 21J20, I wouldn't be too likely to be assigned to the war zone since Pershing missiles carried a nuclear warhead.

If you got drafted, you usually went to infantry school and then to the war. I enlisted to avoid the war.

I completed 32 weeks of technical training at Redstone and was assigned to a unit in Germany. On my first day at the 579th Ordinance Co. in Pforzheim, Germany, as I was waiting to sign into the unit, the clerk asked me if I could type. I could, and never touched another missle launch station for the rest of my two years in Germany.

I was out of the country from Jan 67 to Jan 69. 1968 was one of those years that changed a country. Sit-ins, assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I returned to Michigan State and completed graduation in Jun 69.

My GI Benefits paid for flight training and some of my college expenses at MSU.

I would also like to add my thanks and admiration to those who have served in the military. My father and three brothers all served in the Navy. It was not easy for them or the family the left behind. I believe they are better people for it today.

Joanne

I was lucky enough to have the Vietnam War end, and the draft elimintated, when I was only 17, so I never experienced a career in the military. I would like to wish a happy Veteran's Day to though to my father, a veteran of both WWII and the Korean War. In WWII, he was a medic in the infantry, and was involved in the invasion of Africa. Within a few days of landing, he was captured, and spent the remainder of the war in a German prison camp. When the Korean war broke out, his reserve unit was called up to replace troops in Germany, but since he had been a POW there, he wasn't allowed to, and lucky dad, he got to go directly to Korea. As that one turned out, my sister was born while he was there, and it allowed him to go home on a hardship.

I grew up with stories from my dad about both wars, but primarily about life in the prison camp. There was even one about how he and another GI managed to escape, cross into Switzerland, lose bearings, and recross into Germany, only to be captured once again.

As it turned out, at the end of the war, my dad was liberated from the camp on May the 4th, which just happened to be his 21st birthday. Can you think of a better present to recieve then your own freedom? Not me.

OK, I've droned on long enough on my favorite veteran, and I'd just like to close thanking all the men and women that served in the US Armed Forces for making this country safe for all of us, and hoping y'all enjoy your special day.

Hi JeffB,

Your father has led quite an eventful life. It was quite interesting to read. You should have him create a journal of the events of his life to pass on to future generations. I'm sure he has many stories that should not be forgotten.

Joanne

My 6 years in the Air Force were pretty un-eventful and not worth boring you with. My uncle's s adventure on the other hand is what books are written about. It is very interesting and I'll keep it as short as possible.

SSgt Verden D, Swank, a tail-gunner on a B-17 bomber out of England. On their 12th mission, the aircraft was disabled by flak and fell miles behind the formation eventually being noticed and attacked by 5 German fighters. The doomed aircraft finally lost its battle and plunged earthward. 2 of the crewmen died and the rest were scattered across the Belgium countryside.

For 2 days he slept in a cave and then a hole dug into a haystack. On the 3rd day he finally seeked aid from a small country family who conversed with him with a French-English dictionary. With the help of the belgians he was transported to Antwerp where he met up with some of his crew. A plan to get them out by submarine fell through and he and the planes navigator decided to make it on their own to France. The 2 managed to travel 600 miles in 11 days with help from country people along the way.

The 2 airman were within 1 mile of the French border when they made a fatal mistake. Trusting the wrong Frenchman, they told him of their planned route. As they ditched their bicycles to cross the border, a vehicle pulled up behind them. When they turned, they came face to face with 1 machine gun, 1 man with a rifle and one with a pistol. They had been turned into the Germans. After being flown to Weisbaden, germany for interrogation they eventually ended up at a camp near the Baltic Sea.

After spending 94 days there, they were put on the road for 86 days in the infamous "Death march". They ate what they scavenged, slept along the road and in fields and watched many of their comrades die at the hands of the German guards. On the 86th day American troops surrounded and liberated the prisoners 8 days before the end of the war.

Having endured such an experience and surviving it is a true testimony to the strength and courage of our nations veterans. the tragic story is that Verden Swank, 44 yrs later would die from a mis-diagnosis in a Florida hospital, shortly after being awarded his Prisoner Of War medal from the Government.

[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=39661&a=259807&p=13498861&Sequence=1[/img]
The 2 fortunate survivors. Verden D. Swank (foreground, sitting)



[This message has been edited by Gravedigger (edited 11-11-99).]

Wow Digger,

Reading all these stories make me realize how fortunate we are today and how strong the men and women of that generatiaon are. They were not much more than teenagers, yet they literally had the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Joanne

My dad spent 30 years in the Army as a tank driver. He was one of the last officers commissioned as a Cavalry Officer. (This entitled him to a rideless horse at his Arlington National Cemetery funeral. A full military funeral at Arlington is one of the most impressive and moving ceremonies you will ever see.) During WWII he was part of the invasion of North Africa, was the reserve force for Sicily, landed at Omaha Beach on (I believe) d-day +1, was a tank battallion commander at the Battle of the Bulge and participated in the liberation of Paris and Vienna among other things. Worked for Patton most of this time.

He spent a year + in Korea, where he planned the evacuation of Pusan and helped free the Marines trapped at Chosin. He also met my mother in Korea (she was a Red Cross staffer.) In 1958-59 he was the commanding officer of Combat Command "C" of the 3rd Armored Division. One of his soldiers was a guy named Elvis.

I spent a much less eventful period of time in the Navy. After a year in Pensacola learning to be a spook I spent the next year in the Aleutians on Adak Island. Spent the next 17 years as a drilling reservist and retired in 1994. Navy was kind enough to send me to Okinawa, San Diego, San Francisco, the Dismal Swamp and many other interesting places.

Dave

[This message has been edited by Dave H (edited 11-11-99).]

My husband is retired Navy, joined at 18 and retired in 1981 at 38. During his 20 years he did three tours of duty in Viet Nam and nearly 10 years total on various aircraft carriers. While in Viet Nam he was at Cam Rahn Bay for a year, operated out of Saigon for around four months and spent a year at Naval Air Facility in Da Nang. He was pretty much all over, wherever his aircraft went he was aboard. He even has a "Gulf Of Tonkin Yacht Club" patch from some of his carrier duty back then.

He says he joined the Navy after seeing the movie "The Bridges of Toko-Ri" and realizing that the Navy had airplanes, also. He knew he wanted to fly and to work on airplanes. While in the Navy he got his private pilot's license with multi-engine rating, and also learned to build and fly radio controlled airplanes. He is still working on airplanes (corporate jets) in the civilian world and teaching two of our grandsons (ages 2 and 4) to fly the R/C planes. It seems they have the "bug" also.

My father was in the Navy as was my father-in-law during and after World War II. My brother was also Navy in the 70's, and a brother-in-law was in the Air Force. Another brother-in-law is retired Navy, also. We have a son-in-law in the Air Force who is a Loadmaster on C-130s flying out of Hurlburt near Fort Walton Beach, Florida and has just returned from somewhere "desertish" as he puts it. Our former son-in-law was a Marine who spent some time in Haiti. We are pretty much military all the way, and proud of it.

To all veterans we say thanks for a job well done. We appreciate your sacrifices and your efforts on our behalf. To our special veterans we would say that we love you all, very much, and are very proud of all of you.



[This message has been edited by D'Wanda (edited 11-11-99).]

I was too young for Vietnam. My Dad served during WWII, but doesn't like to talk about it.

Regardless, I cherish the freedom we enjoy and thank all vets past and present for all we have in this great land of ours.

If you are not a vet, go rent Saving Private Ryan if you haven't already seen it. Then thank a vet near you.

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-Art

Thanks, John, and happy Veteran's day to you, too!

We appear to be contemporaneous, my time in the military coinciding with yours. I went into the Army in 1966, went to flight school, and flew helicopters in combat during the height of the Vietnam "Conflict" in 1967-68.

My year there was.....ummmm...interesting. In the first seven months of combat over one third of the pilots in my squadron were killed. You didn't need an advanced degree in statistical analysis to appreciate the odds.

My four years in the Army were too eventful to relate here, and perhaps irrelevent for anyone not serving in the military during those troubled national times.

If you're interested, the book "Chickenhawk" by former pilot Robert Mason describes to a "tee" what being a combat helicopter pilot was all about. Sort of the "Catch 22" (by author Joseph Heller) of the Vietnam War.

In any event, happy Veteran's Day to you all, and please, let's not hear anymore nonsense regarding Jane Fonda being elected one of the "100 most significant women of the 20th century".

She was directly responsible for the beating deaths of three American pilot POWs during her visit to North Vietnam, probably responsible for the death of six more, and possibly responsible for the deaths (all by beating after her visit) of perhaps seven additional pilots.

She won't get MY vote. I hope she doesn't get yours.

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Bob Steinbrunn
Nautical Research Guild

Boy John - This is tough. I spent 23 uneventful years in the Coast Guard. Like Art, I was too young for Viet Nam (NOT!).

I enlisted in July of 65, and went to boot camp at Cape May, NJ. From 65-67 I was a Seaman aboard the Cutter "Storis" out of Kodiak, AK, one of the first ships to circumnavigate the North American continent.

Then it was off to St. Clair Flats Coast Guard Station on Harsens Island, MI where I became a Boatswain's Mate and operated a 30' utility boat on rescues. I asked to go to Viet Nam in 68. The CG's largest unit was there, but seldom heard of as it operated as part of the Navy since it was a war zone. I met and married my wife, Cam, in 1969. Discovering that love was better than war, I stopped asking to go to war.

From 71-73, I was stationed at Port Huron, MI where I had been born many years earlier, and where my grandfather had run the J.W.Westcott service delivering laundry, mail and newspapers to the passing lake freighters. Also where I had my memorable experiences with Fort Gratiot Light. I lived in the quarters located right under the lighthouse.

Back to St. Clair Flats from 73-76. My wife, who I discovered had married me to see the world, was becoming disillusioned with my transfers from one end of St. Clair County to the other. Finally, in 76, I got transferred to the 82' cutter, "Point Judith" in Santa Barbara, CA. Beautiful government housing on a cliff overlooking the Channel Islands, and Santa Barbara Light right on the property as well.

I made Warrant Officer while stationed there and was immediately reassigned as the First Lieutenant (in charge of the deck force) aboard the Cutter "Mellon" out of Honolulu. I became an underway Officer of the Deck and we conducted fisheries patrols in the Bering Sea.

In 1980, I got my first command. I was the CO at Manasquan Inlet CG Station, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. Got to see Sea Girt, Navesink, Sandy Hook, Absecon and several other lighthouses in the area while there. Also got to operate 44' motor lifeboats and 41' utility boats. In 83, I had to move on and was assigned to be the Surface Operations Officer at Group Cape May. I hated staff jobs, but I had two search and rescue detachments that worked for me; one at Fortescue, NJ on Delaware Bay, and one at Townsend Inlet, NJ on the ocean side.

After two years of my four year job, I had twenty years in and told my detailer to transfer me or I was retiring. That was how I ended up getting my final command at Humboldt Bay, Samoa, CA where we had 44' MLB's once again. I retired from there as the CO in 1988. I guess it was natural that I became the Director of Security at College of the Redwoods here in Eureka. I still get to work with young people, and for about ten seconds every day as I drive to work, I can see my old CG station across the bay, so I can continue to miss it forever.

Thanks to all of our veterans, especially those who spent time in war zones. I am truly appreciative of your service.

Rich

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Thanks John for this posting that honors our veterans.
I was raised as a Navy "Brat", my dad served 23 years in the US Navy Submarine Service but I really think that my Mom is the real veteran. She raised nine children during this period on a military budget, while my dad was at sea the majority of the time.
Keeping with tradition both my older sister and I married Submarine Sailors. Larry joined the Navy in 71 and served 6 years. Of those 2 were spent in training, and 4 were spent on the Poseidon Nuclear Subarmine USS U. S. Grant. Larry was an Electronics Technician and maintained the Navigation Computer. Spent some time in Spain and Scotland.
Also, my older brother servered in the US Air Force.

Hats off to all our military veterans and God Bless America!!!!

Kat