The Experience of War
ii iiiiii The Experience of War Contents: 2010
a publication of The Project: The Experience of War Life Inside Tanks ...... 19 US History and American Literature Honors GT Edward Clark ...... Cori Castoe Perry Meridian High School 401 W. Meridian School Road Note from the Editors ...... 1 Indianapolis, IN 46227 T. Carper, C. Castoe, C. Duff, and T. Wicker Stuck In Vietnam ...... 22 317-789-4400 Larry Bolen ...... Kavan Speck Printed at Triangle Printing Company 460 Virginia Avenue Army Left At Home: Longing for Communication . . 24 Indianapolis, IN 46203 Debra Bolen...... Chelsi Carter 317-786-3488 Life On The Other Home Front ...... 5 100 copies were distributed in May, 2010 Edith Bohannon ...... Abigail House Love Your Country ...... 26 Ron Newton ...... Melanie Mancourt Book funded by a service-learning grant through A Career of Service ...... 7 Learn and Serve Indiana Robert Newkirk ...... Ryan Humphrey Into The Fire ...... 28
Good Terms ...... 46 Sailor at Sixteen ...... 70 Air Force Index ...... 122 Jon Frutchey and Ellen Loveless . . Aaron Frutchey Max Mills ...... Samantha Meyer Ruby’s Independence ...... 93 Jeanie Rohl: Woman on the Home Front . . . . 72 Making A Difference: Army National Guard . . 49 Ruby Hughes ...... Morgan Pierle Julie Carey ...... Casey Rohl Jeanie Rohl ...... Casey Rohl Being Called In ...... 96 Sunshine in Afghanistan ...... 50 Kentucky Floatin’ on the Big Blue ...... 73 Frank Corbett ...... Dayle Hayden Sunshine Parra Butt ...... Damon Naum Donald Bruner ...... Mark PanKonie Charlie Spayd: All-Time Flyer ...... 98 “It’s More Than A Job, It’s A Lifestyle” ...... 53 With Fight Comes Freedom ...... 75 Roger Pippenger ...... Theresa Carper Charlie Spayd ...... Theresa Carper James Mitchell ...... Victoria Roach From the Pope to the Pieta ...... 78 Water Skiing on the Saigon River ...... 101 Sunrise in Iraq ...... 56 John Brooks ...... Maria Mancourt Thomas Harris ...... Victoria Roach Brett Naum ...... Damon Naum An Angel for the Heroes ...... 80 “Looking In” On the World ...... 105 Navy Thomas Moran ...... Morgan Pierle Jim Ellis ...... Scott Brodzeller
Infamy: A Story of War and Life ...... 61 Support from the Seas ...... 82 Marines Rodney Phelps ...... Ryan Humphrey Linda Clark ...... Cori Castoe Robert Crouch ...... 111 Handstands and Matchsticks ...... 63 Planes, Goony Birds, and a BLT ...... 83 Robert Crouch ...... Maria Mancourt William Yaeger ...... Victoria Roach Jeff PanKonie ...... Mark PanKonie Dreaming, Believing, then Becoming ...... 113 The Traveling Plane Captain ...... 65 From Home With Love ...... 85 Jerry Young ...... Marina Young Paul Garten ...... Kavan Speck John Miller ...... Michael Moyer Serving Our Country With Marine Pride . . . .114 A Child’s Story ...... 67 The Will of Someone Else ...... 87 Gary Summey ...... Chelsi Carter David Baughman ...... Victoria Brandenburg Mary Moyer-Miller ...... Dayle Hayden iv v I’m no more patriotic than any other American. Sure, I’ve waved my fair share of red, Note white and blue flags on July 4th and belted “The Star Spangled Banner” at a baseball game. I’ve never questioned my daily pledge to one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. And I’ve from always simply assumed the military is too complicated and brutal a concept to involve me, a typical the American teenager. Prior to this service learning project, my greatest military contribution was an illustrated letter sent to an Afghanistan-stationed U.S. soldier in third grade. I drew him wearing a black beret and clutching what looked like a Civil War era rifle, because I didn’t really know what Editors: soldiers looked like. Now we’re all older, but I was hardly wiser. The interviewing process made me realize how Pictured at left are the little I knew about war. One of the veterans I interviewed had been in several important North Afri- members of the 2009-2010 can and Italian battles in World War II. Until learning that, I didn’t even know Africa was involved in Perry Meridian High School WWII. I read about my veteran’s battles in the history book a couple nights later. Instead of just cur- combined American Literature sorily cramming that historical information into my brain, I genuinely absorbed it. When we didn’t and United States History just memorize statistics from our textbooks, our veterans’ experiences became real to us -- and we Honors Gifted and Talented remembered these facts because our interviewees were involved. class. If this project has influenced the IDEA students in any way, it’s given us personal interest Back Row: Scott Brodzeller, and a deeper understanding of what war truly means to the affected individuals. To us, war is no Daniel Eakle, Casey Rohl, and longer the tableau scene of a red-eyed, virulent monster slain by valorous knights in shining armor. Michael Moyer. Now we can picture our family members, friends, neighbors, acquaintances or even complete strangers interviewed as the military men we see in the media. For those left on the home front Row 2: Aaron Frutchey, during wartime, we can imagine what emotions the parents, spouses and children suffered every Corrine Castoe, Victoria Roach, day. and Mark PanKonie. What you are holding isn’t simply a compilation of twenty-four students’ essays. It’s a peek Row 3: Abigail House, Kavan at forty-nine souls. This “book” is true to its name: “The Experience of War.” Every story is a snap- Speck, Damon Naum, and shot at one episode or a glimpse at the full life of a person associated with warfare. Some of these Courtney Duff. accounts brought tears to my eyes, and some humored me. Each is unique; each leaves an impact. All of these people deserve recognition for their role in history, which is why we choose this project. Row 4: Ryan Humphrey, Their stories need to be told because we lose our sense of who we are as a people, as Americans, Matthew Huntley, Theresa without them. You learn to love what you serve. By definition, there are no truer patriots than Carper, Dayle Hayden, Chelsi these interviewees. To all the civilians, parents, children, soldiers, officers, mechanists, machinists, Carter, and Taylor Wicker. spouses, sailors, pilots, cooks and those who have served or supported our country--we salute you.
Front Row: Samantha Meyer, Written by Theresa Carper on behalf of the other editors: Cori Castoe, Kourtnie Duff, and Taylor Victoria Brandenburg, Melanie Wicker, the 2012 IDEA class at Perry Meridian High School, and our teachers: Mrs. Jan Cooney and Mancourt, Maria Mancourt, Ms. Amanda Robinson. Morgan Pierle, and Marina Young. vi 1 Army
2 3 Life On The Other Home Front By Abbie House Imagine this: It’s a sunny day. You are leaving for school. You would probably expect it to be uneventful and peaceful. However, this was not the case for Edith Bohannon. Imagine sprinting home as fast as you can with air raid sirens blaring all around you and bombs raining down in the midst of World War II. This, along with countless other frightening events, occurred several times during Mrs. Bohannon’s childhood. Mrs. Bohannon, Miss Hohn at the time, was born in Nuremberg, Germany on November 20th, 1935. Nuremberg is a city in Germany that is about 150 miles north of Munich. Nuremberg’s position in the central part of Germany allowed it to be the host city for several Nazi party conventions.1 However, Mrs. Bohannon did not attend any of these meetings nor did she ever hearAdolf Hitler speak. Mrs. Bohannon recalls that she was around the age of four when World War II began and that, by the time World War II ended, she was around the age of ten. “On a typical day, I would get up and go to school like everybody else. If the air raid sirens sounded, we would take off running for the bomb shelter and we would stay in the shelter for however long the air raid lasted. We had a bomb shelter at the school, but my mom told me not to stay there. So I had to run home as fast as I could to meet up with my mom so we could go to the bomb shelter underneath our apart- ment building,” Mrs. Bohannon said as she described a day during the war. There were frequent air raids in Nuremberg. Two bridges in Nuremburg near Mrs. Bohan- non’s apartment building were often targets for bombings because of their use as supply lines for German forces. One air raid that Mrs. Bohannon easily remembers took place in 1943 while her sister was at work. The air raid sirens rang out, so Mrs. Bohannon and her mother, Oma, made their way to the air raid shelter. However, Mrs. Bohannon’s sister Hilda was at work. After the air raid was over and Mrs. Bo- hannon and Oma emerged, Hilda was nowhere to be found. It was assumed that Hilda had been killed in the attack. However, two weeks later, she returned home. She had been in a bomb shelter underneath a church. Debris had blocked the door- way of the shelter, and everyone inside had been trapped. This was the same air raid attack that completely leveled part of Nuremberg. “The part that was leveled was only about ten minutes from where I lived. It would be comparable to Beech Grove being completely destroyed,” Mrs. Bohannon explained. Luckily for her and her fam- ily, their home managed to sustain little damage throughout the war. Edith Bohanon’s birth cerficate in German, used to prove that she has no Jewish heritage Oma was a part of the Secret Resistance. The Resistance was a secret protest 4 5 against the Nazis. Some insubordinate acts were subtle, while others were quite obvious.2 Despite the Nazi party’s censorship effort throughout Germany, Oma would listen to an American radio station, which was a punishable offense. She recalls her mother outwardly hating the Nazi party A Career of Service and Hitler, despite the fact that there was a Nazi living in their apartment building. “One day, the Nazi came and knocked on the door. He asked Oma By Ryan Humphrey if he could have our old car that we had in our garage. She had no use for it, but she would not in a million years let him have it. So she took off the tires and put the car on cinder blocks! He took it anyway!” Mrs. Bohannon exclaimed, laughing at the memory of her headstrong mother. “Around How much can one man give to his country? What about thirty-six and a town, you would greet people by saying ‘Heil Hitler’, but Oma told me to never say that to anyone, even at school,” Mrs. Bohannon said with an air half years of active service? That’s how many years of his life Robert A. Newkirk of seriousness in her voice. gave to the United States of America. He devoted his career to serving the nation She recalled an air raid in which Oma confronted that he loves. Whether it was on the shores of New Guinea or back in Fort Harri- their Nazi neighbor. “She claimed that she heard something son, Indiana, he put everything on the line for the safety of not only America, but outside the door of the shelter, but he wouldn’t listen to the entire world. In a time when nations like Germany and Japan were spreading her. She said again, ‘I heard something’. Again, he didn’t their totalitarian empires, Newkirk was one of the brave souls that answered the go check. So Oma said, ‘Fine. Since you’ve decided to be a call of duty. He stood up to an enemy he saw destroy countless lives at Pearl Har- coward, I’ll go check!’ She poked her head out of the door, bor, and he emerged as an American hero. and a phosphor bomb had fallen down a chimney!” If it Born on December 21, 1920, Newkirk grew up in Bedford, a small town hadn’t had been for Oma, they would have opened the in southern Indiana. He lived on a farm with his father and five siblings, but his door and walked right out into the area with the bomb. mother died of tuberculosis while he was still young. He longed for an education. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bohannon’s father, Opa, was serving in the Every year he would begin school only to be pulled out by his father for the har- German army. He spent most of his time driving German vest. His woes continued as he struggled through the Great Depression, but he supply trucks on the Russian front. Opa was only sent home never stopped seeking his education. He and his father had been saving up money if Oma needed help at home (if the house sustained dam- in hopes of being able to send him to school. Newkirk had no such luck. age or things of that nature). He got lucky when he was sent With all their money spent on bills, there was none left to go towards home a day before his group of the army was attacked and schooling. He was crushed and furious with his father as well. He was sick of back- every remaining member was killed. Mrs. Bohannon ex- breaking work that gained him nothing. Newkirk decided to invest in a military plained lightheartedly, “He came home once, and I was sick. career. He joined the army on December 11, 1940 with the intention of staying for He went around using my spoon and drinking from my cup life, and was sworn in the next month. He told them, “Send me as far away from so he could get sick too. He didn’t want to go back!” Family home as you can- where it’s warm.” He got his wish. was an important part of Mrs. Bohannon’s childhood. An article depicting the 50th anniversary of an attack in 1943 He was destined for the Philippines, but first had to go to Fort Harrison, In- D-Day arrived just in the nick of time for Mrs. Bohan- that destroyed a suburb in Nuremburg diana. There he became a member of the 11th Infantry Division, arriving just after non and her family. If D-Day hadn’t happened when it did, Christmas. After that, he boarded a ship in New York bound for the Pacific. It was a Oma would have been sent to a concentration camp two weeks later! The fate of the city was finally in the hands of the American soldiers. Mrs. Bo- long ride, especially considering that he’d never left Indiana before. On the way to hannon says that most of the soldiers were kind to her and the other children, giving them candy for taking their clothes back to their homes to be the Philippines, Newkirk found out that that station was filling up too fast. Every- washed and brought back later. Meanwhile, Opa was in Northern Italy. He traded his army materials with the Italians and ended up trading his gun one with last names ‘A’ through ‘M’ could continue on, but ‘N’ through ‘Z’ had to for a watch. He would be returning home soon. Meanwhile, a general sense of hope had emerged within Nuremberg, even though D-day had come get off in Hawaii. He had just made the cut! Almost all his friends who were sent to during a time in which hope was pretty well lost. “When Opa returned, he told us stories about the things he experienced during the war. But the the Philippines were captured and worked to death. “It was the best thing they had story that stuck out to him the most was when he arrived on the site of a bombed church in North Italy. Everything was reduced to rubble, except ever done for me, because all my friends got in that death march. They were either for the altar. And on the altar, a single chalice sat.” Mrs. Bohannon told the story with a sense of wonder. The Americans let Opa keep the chalice. captured or dead.” Thousands of United States troops were cruelly abused by The chalice was passed down throughout Mrs. Bohannon’s family, along with the stories of a beautiful ending to a terrible and destructive war.3 Japanese guards and had to march eighty-five miles on one meal of rice. Thousands Robert Newkirk showing his service stripes. 6 7 died.4 Newkirk never heard from any of them again. Once Newkirk was in Hawaii, he was placed in the 21st Hawaiian Infantry Division in March of 1941. The weather was beautiful, but the The Life and Times of Robert Daeger shadow of war was looming on the horizon. In October, he was moved to the 24th Infantry Division. He remained there until the infamous attack on By Theresa Carper December 7, 1941. After that, “We didn’t have [any] more holidays.” Up to then it had seemed almost like a vacation. From the Hawaiian paradise it was on to New Guinea and some of the most ferocious fighting Newkirk saw. Eighty-seven-year-old Roland Daeger attended high school at both Sacred Heart and Manuel. After graduation, he 6 The Japanese were assaulting Australia, but many Australians were off fighting the Germans. worked for EC Atkins and Company. He was drafted into the military in 1942, but his shipping off was delayed for a couple Newkirk was sent to New Guinea, an island very close to Australia, in an attempt to defend the con- months as Roland Daeger was his family’s breadwinner (Hilgemeir Meat Packing Plant laid off his father when the union tinent. Over the course of combat in New Guinea, they crossed a region roughly the distance from “We didn’t have came in). In November of 1942, the twenty-two-year old was sent to Camp Wheeler, Georgia for cook and baker training. Florida to Oregon. Once they landed, the jungle was so thick that artillery couldn’t go through, and When his courses there were complete, he was transferred to Camp Shenango, Pennsylvania. He was part of the troops were without support. Supplies were nearly impossible to get. They would fire a yellow [any] more a cadre, or group of serviceman who help in training camps. Shenango had already enlisted a cadre, so they flair to signal supply planes, and the plane would then drop food and other necessities. Unfortu- were reassigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, which was led by future-president Dwight Eisenhower. They nately, the flares gave their position away to the enemy, and the Japanese would get to the supplies holidays.” were promptly told they would be departing to fight in North Africa and handed rifles. After boarding a ship first. Not only would they take the supplies, but they would wait and ambush the American troops at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, the group arrived at Casablanca in French Morocco fourteen days later. Daeger’s thoughts approaching the location. From this lack of food, Newkirk lost twenty-six pounds in his time in the -Robert Newkirk on the hasty and unexpected departure were: “We’d better learn how to fire these rifles.” The area was very hot and jungle. desolate and the food always seasoned with sand in the air. Company G settled in the town of Oran, Algeria for training. After New Guinea, Newkirk fought on various other islands for a while (he During their free time, they performed the silent manual of arms (a choreographed gun-position-changing without com- eventually got to the Philippines). After everything was said and done, he had thirty-seven months of combat. He was only paid mands) that impressed General Eisenhower. ten dollars per month. “I got ten dollars a month getting shot at. It wasn’t very much, but it was extra money…Only the infantry During that time, General Rommel of the German Panzer Division was holding Hill 609 in Tunis, Tunisia. Rommel got that.” At last, though, the fighting was over for him. was sent over by Hitler when he learned of the attacks on North Africa. Daeger’s company fought to the hill to reinforce Once back in America, Newkirk boarded a train to return to Indiana. He had the highest rank of the men in the car, so he was Allied troops there, but Rommel evacuated in the night. This battle was a part of Operation Torch, the British-American 7 responsible for keeping them under control. At one stop, he sent two men to get as much whiskey as they could carry. Once the invasion of French-North Africa. Then Daeger’s company traveled back to Algeria for Landing Assault Training, which men had their alcohol, they were in such a great mood that they began to trade garments to remember each other by. By the is similar to Marine preparation. It involves rock climbing and other exercises designed to develop the muscles used to end of the ride, it was impossible to tell who was in what branch, Navy or Army! After a layover, he rode a carry heavy equipment. Soon after began their invasion of Palermo, Sicily. They marched thirty miles a day for ninety total train to a rest camp in Florida where he could relax and heal up. He had contracted malaria in the jungle, miles, to reach Palermo. Daeger was assigned to be a scout. He had to run ahead and ensure there were no Germans and it plagued him for years. While in Florida, he had no duty and could finally eat well. “I got a whole can of approaching. In Castellamini, a town en-route to Palermo, Daeger spotted what he thought was a German officer and Bronze Star peaches, and they’d just give them to me.” This shows how rough experiences really were in the jungle, so pointed his Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) right at the man’s belly. The Italians civilians started yelling “Ni- Roland Daeger’s cross rough that a can of peaches seemed amazing. ente!” at the scout, and his minimal Latin recognized that to mean “no!” An English-speaking Padre from the After Newkirk’s excursion in Florida, he returned to Fort Harrison, where he was hospitalized with malaria. monastery was called to explain to Daeger that the “German officer” was their police chief. He was simply After a while though, casualties were coming in from Japan, and he had to make room for them. He was given an honorable dis- dressed like a German. The priest asked if any soldiers were Catholic. Daeger was, and he knelt while the Father prayed for him. He bestowed the charge and sent on his way. He left the military for about three and a half years. In that period he got married and had a baby on soldier with a small crucifix and told him to carry it always. Daeger has the crucifix to this day. the way. His pre-war monetary woes continued, and he decided that he still wanted to be in the military. He joined the National Company G expected at least a little rest and relaxation upon their arrival at Palermo. Alas, Eisenhower selected them to rebuild a bridge Guard in 1948. He remained there until 1980, when he was required to retire at age sixty. He still served in the reserves for across a ravine in Cefalu, Italy, so they might make a landing behind Cefalu’s German lines. Everything was under the cover of darkness, and Daeger twelve more years. By the end of his career, he had received twelve service stripes, numerous medals, including the Bronze Star was on guard for anything that might reveal their location. One soldier lit a cigarette, and Daeger yelled at him to put it out. The next morning, the and Meritorious Service Medal, and reached a rank of Command Sergeant Major. veteran’s captain informed him the soldier he unknowingly yelled at was General Patton. Patton is regarded as one of the most successful field gen- A hero of the second World War, Robert A. Newkirk devoted his life to his nation. Through struggles of money, combat, Meritorious Service erals of any United States war. He commended Daeger on his alertness. They then made another landing behind German lines at Sant’Agata, Sicily. and life, he developed into a man anybody can look up to. From his family farm to the jungles of New Guinea, his life has been Medal Daeger had ran ahead, being a scout, and was separated from the rest of his group. It was dark, very confusing and right in the midst of a German a story of dedication and hard work. Over thirty-six years of active service in the military prove this.5 bivouac (or temporary camp) area. So he sought shelter in a cave and waited there for the enemy to evacuate. He emerged from the cave the next morning and hiked until the end of the day, when he encountered a farmhouse. Daeger ate satisfyingly, had a warm bath and slept in a bed for the 8 9 first time in months. The family told him where the Americans were, and he reached his outfit after a week. The Germans had captured the historic monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy. There was a string of four battles total. The Allies intended to Ol’ Red break through the Winter Line (a series of German military fortifications in Italy) and seize Rome. Hundreds of Americans had been killed. Medics By Melanie Mancourt clearing out bodies were also shot; the enemy had no mercy. The Allies later stated that 114,979 had been killed or wounded during the four-month campaign while claiming that true German losses would never be known. All avail- It was the freezing cold winter of 1944 in Belgium. Germans were making their way over a hill towards the 106 Infantry Division. By the time able infantrymen helped the injured in the safety of night. Daeger’s company was command have give them orders to move, they were already surrounded. At the ripe age of twenty-four, Oren Murphy didn’t know that this was scheduled to reinforce troops at Monte Cassino, but a U.S aerial annihilation on where his life would lead when he was drafted into World War II. February 15th destroyed the entire area.8 The controversial decision left the en- He was inducted into the Army on February 27, 1942 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, his trenched Allied men waiting for permission to attack the monastery, although the home state. A troop train came around to take him and his fellow soldiers to Fort Jackson in bombing beat them to it and the Germans had already evacuated. South Carolina. There, they were issued clothing. Oren received shoes that were two sizes too Next, the company advanced towards Rome. Daeger-the-scout accidentally ran big and they ended up hurting his feet. Because of his feet, they didn’t want him to be out in into a tree branch and was sent to a Naples hospital for his eye injury. His health the field shooting people. So instead, he became a cook. He recalled occasionally making do- condition classified him as a 4F, which means the veteran was still in the service nuts and coffee to take to the soldiers in dugouts. Roland Daeger’s five dollar cigarette receipt but wouldn’t be put on the front lines. They traveled to Camp Atterbury in Indiana where Oren became part of the 106th divi- He had some free time in Naples. Some of it was spent trying to mooch free ciga- sion 422 infantry regiment. It’s also where he met a girl named Jane Mchone. She wasn’t exact- rettes from the American Red Cross. Daeger was charged five dollars for his smokes, labeled “Not to be sold.” These were donations from groups in ly a conventional woman of the time. She was a divorcee with a son, a rare thing at that point the States. Also in Naples, he saved a young girl from being raped. Daeger became good friends with her family and they invited him to their Easter in history, who wore pants out in public. Before he left, Jane asked him if he would marry her. Sunday dinner. It was almost as good as home.9 He said no because he couldn’t When released from the hospital, the infantryman was sent to a replacement camp at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. It erupted during Dae- Oren thought his obituary give her any assurance that he ger’s stay. He thought it was the apocalypse. Two months were spent waiting on a ship to the US. When he finally boarded one, the ship made it would come back alive. He said to the Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain and Morocco) before they were told they might have to change course to England. The passengers were was too short and resolved that if when he returned she unaware of it at the time, but that was D-Day: June 6th, 1944. Their ship would be used the next day if necessary. Since D-Day was successful, they was still unwed he would marry proceeded as originally planned to Norfolk, Virginia. The Salvation Army provided a hero’s welcome of milk and doughnuts. When Daeger called to do something her. On November 10, 1944, his home to announce his return, his grandmother couldn’t believe it. “Don’t go scaring me, now. Roland’s been in the army for eighteen months.” Dae- division left the Boston Port of ger said, “Doll-Baby, [his pet name for her) it’s me!” interesting in life, so he Embarkation for England. They It took quite a while for him to recover mentally. A plane flew overhead at a family dinner once, and the veteran dived under the table. His traveled to France, then to Bel- Doll-Baby grandmother was quite shocked by the reaction. “What, have planes been shooting at you or something?” He replied, “They certainly would have a longer one gium, in early December. weren’t throwing roses!” The 106 relieved the 28th Daeger then served as a Military Policeman at Camp Butner, NC until the end of the war 18 months later. Mainly, his job was apprehending division when they reached next time. 11 AWOL’s, or soldiers absent without permission from the military but haven’t officially deserted. Once he had to accompany the body of a soldier St Vith, Belgium. They were back to its home in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. The man had sleepwalked off a moving train and was decapitated. But fortunately enough for Daeger, entering what would be known as the Battle of the Bulge during what was considered the cold- he met Granny Hopper and Minnie Pearl at the Mount Vernon’s Renfro Valley barn dance. Those women were pretty famous back in the day. est winter in history. From where they were situated, they could see German soldiers walking Roland Daeger was honorably discharged in 1945. He refused his two Purple Hearts because he didn’t think he earned them like others had. around in a valley. All they had to do was sit there and shoot them with the heavy weapons, Oren Murphy standing with his wife Jane and her son. The veteran is very proud of his Presidential Citation for valor, Combat Infantryman badge, and three Bronze Stars for major battles fought in North tank guns, and fifty caliber machine guns. They were only there for about a week when Ger- Africa, Italy and Sicily. He worked for Eli Lilly and Company for thirty-five years and even met Eli Lily, the founder. Daeger has been enjoying life for mans started making their way over the hill with their tanks and trucks. Oren asked the captain, “Aren’t those German tanks coming over that hill sixty-three years with his wife, Mary. They’ve raised five children, fifteen grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren. Roland Daeger still retains his there?” The captain confirmed his suspicion: “Yes, they are.” Murphy suggested they move back, but his captain said, “We can’t move until we get composure at eighty-seven; he finds every word on all the daily crosswords.10 orders from headquarters.” Instructions from headquarters arrived too late. They were already completely surrounded. They were instructed to destroy anything they couldn’t carry, so the enemy couldn’t make use of it. They moved out, but they were soon captured. 10 11 They were marched and given From Telephone Poles to the Front Lines one piece of bread to eat. By Scott Brodzeller Robert S. Johnson never knew he would be immersed in the brutal front The only water they had to lines of the Korean War at age nineteen. Johnson enlisted in the United States Army on April 30, 1951, as he knew that he would eventually be drink was snow. drafted and wanted to choose which branch to serve in. And when he learned that he was going to be shipped to Tokyo, Japan (en route to Korea) The two hundred men from the company were lined up two abreast. The Ger- after only five months of service, he knew that his quiet life would be dras- mans set up three machine guns in front of them. They had intentions to kill tically changed.13 them on the spot. An interpreter argued with them for hours, trying to per- Life for Johnson in Rochester, New York was diverse, and his high school suade the enemy to take them prisoner. They were taken prisoner at eleven activities turned him into a very well-rounded person. Participating in o’clock at night on the nineteenth of December, 1944. They were marched and swimming, track & field, and Boy Scouts, he was quite prepared for the mil- given one piece of bread to eat. The only water they had to drink was snow. itary early on. He even stated that his Eagle Scout honor contributed to his They were taken into the prison camp on Christmas 1944. There they got to military career, as many of the same skills were required in the Army that eat soup that wasn’t really fit to eat, much less live on. He lost a lot of weight he learned through many years camping with his Scout troop. “The regi- before they were liberated months later in early May. His body was so tired mentation [in the Army] was differ- that he couldn’t move his leg without using his hands to pick it up and move it. ent from Scouting, but much of the On the ship back to America he worked in the kitchen. He chuckled, “If learning and doing was similar to a person wants to get fed that’s the best place to go.” It took them twenty-one the camping, etc. that I had done days to get back. He took a train to Kansas and a bus to his house. He wanted for years.” Johnson also worked to get off and call his family, but he wasn’t allowed. At the house, he saw his in the construction business, and father with his back to the door. He went inside the screen door and said, oiled and drove a crane after gradu- “Dad, I’m home.” His father turned around and looked like he saw a ghost. In Johnson (Second row, fourth from the left) with his graduating class ating high school and prior to his his hand was Oren Murphy’s obituary. The paper had printed his death before at the Pole Line school. enrollment in the military. they knew for certain if he was deceased. Oren thought his obituary was too From Rochester, Johnson’s first short and resolved to, do something interesting in life, so he would have a destination in the Army was to Fort Devens, Massachusetts for his Basic Training. This was passed with longer one next time. flying colors, as most of the tests were based off of Scouting-related themes. Since he successfully com- Later, he called Indianapolis to ask Jane if she’d gotten married. She pleted these courses, he then moved on to Specialty Training. In his case, this was the Pole Line school in said she hadn’t, so he caught the next bus headed that way. He got there on Camp Gordon (now Fort Gordon), Georgia, part of the Signal Corps. This was a primarily non-combat course May 9th. They were married ten days later. They spent 45 years together be- (which Johnson preferred), with an emphasis on communication.14 A lineman’s main job would be laying and fore she passed away. He was formally discharged on October 16, 1945. maintaining telephone wire lines from one camp to another, and this frequently put them in and out of the After the war, he held to his promise. He opened up a restaurant called front lines of battle. Johnson chose this military career, noting “The Signal Corps seemed to be one of the Red’s. “Red” was his nickname because of his striking red hair. He went into safer programs.” After a while in said program, however, he received one of the most important and intimi- quilting, making quilted blankets and clothes for porcelain dolls. He has mar- dating assignments of his life; he was to be stationed in FECOM (Far East Command), also known as the front ried four times since Jane, his current wife being Emmaline. He is 92 years old lines of Korea! Johnson before shipping off to Korea. Oren and Jane Murphy take a walk on their honeymoon. and still doing well.12 12 13 It was in September of 1951 when Johnson, along with about 100 other GIs (Government Issues, or sol- diers), sailed from Seattle, Washington to Tokyo, Japan. After heading south across Japan, his crew finally sailed to A Behind-the-Scenes Veterans Pusan, South Korea. There, after more processing, they moved by rail to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. John- By Abbie House son then went through a variety of stations, including the 3rd Infantry Division Replacement Depot and the 7th Imagine being fifteen years old, barely having been in high school, and Infantry Regiment Headquarters, only to discover that all of their positions were filled. Finally, he found a position enlisting in the army. This was where we would find fifteen year old Fred Bo- in the 2nd Battalion Headquarters as a telephone pole lineman. At headquarters, Johnson met up with the com- hannon in 1954. munications platoon officer, Lieutenant Neikirk. Little did he know, this was an incredibly lucky break, as the plan Born in Indianapolis on September 6th, 1938, Mr. Bohannon was just was originally to have him moved again to a different headquarters to work solely on their telephone lines. As it your average American teenager. A typical day included going to school, work- turned out, Johnson was the first Signal Corps trained wireman that Neikirk had seen that year, so the Lieutenant ing after school, and then hanging out with friends. However, academics did decided that he needed to keep him. Obviously, this gave Johnson a sense of hope and a clearer vision on his mili- not interest Mr. Bohannon. “I’m really good mechanically. I like working with tary career. Coincidentally, one other soldier joined his Battalion that day named Olson. In the 1940’s there was a my hands,” Mr. Bohannon explained, “In school, they don’t teach you mechanic popular stand-up comedy act named Olson & Johnson, so that gave the company officers a few good laughs!15 skills. Instead, they try to teach you English and Literature and things like that. Johnson stayed with the 2nd Battalion from September of 1951 to July of 1952. During that time, his unit I didn’t like it. The subjects that they teach you in school didn’t interest me took the time to go out to many different parts of the Korean Countryside. And the fact that they were linemen because I am mechanically inclined.” On July 19th, 1954, Mr. Bohannon joined did certainly not mean that they didn’t take part in any battles. Johnson’s most memorable battle, The Battle of the Army, where he would also finish high school. “Some of the people I hung Hill 395, was the most nerve-wracking for his unit. They were still new, and thus, inexperienced in battle. Johnson, Johnson taking a break in the South around with and I just decided to do it, since we didn’t like school. So we just on the first day of the battle, was taking his wire Jeep in for maintenance, when he noticed men going in the op- Korean countryside. went and signed up,” Mr. Bohannon said with a laugh. Since he joined in 1954, posite direction of the battlefield. When he went back to his camp, he learned that his unit was making a “strate- he is considered a Korean War veteran, even though the physical fighting gic withdrawal” from that particular battle. The accumulation of that battle and many others that he helped with (whether in communications or in had ceased. “It was still considered a live war, even though the shooting had the front lines) earned him the CIB, or Combat in Infantry Badge, for “being in combat against an armed enemy”. stopped by that time. No treaties or anything were signed yet, though,” Mr. Camp life was a big part of Johnson’s war memories. Food in Korea was the same as in the training facilities: C rations, or Meals Ready to Bohannon said. Eat. Soldiers at the time could really only contact their families via written mail, except when on a pass to a nearby town, where one could use a pay Soon after his enlistment in July of 1954, Mr. Bohannon left for his basic phone. These passes were used for entertainment purposes, as well, where soldiers would leave camp for a few hours to visit a movie theater or go training. Mr. Bohannon acquired his basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Mis- to the Post Exchange to buy food, drink, or personal supplies. When on leave, Johnson said, “I would spend a lot of time with my parents and visit souri. Basic training lasted nine weeks and included daily physical training, two many friends from high school days.” Although he doesn’t remember specific friends from 57 years ago, Johnson formed close friendships while in sessions of army training, drill sergeant time, and an hour for personal time.17 the Army. After he completed basic training, Mr. Bohannon left for Fort Knox, Kentucky Throughout all of his experiences in Korea, Johnson rose in the ranks, going from Private to Private 1st Class, and finally to Corporal. In July for tank training. Tank training included learning the different parts of a tank, 1952, Johnson was relocated back to the States. When is unit arrived in the San Francisco Bay, Johnson remembers the elated feelings that came to how it works, and how to operate it. After Mr. Bohannon’s tank training was the men when the Army band started playing and when they saw the crowd so eagerly watching their arrival. Johnson notes, “I feel very proud to completed, he left for Nuremberg, Germany where he was a field vehicle me- have been in the military. Military service is good for character building, but may not be good for everyone.” After Korea, Johnson became a radio/ chanic. telephone line instructor in Indiantown Gap, PA until January 1953, when he was separated from active duty and put in the reserves for the next Mr. Bohannon was a part of the Company C, 371st Army Infantry Regi- four years. During that time, he was awarded the Army Commendation Ribbon and Pendant for “meritorious service” while serving in Korea. ment, VII Corps. The VII Corps was called “Seven steps to hell” because its After his service days, Johnson entered college, graduated, and worked for Eli Lilly and Company in the Maintenance Incentives Department patch shows a staircase with seven stairs with a flaming sword underneath. for 35 ½ years. He has been married to Mary Ann (Peerbolt) Johnson for nearly 54 years and together they have six children and eleven grandchil- AfterWorld War II, the VII Corps was inactive until 1951, at the start of the dren. He lives with his wife in Fort Myers, FL, and is a member of the American Legion. Robert Johnson was one of the many key members making Korean War.18 Mr. Bohannon and his regiment was stationed at the Merrell sure messages were properly sent during the Korean War, and served his country in times of need. This makes him, like all other American soldiers, Barracks in Nuremburg, Germany. The Merrell Barracks were occupied by Nazis a true American hero.16 Fred and Edith Bohannon in Nuremburg, Germany. until 1944, but the post was captured by American soldiers in April 1945 and 14 15 renamed Merrell Barracks after Private Joseph F. Merrell.19 “The best and the worst Despite the fact that the major activity was in Korea during this time, soldiers were For Better or Worse stationed in Germany in case Russian forces became involved in the war. Mr. Bohan- By Marina Young part of the army was the non said, “We were there because Germany wasn’t allowed to have its own army. We were One letter would change the life of Duane Widdifield forever. He was only twenty-five friendships you made.” there to protect Germany. Our job was to hold back the Russians if they decided “I could hear sobbing when he was notified by the military that he had been drafted into the medical field. to come over the border into Germany. About once a month, they would blow a Twenty-five was relatively old age to be recruited, but they were in need of more medics. -Fred Bohannon whistle, and we would have to go to what they would call our ‘alert area’. We had in the dark from He had just recently married a young woman named Marlene Brown who was twenty- two hours, no matter where we were, to get to our alert area to practice what we three at the time. They lived in Indianapolis just briefly after their wedding before he had would do if the Russians did come across. I wouldn’t necessarily say that there was a fear that the Russians would attack, but we all knew it was a someone who was to leave for Missouri. “I recall my first day in service very vividly. It was right after Christmas possibility. We wanted to be ready, just in case.” While the Russians did not attack during the Korean War, Mr. Bohannon claims that the infantry in 1959,” Duane exclaimed. “It was a very depressing feeling.” It was about 7:30 on a cold, would have been well prepared for battle. already very homesick.” cloudy December morning. He had dressed as lightly as possible so that he wouldn’t have A typical day in the barracks started with a head count, but the majority of the day filled with training. “After head count, the regular infantry many civilian clothes but soon regretted this when the temperature dropped dramatically. men would go and have physical training. The mechanics went out to the motor pull and worked on tanks and other vehicles. We would do regular -Duane Widdifield His unit was measured for uniforms when they finally arrived at a sorting point between maintenance and whatever repairs were needed. We would be out there until about five or six o’clock, and then if we had a pass we would go out into the city. If we didn’t, we would stay in the barracks and clean up before inspection,” Mr. Bohannon said as he explained a normal day. Indiana and Missouri. These uniforms would be distrib- Passes were occasionally given to infantrymen to allow them to leave uted when they arrived at Fort Leonard Wood. That night, the barracks. they slept on bunk beds in small barracks that were poorly Though Mr. Bohannon did not encounter a battle, it did not heated. “I could hear sobbing in the dark from someone stop him from success in the army. Mr. Bohannon was on his regiment’s who was already very homesick,” Duane stated as he re- rifle team for three years and received several awards. He received an called this somber moment. A sergeant woke them up the occupation ribbon, which was given to him for being stationed in Ger- next morning at 5am, and they were soon off to their basic many. He also received a good conduct ribbon and the Marksmanship training. Badge for rifles, meaning Mr. Bohannon was successful in his comple- It was a cold winter in Missouri of 1960 when the tion of a weapons qualification course.20 training started. On the first day, a sergeant came through Mr. Bohannon does not regret enlisting in the army, but he and asked, “Does any one here have a driver’s license?” wishes that he would have gotten more schooling. “The best and the Duane raised his hand. When the unit was walking out the worst part of the army was the friendships you made. You would get door, another man had come up to him and said, “That was to be best friends with somebody, but then they might end up going stupid, now you’re going to have to drive a wheel barrow a different direction than you, and you would never see them again,” and shovel coal!” Duane wasn’t sure what he had gotten Mr. Bohannon said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. Mr. Bohannon into, but luckily this new, mysterious man was wrong. He claims that he enjoyed his time in the army, until he got married. He Merrel Barracks where Fred Bohannon was stationed had actually been assigned to the Motor Pool and had to said, “After I got married, I hated it. I didn’t like being away so much.” in Nuremberg, Germany. drive the officers to their appointments. “That meant I On December 10th, 1959, Mr. Bohannon left the army to raise a family with his wife,Edith Bohannon. Mr. Bohannon acquired mechanical skills that didn’t have Kitchen Police, a duty where you do the work 21 he put to good use by starting his own heating and cooling business. that the cooks don’t want to do, or Guard Duty, a job every- Vietnam War Memorial one hated,” he explained. 16 17 Most of the time, when he was on driving duty, the officers didn’t go anywhere. This gave him a lot of extra time. Duane said, with a sparkle in his eye, “While all the other guys were marching in the cold, I was in a warm Life Inside Tanks office writing letters to my wife.” This quickly changed though, because after By Cori Castoe “I woke up in the morning the first two weeks of training, they started learning combat techniques. Edward E. Clark was just nineteen years old and fresh out of Southport High Maneuvers were held near the end of training. These were sometimes School when he stepped through the doors of the draft board one day in 1964. He had and ther was twelve inches of done outside where it was as low as eleven degrees below zero.22 “I woke heard they began drafting at twenty-one, so he wasn’t too worried going in. Right after up in the morning and there was twelve inches of snow on top of my tent,” he walked through the door, he was ushered to a row of footprints and told to line up. snow on top of my tent.” Duane reminisced. He then explained the last event of basic training: test day. Moment after suspenseful moment passed as a drill instructor started pacing up and They were tested on all of the components they had been taught in their eight down the men asking for ten volunteers for the Marine Corps. No one stepped forward -Duane Widdifield weeks of training. He scored the highest grade in a class of around four hun- and the drill instructor resulted to picking ten at random. He stepped up to Edward dred soldiers. and inspected his small frame and quickly moved on to a “bigger, healthier specimen On the job, things became a little different. than me,” says Edward. His parents didn’t think much about Edward being drafted He was assigned to instruct anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology in the nurses’ training school. They would because he was under twenty-one, but he came back that day to mixed emotions. His still have to do routine training excises, but they would play cards or sports to pass time when there wasn’t anything to father was against it from the start and his mother didn’t know anything other than the do. Outside of training, each soldier had their own social activities. “Army food was actually very good, and there was government needed men to serve in the Army.24 She knew there was a draft at the time never a time when I felt deprived or in want,” Duane said, but he also had a home life that he missed dearly. He kept in and there was nothing she could do about it. touch with his family as often as possible, especially because of the birth of his son, Mark Widdifield. Shortly afterwards, Edward found himself on a long bus ride to Fort Knox, Ken- Duane was made a permanent party in the Seventh Surgical Hospital at Fort Jackson, which gave him the privi- tucky. Leaving at 6:00 in the evening, the two buses full of draftees stopped in Taylors- lege to live off base with his wife and newborn son. “When I had time to leave, we would go home to Indiana or made a ville, Indiana to eat their first meal while in the service. The government had provided quick trip to a vacationing spot nearby,” Duane recalled. He also remembered a rather negative experience that oc- each of them with five dollars to eat. Arriving at Fort Knox at 1:30, Edward stopped for curred when he was on his way to see his wife. “A few of us who were married were allowed a weekend pass from a a cigarette break. After he was finished, he threw the cigarette down and came face to training program, so about fifteen of us were in a truck heading home.” Duane said, later explaining that there were face with a big, hefty officer. The officer demanded he pick the cigarette up immediate- about seven black soldiers in this group. When the truck stopped at a roadside restaurant for a snack and a bathroom Vietnam War era ly with his mouth. He bent down, picked it up with his hands, and stood up to a fuming break, the waiters refused to serve the black soldiers. They also told them that they would have to eat in the truck if the bombing officer. This was not the best first impression one could make. There were mixed emo- white soldiers would carry out the food for them. Two other whites and Duane objected and were then told to leave tions all around you. Most were of confusion. “They kept you in a confused state so you too. “It was my first taste of discrimination, and I didn’t like it.” would obey orders.” After a few years in the service, he finally left active service in March of Boot camp was “a regiment of cleaning, discipline, and sleep. You didn’t get a 1962 from Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and was later discharged from reserve “It sounds trite, but lot of sleep,” Edward tells as he recalls the strict schedule instilled at boot camp. “When service in 1966. His fellow members he met during the war were like broth- you heard the call at 5:30, you knew you better get up or there would be some harsh ers to him, and the friendships he made would last nearly twenty years. He I believe the Army made consequences. You were either put in physical training all day or at rifle range. At the went on to create his own business of clinical hypnosis. Duane revealed that end of the day, you were cleaning equipment or polishing boots. When it was lights his experiences didn’t change his opinions of war but influenced his sense a man out of me.” out, you went to sleep right away from exhaustion. You were hardly bored.” of responsibility, discipline, and duty. The process affected his person, social, When a lot of men get together, over time there will be either fights or practical and professional life in a profound way. “It sounds trite, but I believe the Army -Duane Widdifield jokes. One memorable joke really stuck out in Edward’s mind. Each soldier was given made a man out of me.”23 a total of five pairs or 100% cotton T-shirts and underwear. When it was laundry time, cadets would have to wear the same shirt and underwear before they got their clothes Edward E. Clark at the start of boot camp. back. Sometimes, Edward and his mates would secretly wash their clothes by hand and 18 19 leave them out to dry. One time, when they left their shirts out, they had left them in front of a fan That was the only instance of fatality. It was caused by an accident. due to the heat of July. They had stretched one man’s T-shirt clear down to the floor and put footlock- “The Bible says, ‘Thou shall not As far as entertainment goes, most men left the site to travel. Ed- ers on it so it would dry like that. Needless to say, he was out of a shirt for that week. Another joke ward went to visit a friend stationed in northern Germany and even Edward recalls was aimed at one of the tallest guys at boot camp. He was 6’8’’ and slept whenever he kill’. How would it be if a person traveled to Austria, Spain, and France. He told about the country- had access to his bunk. He always slept on the top bunk. On night, Edward and a couple other soldiers side and how every now and then, he would see a huge crucifix in caught a frog and slipped it under the tall man’s shirt. After awhile, the toad went to the bathroom on went into a combat area and took the middle of the field. Crucifixes can be seen all throughout much him and caused this guy to flip the whole bunk. The officers rushed in and tried to place blame on a of Eastern Europe due to the strong ties to Catholicism and strong few individuals, but no one would step forward and confess. the life of another man? He could religious spirit.26 “They must’ve been around twenty feet tall,” he Sergeant McKinney was one officer that really stuck out in Edward’s mind. He was a big, black reminisces. Another form of entertainment was the beer. At the man with a scar running from under his jaw line and disappearing under his shirt. Edward remembers feel the same way I do.” time, beer was only fifty shillings a bottle, or twelve and a half distinctly how brutal the discipline at boot camp was. One night, while cleaning their equipment, Sgt. cents. Anyone could buy all they wanted for a little under a dollar. McKinney walked through to inspect. He stopped at one solider and asked him if his canteen was -Edward E. Clark One memorable experience was getting to drive on the Autobahn. clean. He said it was, and McKinney threw the canteen straight at his face, cutting his lip clear up to his He and a friend had just gotten a new Ford and had hit around 120 nose. He told him that he would be cleaning the canteen before he cleaned the blood off his face. mph. Just then, a Porsche had pulled up beside them, switched into a higher gear, and zoomed off into the distance. Edward told about the posters everywhere during mealtime in the Mess Hall, saying, “Eat all Staying in touch with family was relatively easy. He would write letters home as soon as he received them. He also mentioned placing one One of the numerous twenty-foot crucifixes you want, but eat what you take”. There was one instance where he had noticed there was steak in the call that cost him around $300, but that didn’t happen all too often because of the shortage of money and the time difference between Indiana and in the countryside of Germany. line ahead of him. He had ordered a lot and had only realized it was liver once he had sat down. Germany. “I learned you could eat liver with enough ketchup on it.” He also told of the method On the day Edward received his flight call to leave base, he came face to face with of choosing which platoon ate first: a foot race. The fastest man at camp was in Edward’s platoon and would continuously win the races, earning someone he recognized. He was an old classmate! He had lost his braces, gotten contacts, Edward’s platoon the position to eat first. But, as soon as the fastest guy in the platoon got to the front of the line, he would forget what platoon he and gained thirty pounds since he had last seen him in class at Southport High School was in. They had to write it on his hand from then on to ensure a spot in line. a few years back. “Small world,” Edward remarks. After turning in all of his clothes and On December 30, 1964, Edward got a flight call and was redirected to an Armor unit it Firth, Germany. In an armor unit, they had an entry cleaning out his locker, Edward would return to Fort Hamilton, New York to serve stateside level as a tank loader, which was 11E10. Some other jobs in the armor unit would be 11E20: a driver, 11E30: a gunner, and 11E40: a tank command- before heading home in July 1967. A few years after returning stateside, he was hired at er. 25 Before Edward was out of the service, he was promoted to Sergeant of his unit. Allison’s Automotive, a division of GM Motors. Edward’s face grew somber when his wife, who was sitting in on the interview, mentioned a fatality in the unit. He and a few other person- Edward recalls religion playing the most part on how he felt about the war. At the nel carriers were on their way to a shooting ground to watch some very beginning of boot camp, they sat all the soldiers down on a hillside and said they test rockets. They were on a road with a ravine to one side leading could ask a chaplain any questions they had about combat. Edward asked, “The Bible says to a good twenty-foot drop. Looking back time-to-time, he noticed ‘Thou shall not kill’. How would it be if a person went into a combat area and took the one of the carriers was missing. He informed the commander that life of another man? He could feel the same way I do.” At first, the chaplain tried telling the carrier must have gone off the cliff. Sure enough, the carrier had him that everyone had a will to live and if someone tried to take your life, you could take taken the twenty-foot fall and had flipped numerous times. One man theirs. After asking again, the chaplain told him that if the officer was commanding you was completely crushed by the vehicle, and the other was walking to shoot and you killed someone, it was on his head. “Human life is the top of the [chain]. around dazed by the accident. A little later, he informed the others It’s just wrong to kill people,” Edward confesses after reflecting the conversation with the that there was one more guy. A little ways up the road, Edward could chaplain. see a pair of pants lying there as if someone had forgotten them. As far as the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is concerned, Edward feels as if the num- Upon further inspection, he noticed that it was the bottom half of bers of fatalities are relatively low from a militaristic standpoint. But, if it were his son or the missing man with his upper body laying a little ways up the road. daughter getting killed out there, the war would be too costly. “War is no good,” he said.27 Edward (right) hanging out at base in Firth, The main focus of Edward’s training in boot camp was in the armor unit. Germany with two fellow soldiers. 20 21 ally. But as the war went on and he saw his friends and enemies die, he seemed to harden up a little bit. He remembers the killing becoming less Stuck in Vietnam difficult, but only because it was for his survival. By Kavan Speck Mr. Bolen also recalls a specific battle that occurred while he was overseas. Being in an armored Recon, Mr. Bolen was not only surrounded by other Recon soldiers but also surrounded by armored tanks. His group moved into an area previously controlled by the enemy. Unknown to his It was September 27th, 1966 and Larry unit, the enemy had moved around them and was preparing an attack. The attack did not come all at once, but instead came in waves instead which W. Bolen received a letter from selective services was uncommon in the field. Mr. Bolen believes that besides enemy snipers, this was the worst kind of enemy attack he encountered. requesting his services for the Vietnamese War. He In Vietnam, near the delta, he was stationed at a base called Bear Camp. While stationed at there, his unit was under constant mortar fire. had little time to say good-bye to his soon-to-be The American’s always knew when the enemy was transporting recourses North and South because every time the enemy would pass by on the wife, Debbie before he was shipped off by bus to re- river, they would get mortared. ceive his mandatory physical. After passing his physi- Mr. Bolen recalls eating C-rations for most of his stay over in Vietnam because there cal he was immediately sent to Fort Leonard Wood, weren’t many other options.29 Sometimes though, the group would combine all of their Missouri where his intense training began. food and make a chili or stew. To heat the food they created a fire from some of the C-4 (a He went into basic training where he learned plastic explosive) that they carried with them. Towards the end of his combat duty, he ate a the fundamentals of being in the U.S military. Short- lot of local food which was very different, especially in the spices that it contained. ly after, he went to Fort Hood, Texas for boot camp, When out in the jungles, he and the other troops would talk about their lives back home 28 which was the biggest training facility in the U.S. and the loved ones they missed. They also occasionally played with a hacky sack made by Because the fort had not seen any trainees since the the local people. They were forbidden to smoke while in the jungle because the smoke run- Korean wars, they were ill-prepared and were very off illuminated you and made you a very visible target. This was difficult for some troops harsh on the incoming troops. Mr. Bolen recalls that and caused minor illnesses with a few of them. the treatment back then was much harsher com- After returning from battle, Mr. Bolen received several medals. Because he was pared to the trainees treatment today, due to lack injured three times in battle, he received three Purple Hearts. His first injury was sustained of rules and guidelines. A specific memory of Mr. from a round hitting his ammunition chamber and exploding. He received his second injury Bolen’s from boot camp was when he contracted from a mortar explosion and he was hit with its shrapnel. The third injury was from a burn Walking Pneumonia. The rules at the fort were if to his face and head. He also received a Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) and Flight Wings. He you missed a day of training, you were required to received these Flight Wings from Cy-op missions. This consisted of flying over the jungles While in Vietnam, Mr. Bolen and the rest of his recon recieved start the entire training over again. Because of this and offering items to the enemy if they gave themselves up and surrendered. Some of heavy mortar fire. This is the result of one of those attacks. rule, Mr. Bolen and a few friends “drugged them- these items included bags of rice, water buffalo and even money. selves up” to prevent from starting over. He finished After that he went into the field of TOC (Technical Operations Center) where he helped plot artillery for troops preparing to go out into the boot camp and was assigned to Recon, a branch battlefield. This job was very important to Mr. Bolen because of his previous experiences in the jungles and his memories of him wishing for help in the Army which was normally heavily armored. from the TOC. Shortly after, he was sent over to Vietnam to begin Larry Bolen returned home September 22, 1968. He recalls being thrilled to be back because homesickness the hardest part of Vietnam. his duties. Though he returned safely, his struggles weren’t quite over; he had to re-establish the relationships with his son, Jon. At first, Jon was not used to While in Vietnam, he saw much combat having a father around and didn’t quite accept Mr. Bolen as his father yet. Fortunately, John warmed up to him and life slowly became normal again. and was involved in countless encounters with the Today, Larry Bolen is grateful that he returned home with just a few minor injuries and nothing severe. He feels that he was very fortunate to enemy. Mr. Bolen recalls his first combat encounter come back safely and continue to have a successful life back in America. He was proud to serve his country and is not sorry for the fighting that he as when he was first shot upon by enemy troops. He endured in Vietnam, though he does not recommend getting oneself into combat. Larry Bolen is now 62 years old and living in Indianapolis with his froze up for a short while and then eventually fired wife. He considers himself lucky, but he still remembers those who gave their lives for their country.30 back. His first kill was very difficult for him emotion- A photo taken of the armored vehicle in Mr. Bolen’s recon. 22 23 Anxiety and anticipation consumed the thoughts of Mr. and Mrs. Bolen during his remaining 41 days on U.S. soil. Left at Home: Longing for Communication Back home in Indiana, Mrs. Bolen had become a new mother to her son, Jon. The two of them lived with her parents throughout Mr. Bolen’s By Chelsi Carter stay in Vietnam. Her parents were the sole providers of emotional support during the absence of her husband and Jon’s father. “I was lucky to have my parents to rely on for much of what my husband would have been responsible for,” she explained. Without a father in the home, their son Being surrounded by excessive avenues of technology today makes it even Jon was left to be disciplined and raised by the mother alone. easier for Mrs. Debra Bolen to look back and identify the biggest challenge during the With the insistence of her parents, Mrs. Bolen returned to col- Vietnam War: the lack of communication. Having a spouse serve in the United States lege to finish her education degree. In addition to being a mom Army could have been slightly more tolerable if she had possessed the tools of conver- and student, she worked a holiday job at L.S. Ayres driving a sation which are taken for granted today. When the love of her life was forced to put Christmas train dressed as an elf. his life on the line for the United States, the distance between them seemed to double Along with her family and friends, she supported the without communication to keep them connected. Today’s common luxuries would war effort even though she hated the fact that her husband was have possibly kept her imagination from running wild with terrible thoughts about put in danger. Although the reports on the war were frighten- her husband during one of the most difficult times of their lives. Being able to pick ing, she watched the news daily. The Vietnam War was the first up the phone and feel comforted by the voice of her loved one was not an option, “television war,” which brought people at home during the war and not knowing when she would receive such an unnerving call made her heart ache a whole different view on war.32 Mrs. Bolen said, “I did not like even more. “Larry would shine shoes at Basic Training to earn money to call me.” The the articles on the anti-war protesters, and I was very upset with left-at-home wife longed for the ability to know what was happening moment by mo- them. I thought they should have been drafted.” In spite of the ment. With or without communication, it is clear that being a wife of an active soldier fact that Debbie felt no support from the U.S. Army for herself, was an unforgettable experience that required much inner strength and courage. she still continued supporting the military leaders and trusted Even though the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was escalated on the them to end the war and bring the soldiers back safely. 1960’s, Mrs. Bolen had her sights set on beginning a new life with her high school Mrs. Bolen learned the horrifying news, that her husband beau, Larry Bolen. Mr. Bolen was a year ahead of her in school, but the two dated had been wounded nine months into his stay, through letters, during her junior and senior years. After his graduation in 1965, he went to work for the only form of communication during the Vietnam War. The Larry and Debbie Bolen Western Electric Corporation. Soon after Mrs. Bolen’s 1966 graduation, her husband letter was dictated by Mr. Bolen to a volunteer who told her was drafted into the United States Army at the age of 19. By September of 1966, Mr. about his injuries which included being burned all over his body and eyes and losing his sight. Without the ability to sustain any immediate news of Bolen left both his job and girlfriend to begin his military training at Ft. Hood, Texas. her husband’s progress, she felt helpless and uninformed. She was left with pessimistic thoughts and longed to be by his side when he needed her Meanwhile, Debbie, with the support of her parents, began college at Indiana Central most. Unknown to Mrs. Bolen, this was not his first injury. Not only did he endure this serious injury, but he heroically survived two previous ones. College, now the University of Indianapolis. Even though they were physically apart, He was wounded by shrapnel during his first four and a half months of fighting. During one of the accidents, the soldier was driving an armored they wanted to bring their lives together as one by getting married. A privilege such personnel carrier that was hit by shrapnel. Shrapnel is an artillery projectile provided with a bursting charge, and filled with lead balls, exploded in as getting married was unheard of for a soldier at Basic Training, but they made it hap- flight by a time fuse. After each of his injuries, Mr. Bolen was put into a field hospital but was then released back into the field. Without the luxury pen. Mrs. Bolen’s parents drove her to Ft. Hood, and they tied the knot. Even though of frequent communication, he was able to cover up the first two injuries, keeping the tragic news from his wife. they were unable to have a traditional wedding and go on a honeymoon, they felt Unbelievably, the veteran’s trip home was not earned by his injuries, but by the completion of his one-year service in September of 1968. fortunate enough to become husband and wife. The couple knew the strength that Mrs. Bolen finally got her husband back. Although he was physically back, on U.S. soil, it took quite some time for his emotional state to return. their marriage created would get them through their upcoming battle. She now assists her husband with his healing from physical and emotional wounds sustained in Vietnam. Mr. Bolen was honored by receiving three In Ft. Hood, Mr. Bolen received specialized training in Reconnaissance. Recon- Purple Hearts for his injuries. Looking back on the war and the time while her husband was away, she was forced to grow up in many ways. In Mrs. naissance, or Recon, is a military term denoting a preliminary survey, like scouting, Bolen’s own words, “I think the war caused me to become a responsible adult much more quickly than I would have otherwise. It really didn’t give 31 conducted to gain or collect information. While gaining information on a typical me a choice.” The lack of communication could have possibly been her saving grace.33 Debbie and Larry pose together for high school prom picture. training day, Mr. Bolen received the inevitable news; he was being sent to Vietnam. 24 25 atre. However, the theatre didn’t have heating, so particularly during the Love Your Country winter, Ron would stay in his barracks. He wrote letters home to his father, By Melanie Mancourt making sure to include pictures and clippings from the newspaper they received: The Stars and Stripes Newspaper. Also, the food was good. Ameri- Ron Newton was drafted at the age of nineteen on September 6, 1967. He and some others draftees traveled to Indianapolis for a final cans were cooking, so they had fried chicken, pork chops, green beans, physical, an aptitude test, and swearing in. The aptitude test was designed to inform the military of what jobs incoming soldiers were qualified to apple pie, and ice cream. On Thanksgiving, they would have turkey and do, but they were also given the chance to say what they wanted to do. Ron’s experience with it turned into something of a joke. He had read the dressing. No matter if they were busy, on Thanksgiving and Christmas they joke in a magazine a few years afterward and wondered if said joke was based on his conversation. The man asked him what he wanted to do, and always got those meals. Ron replied, “I want to be a military policeman.” After thirteen months, he returned to the states. He arrived at eight The man asked, “Do you have a clean criminal background? Have you ever been to jail?” “Go into the Army AM on September 5th, 1969. Even after his time was served, he joined the “No.” Reserves. He became a drill sergeant. He said he understood why his drill “Ever been convicted of a crime?” because you love instructor had been so mean to him. It’s the drill sergeants’ job to train “No.” soldiers to survive in combat. He stayed with the Reserves until he retired in “Even speeding tickets?” your country. May of 1994. “Well, yeah.” He saw being in the Army as a chance to serve his country. Someone “Then you can’t be a military policeman.” That’s number one.” Newton knew well had asked him if he should join the military. The man So he wrote something down and the next person wasn’t exactly the best character, but he was having trouble finding a job. in line said, “Well, that sounds good. I want to be a -Ron Newton The veteran told him that going military policeman.” The man asked him all the same into the Army was his decision, questions. Lastly he asked, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” The man replied, “Convicted? but he would have to learn to No.” He became a military policeman. follow rules. The Army isn’t Newton headed down to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for eight weeks of basic like civilian life. “When you’re training. He learned how to read a map, how to march, and marksmanship. He was in civilian life you have to go also taken to a gas chamber, where he had to remove his mask and breathe in tear out and break the law in order gas. This was to ensure them that the gas masks worked.34 After intensive training, to go to jail. In the Army, all he received his orders to go to Vietnam. However, the orders for most of the people you’ve got to do is not polish he had trained with got changed at the last minute, so he went to Korea. your shoes.” He also told him Things were a lot different in Korea than the US. When his plane started its that he was going into the descent, he couldn’t see any big or brick buildings. He could see huts; thatched or Army for the wrong reasons. tiled roof huts. It was cold and unnaturally quiet. The Koreans had a ten o’clock cur- “Don’t go in the Army to try few, so the only noise was from military traffic. All of the soldiers were loaded into A bottle of Korean and make money. Don’t go in a big canvas truck and were dropped off a few at a time. Ron finally got off the truck Coca-Cola with that attitude. Don’t go three hours and seventy miles later. into the Army because they’re In his time there, he did end up seeing action. The North Koreans would initiate attacks, and, going to pay for your college. the soldiers did what they had to in order to defend themselves. Steve, his best friend in the squad was Go in the Army because you fatally shot while they were patrolling. It was the only squad casualty, though everyone “got nicked a love your country. That’s num- Ron Newton in a local newspaper’s few times.” Ron Newton later became a drill sergeant Ron Newton holding a captured Korean weapon ber one.”35 announcement of his deployment to Korea It wasn’t always battles and hard times though. In their free time, soldiers could go to the movie the- in the Army Reserves. 26 27 the area all around him. “That’s how it was over there, you never actually had a face-to-face battle, all you ever got were Into the Fire hit and runs or sneak attacks,” Randy told me. By Michael Moyer When he wasn’t working in the fire teams, Randy was It was July, just two months afterRandy Abbott had graduated from high school, and he was still enjoying life. Although this morning was working with tanks and tracks (also known as APC, or armored unlike any other that he had encountered, his mother was standing in front of him, holding the letter that would change his life as he knew it. He personnel carrier).39 Randy would work with his unit, along had been drafted into the US Army to serve in Vietnam. He was proud to be able to serve for his county and quickly went into training camp to with three tanks and four tracks, patrolling a dirt road that work with heavy machinery. Even though he had specialized training, it was decided that he would be sent in as an infantryman. Randy was sent they called “Highway 9.” away, and quickly found himself in a real life case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. Their job on this road was to Into the fire seemed to be an understatement as Randy’s first steps in Vietnam only registered one single thought in his brain … it was scold- search for booby traps and Unlike some ing hot. The 120°F mid-day heat “hit him like a truck”. He remembers his first thought when he saw the troops already stationed there; they had stop vehicles that passed. only been there for a year, “but when I looked at them, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them, the heat just beat you up from the begin- Randy was working on veterans, ning.” Randy was first stationed in the Central Highlands (the military name for the middle part of Vietnam) with the 1st Infantry, popularly known Highway 9 inside a track when 36 as the Big Red One. Randy joined the 1st Infantry during the end of their it was hit by an RPG (rocket he found a “Every moral that your parents tour, and when they came home he was sent to the farthest north base in propelled grenade).40 The all of Vietnam to join the 5th Infantry. This was located in I-Core (military explosion was so loud that way to cope: name for the northern part of Vietnam) which was named for all of the the impact instantly ruptured taught you and that you grew 37 marines that were stationed there. His base camp was Camlo, which Randy’s ear drums. He de- God. up with, just gets forgotten. was located only six miles from the Demilitarized Zone and the North scribed it as “a sound so loud Vietnam border. For Randy, the realization of the war did not come until that he couldn’t even hear it”. The RPG killed the track’s driver Not once did the fear of death he saw a dead American. The Vietnamese had no link to him; they were and operator and disabled it. Randy’s unit knew they had like rabbits, killing was his duty, and when you killed someone, “it was like to get out. While climbing out, Randy was shot twice by an ever cross my mind.” hitting a home run, or like you just received an award”. “When in the ser- AK47, about four inches below his hip. He received a concus- vice, you almost seem to get brainwashed,” Randy told me. “Every moral sion from the explosion, which made his memory of the de- -Randy Abbott that your parents taught you and that you grew up with, just gets forgot- tails a little sketchy, but he does remember laying on the road ten. Not once did the fear of death ever cross my mind.” bleeding. He also believes that he may have accidently shot at Today, Randy Abbott spends much of his free time in peaceful surroundings, fishing. While in the 5th Infantry, Randy mainly worked in fire teams. his own men, thinking they were Vietnamese. He was picked Fire teams require a unit to split up into groups of four and work in a line with breaks in-between groups. Randy was only five feet, six inches tall, up by helicopter, but cannot recall anything about the trip. Randy had been in Vietnam for eleven months and three days. He only had twenty- and weighed 135 pounds. Because of his smaller size, he was put up front in the first fire team. Randy remembers one day very well. He was in seven more days left in his tour of duty when he was shot. his fire team when they found a booby trap on the entrance to an open field, assuming that whoever set it there would be back. Randy’s team The first hospital that he went to was on a US Naval ship, the USS Sanctuary. One of the only things that he remembers on this ship was ly- was assigned a night ambush. His team went back that night, set up claymores (trip wire mines set up around a perimeter) and lay there all night ing on a steel slab, completely shaven, while doctors were hosing blood off the ground. He spent a total of three months in hospitals, and then was 38 long. “I don’t know what time it was, but in the middle of the night, we could hear the jokers talking,” recalled Randy. “The voices got louder as finally released to go home. He described himself as crazy when he got home because he “could not mentally handle all of the things that he had they came closer until they almost walked right on top of us. We killed them all, then got lifted out of there by a helicopter.” They went back in the done.” Unlike some veterans, he found a way to cope: God. Randy is a very religious man now because he knows that God has forgiven him, so he morning and found that the men they had killed were carrying a lot of money and were probably using it to pay off troops. One of them was not can forgive himself. even carrying a weapon with him. One of the only changes in his life since the war, besides being “partially dead,” is that he is now more laid back because nothing is as bad as At night, the teams would form a circle, and one person from each team would alternate to do watch duties. Randy was on middle duty one what he has gone through in the past. He just wants to make the world around him a better place. He was awarded a Purple Heart for being shot. night. He described the darkness as the equivalent of holding your hands over your eyes … you couldn’t see a thing. While on duty, he saw a real His position at Eli Lilly and Company was held for him while he was away serving in Vietnam, so he came home to a job. Randy said he is not proud quick flash of light, then another, and another before it was dark again. Before he could even process what it could be, rockets were bombarding of what he did, but every day he works to make himself better.41 28 29 nose into the circle on their tiptoes. According to Sterling, the time in The Crew Chief the circle lasted from five to ten minutes or more, depending upon By Sammie Meyer Ramsey’s mood. Embarrassingly, Sterling had to stick his nose to the At the age of nineteen in 1969, Keith Sterling, an Indianapolis resident, got a draft wall once or twice. That same officer would also come into the bar- notice that would soon change his life. At the time, he didn’t really know what he was get- racks at around one or two in the morning and take all thirty soldiers’ ting himself into, but that would soon change within the next few months. Sterling ended boots and throw them in the shower. He’d then wake them up and say, up going downtown along with a buddy to enlist, saying, “The government isn’t going to “You got three minutes to get your boots; two of them have already do this. We’ll go and sign up ourselves and show them.” And so the two men did. However, started,” said Sterling. After that one minute, he would go in and turn his long time friend ended up backing out and went back home. The only reason he could on the shower. Sterling said he was never able to figure out when that have done that was because he was an only son. Keith was now alone to face the rough sergeant had the time to sleep. Soon after, Sterling was sent to the journey ahead. place that would change his life forever, Vietnam. Before Keith had enlisted, he was working in a printing company. Although he did From Fort Knox, he was flown to Anchorage, Alaska, then like his job, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as the war and didn’t teach as much. Guam, and finally to Vietnam with a sense of fear. The first time he Going from propaganda to boot camp was a big change for Sterling. “Back then you went to Vietnam, he stayed for twelve months, and the second time didn’t really pick what unit you wanted to join. You just signed up and a guy went down the he was there for ten months. There was a rule that you didn’t go flying line: ‘You’re a Marine;’ ‘You’re the Army;’ ‘You go to the Navy’ and so on.” Sterling ended without somebody who had already been there. In his unit there were up being in the Army. At the time, he didn’t really know, nor care about, what he wanted about 200 people, but they were then broken down into batteries of to be. sixty. Few had been hurt, and few had been killed. On his way to Vietnam, Sterling recalled that the first time he was over in Vietnam, his “I wouldn’t want to relive he trained in a Fort Knox, unit had a really good cook. No matter the time, the cook was ready Kentucky boot camp. At with cake or coffee or anything that you could think of. They also had it, but it taught me a lot.” the beginning of boot their rations, as well, to go along with it, which was dehydrated food camp while waiting on the that consisted of beef stew, chicken delight, and chili con carne. Along -Keith Sterling other recruits to arrive, with a plentiful amount of food, they also had a lot of ammunition. he spent a two weeks just Sometimes, it was even too much. In the Army, there’s a saying: “If you lying around. In those weeks, he decided that if that was what Army life was like then, he don’t use it, you lose it.” When the inspector general saw your extra was going to love it. All he did at the beginning was eat in the morning, go shoot some ammo, he would record it and the next year the soldier wouldn’t get pool in the clubroom, go to lunch, and then come back and do it all over again. However, that. They would actually go and bury their leftover ammunition from that soon changed when all of the recruits arrived and real boot camp started. That’s each day at night. when the basic training started and they had to do all the physical workouts. Here, he also Sterling’s job was to be the crew chief of a helicopter. He had to learned a lot of instructions to follow including having to learn the code of arms, and doing take care of the aircraft and make sure it was ready to go. “If you could everything quickly and orderly. Sterling fit into the schedule pretty easily. Everything was get it off the ground, then you could fly it.” Wherever it went, he went. scheduled at a certain time, so he adjusted quickly. However, he didn’t fly it and worked with the radio instead. He knew One thing he clearly remembers was the bed checks. Sterling had a drill sergeant how to fly, but he only had to a few times when the pilot was injured named Sergeant Ramsey. He was a short, skinny guy that made sure everything was in or something happened. “Ninety percent of the pilots I worked with check. If something was wrong, he would find any wall and no matter how tall or short were good and decent. The other ten percent were an entirely differ- you were, he would draw a circle, and whomever he was mad at would have to stick their Keith Sterling ent story.” Sterling’s letters home tell a story of their own. 30 31 Sterling was busy with a lot of work, but he still found time to relax and enjoy some of it. If he didn’t have a flight Not the Crying Type that day, he had the day off. To entertain himself, he read and By Kourtnie Duff wrote many letters to his family and used a radio broadcast- ing system to speak with them. He also listened to a radio Michael Sinex was eighteen, living in Floyd County, Indiana, when he enlisted in the army in 1976. station called RV Radio in the bunks and on the planes. Although Mike enlisted during a time of peace with no wars being fought by the United States, he eventu- Pranks were another part of entertainment, which included ally traveled to Seoul, Korea and then to Bosnia in the mid-1990s to help rebuild a country torn by war. short sheeting a bed or putting bubblegum in someone’s gun His main motivation in joining the army was the G.I. Bill, a program that aimed to send veterans 44 if it was not likely they’d have to use it that day. “You know, to school, which would cease offering its benefits to any enlistees after January 1, 1977. “It took me out shoot a bubble!” When on leave, he’d come home and relax. of a group of people that were probably going nowhere at that time,” he said, “It made me realize that Coming home, he realized how different home was from there are more important things, that I had more ability than I thought.” Vietnam. “There weren’t guns around and you didn’t His first choice, however, wasn’t to go into the Army. “Initially, I tried to go into the Air Force, but have to always be on guard. But when the time came my test results didn’t warrant anything but being a cook. I wasn’t going to take the cook job; I wanted a to go back to Vietnam, I was ready to go back.” For better, more interesting job.” His brothers warned him against joining the Marine Corps, and finally, fol- Sterling, being at home was dull compared to Vietnam. lowing in his father’s footsteps, he chose the Army. Sterling was discharged in Oakland, California at the Paula Peabody was only two years old in 1969 when she met eleven year old Michael Sinex. He age of twenty-two with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, was her uncle’s best friend, and after years of knowing each other, they finally began dating and got -mar and an Air Medal. Right when he got off the plane, ried only weeks before Sinex was going to ship out as part of his service to the US Army. he switched straight into civilian clothes to avoid the “Well, I guess I always knew I was going to marry a G.I.,” Paula said. “My family was very pro- stares from protestors. During that time, protests troops. Even though my parents didn’t always agree with the war, they always supported the troops were going on against the Vietnam War and soldiers.42 100%.” Sterling ended up having to stay a day later due to Mike had already enlisted by the time that he married Paula. He remembers the early years he President’s Day, because they wouldn’t let him leave. spent in the service prior to marrying Paula fondly. The boot camp experience, however, was a bit of a He came back to Indiana and just hung around for shock for Sinex. “It’s totally new surroundings and everyone is in the same situation in that they’re away about two months and went back to school at Ivy Tech from home, most of us for the first time for any length of time.” Going in, he thought he was a pretty and joined the American Legion. He went onto work in physically fit young man, but it quickly became clear that he wasn’t. The time period he spent in boot welding and industrial works. camp, only twelve weeks, made a difference in Sinex’s life. “You go in as a kid with perspectives and come Looking back at his experiences, he mostly remem- out as a young man, physically fit, obviously, and better disciplined; having more values, things like that.” bers the men he served with. They weren’t just family; they In boot camp, freedom is limited. Days are packed with activities and it’s hard to find free time were closer. When he left though, it was all over with. He around that. “From the time they would wake you up – and they would wake up you at various times still stays in contact with about two other men, but most are – but every day before five o’clock. And then of course by the time you bed down, it’s eight o’clock in the older and some have even passed away. evening. You couldn’t just go to the store. You could see it; you just couldn’t go. I mean, there’s not a lot Back then; he realized that he was too young to know of free time. That’s all adding to the disciplined environment by taking this from you and giving it back what he was getting himself into. He thought that since his little by little.” Going from his home to this regimented lifestyle, Sinex found it to be a pretty big shock. country was asking him to do it, he was going to do it. He Boot camp prepared him for both life in the service and life out of it. Although he did not see does say though that there’s nothing good that comes from combat in his time served, he went to Bosnia with 119 men to help rebuild the country in the aftermath Free air mail helped soldier like Sterling communicate with family back home. war. “I wouldn’t want to relive it, but it taught me a lot.”43 Mike Sinex at his residence in Indianapolis. of the devastating war they had suffered. Here, he includes a postscript to request socks be sent to him. Bosnia fought in a civil war from 1992-1995. On February 29, 1992, the republic of Bosnia and 32 33 Herzegovina declared their independence, but some Bosnian Serbs disagreed with the decision to become independent. Serbian leaders began As a military wife, the thing Paula remembers most is the sense of family that the wives had. “We’d 45 fighting the groups that encouraged the independence. This war lasted for around three to four years. The rebuilding efforts afterward that Sinex go to each other to cry, to get a baby-sitter, for a ride to work. We depended on each other when our hus- took part in lasted much longer. bands were gone. Everyone was human.” To support her husband while he was on duty, Paula sent him letters and care packages. “Once, I sent him a chocolate Easter bunny for She believes that she learned this during her time on base while waiting for Mike to come home. Easter. By the time it got to him, it was in a thousand pieces on the box… he made sure every single man got a piece of the chocolate. It was hard for “You just realized that everyone was human after spending time there. I wasn’t the crying type, but I’d sit the bachelors because they didn’t have anyone to get things from.” and watch women cry day after day when their husbands were sent out and I felt for them, because we’re Most of his time was spent building, renovating, or working on the things that had fallen apart during the Bosnian War. There were what he all human and we had all experienced it. I finally realized that because we’re human, we all have our own called “gypsy camps” set up everywhere because, when the government fell apart, the Bosnian citizens had no way of holding onto their homes. A stories; because we all have our own stories and are human, we’re all equal.” piece of paper stating property ownership didn’t hold any sway in a society with no government to back it up. Her sons, raised to treat everyone equally and to never stereotype someone based on their skin Paula believed that the hardest part of being a military wife was the fear that she felt for her husband and the repercussions on her children. color, were suddenly faced with the fact that not everyone was raised this way. When Sinex was relocated to “I knew that he was capable of taking care of himself, but I couldn’t even watch the news because I didn’t want to hear of a bombing in Bosnia and El Paso, Texas and the family had to follow him, Paula had to make the hardest decision of her life. think of him. I knew how it would go if he was dead. A military man would walk to my door, knock, and say, ‘Ms. Sinex, I’m sorry.’” “I told him that if he didn’t retire from the service, I’d have to divorce him. My sons had always been Mike remembers a number of things from his time spent in Bosnia, but naturally, some things stood out more to him. Some experiences able to walk up to anyone on a basketball court and ask to play without being told no because they’re white. were more eye-opening for him, like the time he was in a car traveling behind “All I wanted was to give another on a road in Bosnia. Even though it was the dead of winter, they trav- eled past families that were displaced and had to be inhabitants of the previ- “I wasn’t the crying type, but I’d sit and watch [my daughter] everything I ously mentioned gypsy camps, all of them just trying to live. The convoy in front of him splashed through a puddle of ice-cold water women cry day after day when their husbands possibly could. I wanted her and absolutely drenched a father, mother, and son with a wall of freezing water. In the middle of winter, this father had everything they owned on his were sent out and I felt for them, because we’re to have everything. And this back—he even had a rope tied around his neck attached to a pack on his back. Sinex screamed, “Stop!” at the driver. Their car slid to a halt, inches from all human and we had all experienced it.” man wanted the same thing the puddle, and he jumped out. He stood in front of the father and said, “I am so sorry about that.” The man didn’t understand English, and Sinex wouldn’t -Paula Sinex for his child, but couldn’t have been able to understand anything the Bosnian man said, but they at They’d grown up in military schools and the shift to public schools was terrifying for both them and me. They least understood each other’s expressions. suddenly faced the fact that not everyone believed they were equal.” Mike agreed with her decision and possibly provide it.” Sinex said, “I looked at this man and remembered holding my baby retired from the service. “All of us were crying during his ceremony, even the boys,” Paula said. “It was a sad daughter in my hands and thinking that all that I wanted was to give her day. You just don’t teach your kids to hate someone for their skin color or sexual orientation.” -Michael Sinex everything I possibly could. I wanted her to have everything. And this man Since her husband’s retirement from the service, her children have all attended public schools for the wanted the same thing for his child, but couldn’t possibly provide it.” rest of their education. She sat them all down and had to have talks with them explaining that, even though He motioned to the men in the waiting convoy to hand him MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and water. He set these in front of the man and got others wouldn’t agree with them, the way she had raised them was correct and to never let themselves back into the car. As they moved past, careful to avoid splashing the family, he looked in the rearview mirror and saw the man gathering up the sup- make a decision about someone based on their skin color or differences. plies Sinex had left for them, eager to finally have the chance to feed his family. Although he left the military on disability for tinnitus and back problems, Sinex has a positive outlook One of the more amusing experiences in Sinex’s time spent overseas was the arrival of a Mars candy truck to their base. When the truck on the time he spent in the service. He believes that the service he experienced was more focused on fixing drivers introduced themselves, they explained that the candy was for the G.I.s, and the only thing the candy suppliers wanted in return was photos problems rather than policing the world, but he says that the boot camp experiences and his time spent of the men eating the candy for advertisement purposes. “It was kinda humorous that they showed up even before the senior management that I helping others was invaluable. “I mean, it was a great experience,” he said. “I learned a lot of important looked for showed up. All those guys stayed back in Germany for Christmas,” said Sinex of the experience. 46 things in the service that I still use today.” Paula Sinex on vacation in Puerto Rico. 34 35 dressed in civilian clothes. Retaliation by the United States was quick. On December 17, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered troops to Panama, Brotherhood with the aims of seizing Noriega to face drug charges in the United States, thereby protecting American lives and property, and restoring Pana- By Tori Brandenburg manian liberties. The initial attack took place in darkness on the morning of December 20 and was focused on Noriega’s headquarters in Panama City. U.S. forces quickly overcame most organized resistance, but in the following days numerous Panamanian soldiers and civilians looted shops It was the classic good-bye scene. Ronald White, eighteen, a boy with big dreams and enlistment in Panama City, and some 2,000 U.S. reinforcements were flown in to help establish order. The number of Panamanians killed in the operation was papers in hand, said goodbye to friends, family, and the life he had known. He grew up in a large family estimated at 200-300 combatants (soldiers and with a lot of rules but even more love. Like most young enlistees, he knew little of war and gave it minimal para-militaries) and some 300 civilians; 23 U.S. thought; it was his ‘duty’ to fight for his country, and he intended to do just that. soldiers also killed. Hundreds from both nations On October 23, 1978 Ron shipped out to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to train to become a mecha- were wounded.49 nist. “Some things we liked; some things we didn’t like. We just did what we had to do, and that’s how it Ron went through grueling training in de- was.” Although he was currently training in mechanics, he longed for combat, visiting the demo and weap- fense infantry, demolition training, jump school onry ranges as often as possible. However, he completed training for mechanics and was one of thirty two in (this was a class teaching them techniques for a class of 153 hopeful army members to graduate. “It was a good day; it was a happy day. I graduated and a jumping out of low flying planes), ranger doc- lot of people didn’t.” tor nation, and first battalion. After training he After graduation, he was sent to Fordsdale, Oklahoma where was stationed in Hawaii. “It was beautiful, and he spent approximately a year and a half. Here he served like any young army service member I probably “We just did what his country from behind the lines. He worked as an artillery drank a little too much.” mechanic, keeping weapons operating properly. Soon after In late December of 1989 Ron learned he we had to do, and this year and a half, his commanding officers noted his passion would be dropping out of a C131 at 400 feet only for weaponry and reassigned him to what was at the time a three days it was to take place. The location and that’s how it was.” temporary change of duty. time would not be disclosed until they were in He trained hard for a few more months in Fordsdale, the plane and were approximately an hour away -Ron White Oklahoma. He then transferred to Fortwood, Texas. There from jump time. He was to jump at 0100 hours he began training to become a Ranger. Training to become a into the middle of a Panama control center. The Ranger school is one of the toughest training courses for which a Soldier can volunteer.47 Ranger students enemy was said to be very aware of their arrival. train to exhaustion, pushing the limits of their minds and bodies. Army Rangers are experts in leading sol- Mr. George H.W. Bush had authorized the use of diers on difficult missions and to do this they need rigorous training. The purpose of the U.S. Army’s Ranger C.S gas, a non-lethal riot control agent. “Bullets Course is to prepare these army volunteers in combat functional skills. The Rangers’ primary mission is to flying by your head, someone trying to do you engage in close combat and direct-fire battles.48 Although this is one of the toughest areas he could have Veteran Ron White relaxing on his family vacation in Cabo. in; It’s a wake up call, definitely. Makes you real- entered, he says he could not have picked a better course. “Being a Ranger was a brotherhood; I fought for ize ‘Hey, I might not make it back from this.’ You can train, and train, and train, and train for these things, but until you’re actually there; that’s when that. I haven’t experienced anything like it since.” it sets in.” After surviving his first battle, he realized the news of the rangers departure had probably reached back home and his family would be After two years of training with no real combat action (not due to lack of drive but more lack of a war to worried sick. He used a civilian phone in Panama to call home. “I told my mom I was alive and I think I wished her a happy New Year.” fight in) he was sent home on an honorable discharge in 1987. He went home, spent time with his family Months later Ron was standing next to one of his commanding officers at the base. The officer pulled out his radio and turned up the vol- and friends. Two years later Ron was notified and asked to re-enlist in the Army and to again join the Rang- ume. “I heard, ‘President George Bush has ordered a cease fire,’ and I just looked at my officer like, ‘is that what I think it is?’ I felt we should’ve ers. He agreed with little hesitation. gone on and finished what we had started. Would I do it again, a lot more thought would be put into it, but yeah; I’d probably do it again. The expe- On December 15, 1989, Manuel Antonio Noriega was given the title of chief executive officer of rience you gain from it is unlike another. When you deal with life or death situations, it leaves a long lasting impression.” Ron went home and lived a the Panamanian government. The Noriega-led assembly declared that there was an official state of war normal life. He works at fed-ex as a senior mechanic, has a wife, son, and the same huge family with less rules and more love.50 between the U.S and themselves. The next day Panamanian soldiers killed an unarmed U.S. Marine officer Ron White having a drink at a winery. 36 37 forces over the border and annex the small country. Iraqi forces then moved to the Kuwait/Saudi Arabia border, and a frightened Saudi Arabia frantically Born to Serve 52 By Matthew Huntley called for U.S. aid. Wilbourne received the news that he would be shipping out to the The sky was a pitch-black nothingness, the light of day consumed by a veil of smoke rising from seventy-two burning oil wells. The carnage Middle East shortly thereafter with his unit: the 1st Squad, 4th Cavalry (af- had begun on January 10th, 1991 and continued for a month’s time: bombs raining down from the sky and decimating the poorly equipped Iraqi fectionately called the Quarter-Horse, or One-Fourth CAV, by its members). army, pounding it into submission in an awe-inspiring display of the United States’ military might. Sergeant Jeffrey Wilbourne had been waiting for Though he was not married at the time, his future wife BJ Wilbourne would this his entire life. be immensely concerned for his safety. She was also supportive of his desire Born on January 21st, 1969 in the humble town of Gary, Indiana, Wilbourne lived with his older sister Kathy and parents, Tom and Cecile. to protect America, her allies, and the American way of life when he went Unlike other children, who had distant dreams of being athletic gods or celebrities, Wilbourne had, since the age of six, set his heart on joining the to serve in Iraq over a decade later. “People don’t realize how fortunate we military: to grow up and follow in his father’s footsteps are,” she said, “Some people in the world don’t have fresh water, or places of defending liberty abroad. This dream was finally re- to live.” With bitter good-byes, Jeffrey Wilbourne shipped out on January alized during Spring Break of his junior year at only sev- 10th, 1991 to help the people of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. “You have faith enteen years old, when he and several friends enlisted that they’ll be safe, but there’s always something in the back of your mind, a at the nearby National Guard station. ‘what if,’” Mrs. Wilbourne said softly, with the sense of sadness on the edge Basic training began in the sweltering heat of the of her voice. summer of 1986 at Fort Benning, Georgia. That was Once in Saudi Arabia at a fort in Dhahran on the other side of the world, also his senior year at Kankakee Valley High School, Jeffrey and BJ Wilbourne life took on an entirely new meaning of dull. Wilbourne’s days began with the same school where he dated his future sweetheart waking up in the early morning, boiling a pouch of food from an MRE (Meal BJ. The drill sergeants were callous and ferocious, do- “You have faith that they’ll Ready to Eat) in an empty ammunition bin, then using the remaining water ing whatever it took to push the recruits beyond their to make ‘instant-coffee’, and finally, shaving with the lukewarm water. “Then limits. Physical barriers were shattered with miles of be safe, but there’s always you would brush your teeth and that was it for personal hygiene; Yeah, I running and encouragement to drive forward was pro- stunk!” Wilbourne had a shower on his twenty-second birthday, January vided in the form the fiery drill sergeant’s nasty bellow- something in the back of your 21st, 1991, at the port of Dhahran during the off-loading of equipment and ing. Wilbourne was able to endure and thrive, emerging wouldn’t have another real cleaning until the first week of March. He would from basic training prepared for the next advanced mind…a ‘What if?’” have to continue to wait until April that same year for another one. course, which began in the fall of 1987. Following the bare-bones morning preparations, soldiers would take the Wilbourne completed his additional training in the -BJ Wilbourne opportunity to read letters from family back home or “Any Soldier Letters” fall of 1987 and was transferred into the Army from the from pen-pal like strangers, which would sometimes take weeks to arrive due National Guard in February of 1988. Training again took to the lack of e-mail at the time in 1991. This was Wilbourne’s only lifeline place within the harsh confines of Fort Benning, Geor- back to his loved ones. On a lucky occasion care-packages would arrive bearing snack-foods. In Wilbourne’s second tour of duty in 2008, he would gia. At the time, the United States was still entangled in Wilbourne’s fellow soldiers preparing for a mission in Iraq, 2008. be able to maintain weekly communication with BJ thanks to the advent of the internet (this was not possible during Desert Storm due to a lack the Cold War with Russia, and training primarily focused of technology and the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Wilbourne would not be married until the sixteenth of March, 1996), and though Mr. Wilbourne was on how to defend Western Europe in the event Russia should attack. Thankfully, there were no military engagements between the United States banned from disclosing operational information, his wife claims, “I knew what he was up to.” In addition to sending Wilbourne daily e-mails, she and Russia, and Wilbourne’s first real taste of battle wouldn’t come until after Saddam Hussein had invaded and annexed Kuwait on the second of would also attempt to send at least a single care-package a month bearing Wilbourne’s favorite candies, snacks, and toiletries which were not sold 51 August, 1990. in the area. Mrs. Wilbourne made an effort to include Wilbourne in the family despite the vast distance between them. She would send DVDs as The conflict between Iraq and Kuwait was a result of the Iran-Iraq War; mainly the inordinate cost it took for Iraq to maintain its military well, such as one featuring the graduation ceremony of Wilbourne’s step-son Chris. force. This, accompanied with Kuwait’s lowering of its oil prices and suspected drilling of Iraqi oil reservoirs, prompted Saddam Hussein to send his 38 39 Finally, the end of the day consisted of an hour or more of guard duty before bed. Patrolling the perimeter and ensuring that the base was Kuwait-Basra Highway, two of the United States’ AH-64 Apache gunships flew overhead, and the vivid expression of fear and dismay on the Iraqi secure were primary concerns for night guards. After the shift ended, the weary soldiers would sleep either in cots or on the vehicles themselves as prisoners’ faces was permanently etched into Wilbourne’s mind. It was if they asked, “What in the world was Saddam thinking?” That alone summa- there were no permanent sleeping arrangements. rized the entire war when considering the might of the United States. Combat finally commenced on January 17th, 1991, when United States planes began bombing Iraqi forces. Wilbourne recalls it well: when During Jeffrey Wilbourne’s absence during the War on Terror in later years, BJ Wilbourne was forced to adapt to essentially being a single the bombers flew overhead to deliver their deadly payload of explosives, he had still been getting on his equipment to begin the day. Ultimately, the mother. The transition was softened by the fact that the military had already dominated most of Mr. Wilbourne’s life, and travel to other military United States Air Force would drop over 60,000 tons of bombs during the war, adequately blunting the Iraqi military machine and paving the way bases away from home was frequent. Mrs. Wilbourne recalls, “I didn’t have Jeff to help with the big jobs around the house or at the end of the day for the Hundred Hours Ground War.53 when I needed a break. I had to learn to accept help from others, which was hard for me because I’m so independent. I love my kids dearly, but Wilbourne recalled a brief scare after the Air War began. Before the Air Force could destroy Iraqi missile systems, the belligerent nation man- I needed adult conversation sometimes.” However, the mother was able to stay home full time with their three children as they were provided a aged to launch a Scud missile strike. The Scud was a high-threat missile originally developed by the Soviets in the 1960s and was feared due to its secure living by Mr. Wilbourne’s military income. potential to hold biological or chemical agents.54 Wilbourne and his fellow soldiers responded to the danger by quickly putting on chemical protec- Jeffrey Wilbourne’s firsthand combat experience in the Gulf War was coming to a close. A cease-fire was established the morning of Febru- tion suits until it was determined that the bombs were merely explosive in nature and contained no biological agents. ary 28th, 1991, and the One-Fourth CAV moved into the Iraqi town of Safwan where Wilbourne was lucky enough to be able to witness the arrival Following the incident, the One-Fourth Cavalry moved north along the Saudi Arabia border with Iraq to begin combat of its own with Wil- of top Iraqi generals for peace talks. bourne as the leader of a mortar squad (mortars are weapons that launch explosives long distances to blow up cover and defenses). Among the foot The remains of Wilbourne’s tenure in the Middle East were much gentler and perhaps even enjoyable. The last ten days in Saudi Arabia he soldiers were M1A1 tanks and Bradley Armored Personal Carriers, the modern equivalent of cavalry, which like the horses of old hauled the soldiers was able to relax in the air –conditioned apartment complex know as the Khobar Towers. The only work consisted of cleaning military vehicles and across the battlefield. The assault began on February 24th, 1991, and would later come to be known as the Hundred Hours Ground War.55 The ¼ preparing them to be shipped back to the United CAV cut through Kuwait to attack southern Iraq and ultimately sever the Basra Highway, which was the most logical place for an Iraqi forces retreat. States, and the soldiers even had the opportunity to The Hundred Hours Ground War was a stressful time for all parties involved. Wilbourne received only six hours of sleep during the entire go shopping in the malls surrounding the Towers. At ordeal and was constantly on the move, pressing forward toward the highway. On February 27th, one day before the official end of both the ground night, there were rock concerts played by up-and- war and the war itself, Wilbourne’s unit captured over 3,000 terrified Iraqi prisoners. The next day, just before the unit headed out again along the coming bands. Finally, Wilbourne was shipped back home to Fort Riley, Kansas on May 11th, 1991. His unit had been awarded the Valorous Unit Award and only one man from his entire battalion had been killed. In 1992 Wilbourne transferred back into the National Guard and has been there ever since, going into ac- tive service in 2004. The war provided Wilbourne a chance to serve his country and protect his family’s way of life as well as an experience he could not have received otherwise. Currently, Jeffrey and BJ Wilbourne live in Monticello, Indiana, and Jeffrey Wilbourne recently returned from another tour of duty in Iraq. Both remain enthusiastic in regard to the military: Jeffrey Wilbourne is honored to serve his nation, and BJ Wilbourne is grateful her husband defends the liberties the rest of America often takes Packing up for a mission in Iraq, 2008 A typical trailer housing for soldiers at Balad Air Base during Wilbourne’s second tour of for granted.56 duty in 2008. Sandbags were designed to protect soldier from rockets and mortars. Wilbourne, in the back row on the far left, was part of Team Echo, the “Stormbringers,” with his fellow soldiers. 40 41 hall three times a day were fed quickly and left with a satisfying amount of Over-Easy food in their stomachs. With the quick and graceful skill of an experienced By Taylor Wicker cook, Arthur could prepare 2500 eggs in various ways in just one hour. He It was in 1960 when Arthur Kratz first received the news that especially enjoyed working on Fridays. After his shift he had Saturday and he was being drafted. The Vietnam War had just begun and he had just Sunday off before returning at noon on Monday to start the busy week over recently married his wife Myra. Wanting to stay in America, he decided again. to join the Army reserves as soon as possible. It was there that he Although he was stationed in several places across the United learned many lessons that he’d carry with him throughout his life. States, such as Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin, his favorite place to be Like many people in the Vietnam War, Arthur didn’t want to stationed at was, of course, home. Keeping in touch with his wife was very leave America. He joined the Reserves, where he endured brutal physi- important to him. On Saturdays he would go to the phone center, where a cal training.57 He first entered the Army in 1961, where he endured hundred phone booths were open for the men to call home to their fami- brutal physical training. Every day he marched five miles to shoot his lies. He’d give his name and wait for the people working at the booths to call M1, the gun he carried, eight to sixteen times. He was given a Coke him, and when a phone became available for him to use, Arthur would reverse and then marched five miles back, the gear he was forced to carry the charges back to his house, and could talk to his wife for an hour for five dollars. making the long walk even harder.58 After the exhausting experience of Although that would be a reasonable price now, it was a decent chunk out of his monthly boot camp, the next part of his training was spent in Camp Atterbury. eighty-six dollars that he earned in The training center was a mere hour and a half from his home and the Army. Keeping in touch with the his wife in Indianapolis. He traveled there once a week to work with “Each soldier got two eggs, outside world was important though and radios, something he had no experience in. He spent those first days calling back home was worth the expenses. in the Army taking inventory, and after seeing that his radio skills were and had them prepared After working as a cook, he was sent non-existent, they figured out where his true skills lay: cooking. After to teach men how to drive trucks for four and realizing that he was a natural cook, he traded radios for grills, and his any way they liked, whether a half years. He served six years of active duty, new job was in a mess hall where he cooked for 1300 people, break- then went back home to his wife Myra to serve two fast, lunch and dinner. it was raw in a glass years inactive duty. He completed his time in the Re- This was called OJT, or “on job training”. He was in charge of serves with a long list of accomplishments and a long list of ten to twelve KPs, which is army slang term for Kitchen Police. They or cooked to a crisp.” life lessons. Wherever Arthur went, he was helping, teaching and were the cooks that, like Arthur, spent their time in the kitchen cook- inspiring others, and it was those encounters with all different kinds ing for the tired and hungry men that passed through the mess hall. -Arthur Kratz of people that led to the biggest lesson he’d learn while in the Army. It While working in the hall he had twenty-four-hour shifts followed by made him appreciate other cultures and taught him to accept all religions and twenty-four-hour breaks between shifts. A shift started with cooking ethnic backgrounds. Skin color, faith and culture became traits that were left unnoticed, and he learned to respect people’s personalities as op- lunch, followed by cleaning up and cooking dinner. After dinner, clean- posed to things they couldn’t control. Arthur thought nothing of waking up on Sunday morning and watching the people he served with part ways ing and preparing for breakfast the next morning was the next task. to the vastly different churches to practice their own, personal religion. Although the people he met will always have influence over his life in some “Each soldier got two eggs, and had them prepared anyway they liked, small or large way, he only keeps in touch with one every year or so. Despite not keeping in touch with many acquaintances, the people he did meet whether it was raw in a glass or cooked to a crisp,” Arthur says. The helped him to accept everyone on a level not many can say they’re capable of. A lot of the people he encounters today are people he would have never met before enlisting in the Army Reserves. The open mind set Arthur learned to embrace during his six months of training and six years of methods for fast-cooking were swift and smooth. They would prepare 59 for breakfast by cracking six eggs into hundreds of small bowls. In the service will always be a part of who he is, and continues to help him everyday. Arthur Kratz poses for a picture in his uniform. morning, Arthur would stand before two huge grills, and through the 42 43 awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, which Communication is Key is awarded for outstanding non-combat ser- By Dan Eakle vice to the United States. for his work in the weapons depot collecting, repairing, and turn- On September 11, 2001, four commercial aircraft were hijacked ing in black market weapons.63 by 19 terrorists. Two planes hurtled into the World Trade Towers, one Jones particularly enjoyed the National hit the Pentagon in Washington, and the last crashed near Shanksville, Guard because he got to know the people he Pennsylvania. This attack by Islamic Extremists prompted the beginning served with better because everyone in the of the War on Terror, a campaign against any terrorist organization con- unit stayed together. He sent many e-mails fronting western nations. One of the first acts of this war was to invade home, and sent monthly newsletters home to and occupy the nations of Iraq and Afghanistan to overthrow the cur- family. He enjoyed the food, which was pro- rent regimes.60 While these goals were achieved in mere months after vided by civilian contractors. He felt very little the attack, it would turn out to be many more years before the nations stress from his service, save for a few mo- could be self-sufficient yet again. This is the story of a man who helped ments in Afghanistan. The unit kept itself en- the country’s people to become independent of the criminal groups tertained through football, soccer, and through that are still vying for power. Playstations that they set up in the barracks. Through the military, Jerald Jones has learned life-altering lessons. Jones once recalled, while being in the medi- Jones first enlisted in the Air Force in October, 1987 and later enlisted cal unit, having parties with the other med- in the National Guard in 1991. He was stationed in the United States ics, watching infantry pull their funny pranks, until July 2004 where he began service in Operation Enduring Free- and stealing the finance department’s Frosty dom. Operation Enduring Freedom began 4 weeks after the attack on the Snowman inflatable. One night, Jones the World Trade Towers. It involves the occupation of both Iraq and remembered setting up a trebuchet, a type of Afghanistan in the attempt to root out anti-American or anti-western ancient catapult, with a friend and firing water regimes.61 Jones enlisted at the end of his high school career with the balloons at a smoke shack near their sleeping intent of serving in the military instead of continuing through col- quarters. The officers guarding the shack had lege. He was well prepared for basic training by the aid of a recruiter no idea what was going on. who gave him unspoken guidelines to follow. “Teamwork and getting Overall, Jones enjoyed the officers he An armored vehicle used to transport soldiers and similar to the one hit by an IED. through it - that was probably the hardest thing to learn.” served with, many taking part in the jokes and After landing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jones first thoughts were, games he played. The officers were not as focused on maintaining superiority over their subordinates as they were achieving the goals they were “What in the hell type of a place is this? It’s a third world country, ordered to accomplish. This led to interesting moments within the unit. decimated, just a mess.” He immediately began maintaining and At age 41, in 2010, Jones is still enlisted in the National Guard and plans to start a career in electronics when he leaves the service. Jones operating radio, cell phone, and internet communications. He also worked on electronics during his time in Afghanistan and Iraq. He discovered the passion while working in the military. Looking back, he wishes he served in a weapons depot collecting weapons, usually black-market would have continued schooling, but does not regret joining the service. His opinions about the war are that people in the United States believe Russian brand, and repairing them to turn them over to the Ministry that no good is going on where the war is being fought; on the contrary, he personally has seen the positives of the military in action. People in of Defense to hand out to the Afghan Army. Although he never had to Afghanistan were actually happy to see them and graciously accepted their aid. Jones made many friends through his service. Jones is very glad to fire his weapon, Jones experienced several combat situations includ- live in the United States, believing that many of us take that we have nothing to complain about for granted. We have food, water, and shelter. He ing driving over an IED, which is an improvised explosive device.62 The Jerald Jones in Combat Equipment during his tour of Iraq and Afghanistan. believes that, “Just about the only thing we can complain about is humidity; we got enough of that.”64 convoy Jones was riding in also was held up by a false alarm. He was 44 45 about Jon because Operation Desert Storm had just started and she didn’t want him to be sent away that early in their marriage. Good Terms One of the first times Jon was actually sent away was when he went to Haiti. When he first arrived in Haiti, he was part of the group that aided in By Aaron Frutchey taking over the country. They were in Haiti to capture corrupt politicians whom were the reason the country was suffering. The captured peoples were interrogated and sent to prison, where the information from interrogations was used to break up the corrupt political leaders that ran the While working in a drugstore in Courtland, New York, Jon Frutchey country. While in Haiti, Jon was part of a special thirty-man team. His team was the first on the ground to effectively take and secure the area they and Ellen Loveless met. They dated for about three years after they met landed on in Black Hawk helicopters. This first wave was called the “Spear Head”, which at times, would have some minor casualties. The U.S. and in 1989 Ellen moved to Indiana. When she was settled she drove helped to solve Haiti’s political problems by arresting its corrupt leaders and other higher ups in the government. Some of the worst parts of Jon’s back to New York to pick up Jon who unbeknownst to her was kicked out life in Haiti were the lack of food and communication. The Military had messed up the shipping of food, so Jon and his men had to live off the land of the state of New York for some criminal activity and had lost his privi- to get food at times. Another problem the men faced was a severe lack of communication. Jon would occasionally cut into phone lines from some of leges to live there. While in Indiana Jon moved from job to job before the Haitian homes so he could call Ellen back home when he had time to spare. the decided to join the Army. Jon and Ellen had been engaged for about Ellen remembered the calls from Jon fondly. “I’d wait weeks for a call and out of the blue the phone would ring. Even if I could only talk to a year before Jon decided to join the Army so they decided to move the him for a moment, it would brighten my day to know that he was okay.” During the time that Jon was in Haiti, Ellen was living in Fort Drum, New wedding to a date before Jon would be leaving for basic training. They got York. Ellen was no longer working because she was now a mother. Her son, Aaron, was married on October 28, 1990 at Ellen’s mother’s house in Indianapolis, born on January 28, 1994 a while before Jon went off to Haiti; Jon was fortunate enough Indiana. He felt like he needed to be there for both of his children’s births. Worry consumed Ellen because she knew Before Jon had met Ellen, he had lived in Courtland, New York, do- that Jon was one of the first people on the ground and was at a high risk of being injured ing odd jobs and getting into a lot of trouble. He had every job from land- order in his life, which or worse. “Every time Jon is deployed I worry for him.” scaping to short order cook and every criminal offense from stealing cars The second time Jon was deployed overseas, from 1998 to 2000, he went to Kosovo to assault. He felt like he needed order in his life, which was why while was why while living which is located in Southeastern Europe. This time Jon was part of a special team called living in Indiana with Ellen, he decided to join the Army. He went into the the “QRF” (Quick Reaction Force), a team trained in Search and Rescue techniques to Army specifically because he had been arrested as a teenager. Therefore in Indiana with Ellen, find and rescue missing men after an ambush.66 The U.S. was trying to resolve a conflict he didn’t have a high school diploma but instead a GED (General Equiva- between Serbians and Albanians while taking the Albanians’ side. Just like in Haiti, there lency Diploma) so the Army was the branch for him. Due to the fact that he decided to join the was a lack of food and communication, but those in charge during Jon’s time in Kosovo he liked to be active and get rough, he decided to be a part of the infan- were better at getting the men their food. Each man got at least one hot meal a day. try. He enlisted in November of 1990. Army. Communication, however, was the same; they cut into phone lines, just like they did in Fort Benning, Georgia was where Jon went to basic training. Basic Haiti, to call home. Unfortunately, home was never in the same place for long. training lasted eight weeks for the basic physical training for all new Due to the fact that Jon was in the military, and they sent him to new places as they needed him, the Frutchey family moved quite often. recruits. During this time the men were bunked in a company with 60 Ellen and her two kids were living in Germany while Jon was away in Kosovo; they lived there for roughly three years. This was a scary time for El- other men, stripped of all their belongings and were given haircuts. After len because she was alone in a foreign country with two very young children. They were living in a government neighborhood where most of the basic training, they began their specialty training. Jon chose the group people spoke English, but it was still an odd world that was scary to be alone in without family there for support. “11 Charley”; these were the mortar men. 11 Charley was mostly a de- The latest deployment that Jon had was to Iraq. Unlike the other times he was deployed, he didn’t see any battles. This time Jon was on a molition crew that shot mortars to secure towns or destroy buildings. A support team to repair radars and other technology. He was transferred to a support unit because he broke his back in 1996, an injury that wasn’t mortar is similar to a cannon and is used to shoot pyrotechnic bombs and diagnosed properly until 2004. Iraq provided a more relaxed environment than the other countries that he went to because he wasn’t in Baghdad, other explosive ammunition.65 They most often used sixty and one hun- where the fighting was occurring; instead he was in Balad which was more like the United States than any other place he went to. They had every- dred twenty millimeter mortars. thing from McDonald’s to Arby’s so there was plenty of food, and they had phones and email so it was the most comfortable place he had been. Meanwhile, while Jon was at basic training, Ellen was back on the At this time, Ellen and Jon were divorced, but on good terms with Jon, so it was sad in her home when Jon couldn’t make it home for the holi- home front living in an apartment; Many other military wives did this days that year. Ellen worried for her former husband like she did every time he was deployed and always thought of what could happen when she Jonathan Frutchey, 41, out on business for the United States Army. when they moved to a new area. She was working at Walker Research, 46 47 watched the news. However, she did know he was pretty safe where he was staying. Making a Difference: Army National Guard Jon is still in the military today with eleven more months before he By Casey Rohl can retire. Jon isn’t completely sure what his future will hold, but he is lean- Julie Carey was a determined young woman wanting to make a differ- ing toward jobs like maintenance technician or a flight inspector for the FAA ence in the world when she enlisted in the Army National Guard. She had no his preferred job. Even though he didn’t use the G.I. Bill for his education, regrets, but serving between the Gulf War and the Iraqi War, she wished it could he had been cleared to work on dozens of machines that he could use in a have come at a better time. Carey found that in her years of service, 1991-2000, career as a flight inspector or other radar based job after he retired. Since the military was trying to find a so-called “mission statement” because the fight he still served actively he could not speak of any thoughts on any war. All he against communism was over, but the threat of terrorism had not yet arisen. could say was that he trusts and believes in all the decisions made by the Carey went to boot camp, which she explained to be difficult, but it Commander in Chief. Jonathan Frutchey had no regrets about joining the helped establish the hierarchy of the military system. She was taught small-unit Army. tactics, such as going from the ground up when taking over a building, and other Ellen, meanwhile, works at Healthy Families, a healthcare job where necessary information for the situations her unit would have to handle.68 She she teaches mothers how to care for their children and helps them do things also trained in Fort McClellan to become a chemical expert. Her fondest memory like get government support and other things along those lines. She is very of training was when she went to Aviation School and had the opportunity to proud of her job and is working towards her college degree in nursing to bet- Carey jump out of a plane. Another memory of her time in training was while she ter herself. She is living in Indianapolis with her two kids and sees Jon when was at Fort McClellan: She got to practice in a live chemical room to show them that the instruments they used he visits their kids. They are still on good terms.67 actually worked and how to handle being in a dangerously real situation. After training, she was sent to Harlowton, Montana. As the only chemical expert in the state, her su- periors made her platoon leader for the chemical squad. This was odd because she was the only woman in her “I’d wait weeks for a call platoon. The men had a hard time adjusting because, at this time, women were rarely in the military at all and Two soldiers in gas suits even then, only in specific jobs. While in this unit, their job was to decontaminate things or people who had and out of the blue, been exposed to dangerous chemicals. Working in this unit for over a year, she helped teach people how to work with chemicals and what to do in certain situations involving lethal substances. Her platoon was also charged with finding dangerous chemicals, such as a nuclear or gas bombs. the phone would ring. A funny memory that she recalled was when they were sent to a new area, they had the option of being issued a nine millimeter pistol instead of an M-16. She decided to take it and later learned that she actually had to qualify to be able to use it! She managed to, and got to keep it Even if I could only talk while she was working there. Her fondest National Guard memory was when her unit served as security for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Another memory was how diverse her unit was. She met people ranging from a former member of a biker gang to average people like her- to him for a moment, self. She said that if she had met these people in her regular life, she may not have associated with them in any way, but because of the pressured situations that come with the job of being in the chemical unit of Montana, a camaraderie was formed that would not be possible to create in other it would brighten my day to situations. She keeps in touch with a few of the members of her unit, though they do not have any reunions that are common with the military units that saw combat. She is glad to have served with such a great group of people, despite the fact that they were very different from those she had know that he was okay.” met before. Carey’s time in the National Guard was great, and some of her fondest memories are from her time there. Julie Carey, a woman who wanted to change the world in any way she could, accomplished this task by helping to pave the way for all of -Ellen Loveless Ellen on the homefront. the women today. Because of her and others like her, women today have more military positions open to them and are treated better during their service. Today, she is a teacher at Perry Meridian High School and also the boys’ swimming coach. She has inspired many people through her service in the military, as well as using the skills she learned during her service to help expand the hearts and minds of the children of the world today.69 48 49 administrative clerk, which would transfer over to human resources. Under this Sunshine in Afghanistan sort of job, she would check soldiers’ accountability and process paperwork such By Damon Naum as life insurance and awards. She graduated AIT during the July of 1999 as a Pri- vate First Class. Sunshine Parra-Butt was born on November the 22nd She learned of her deployment in the November of 2005, the same of 1979. She grew up in the small town of Carrizozo, New month in which she’d gotten married to her husband, Walter Butt. In truth, she Mexico but moved to Peru, Indiana during her sophomore didn’t have to take this deployment. She’d already been deployed to Camp At- school year. She was quite a competitive and athletic person terbury, Indiana and that counted as her one necessary deployment. However, for she did basketball, softball, cross-country, and fishing. Sunshine felt obligated to follow her unit and do the duties that she had. Now a Throughout high school, she worked in a pet store, but dur- Staff Sergeant in the Army, she would have to leave behind her husband and her ing her junior year, she found another calling. That calling four year old daughter, Haley Hiles, to support the war effort. was the military. She reported to the 219th Armory in Camp Atterbury for pre-deployment It was during her junior year at high school that she preparations. It was made sure that everyone was still qualified on weaponry saw a recruiting officer for the U.S. Army. Seeking a chal- and physical fitness. Everyone needed to be medically deployable. In other lenge, some travel, and some money to further her educa- words, there could be absolutely nothing physically wrong with them. They were tion, Sunshine joined up with the Army National Guard as drilled on how to react to the civilians in Afghanistan and how to speak the right a Private. Then, she went to Fort Leonard, Missouri, which language. In Afghanistan, each city was its own providence with its own dialect had been jokingly called “Fort Lost in the Woods” for its and each one would have to be learned. To make sure that they were able to desolate location surrounded by nothing but forests and communicate effectively, they practiced in role-playing scenarios. They stopped hills. It was here that she would take the 9 week long basic in Ireland and Manis during the plane trip but were confined to the airport. training course. Thus began her experience. Then, Sunshine arrived in Afghanistan. Sunshine with some of the children at the orphanage. For Sunshine, the training was intense, tiring, and In Afghanistan, Sunshine fell under the command of 10th Mountain Divi- exciting. Here, she learned how to handle weapons, utilize sion out of New York. Her main tasks around the base were to manage personnel records, process recommendations for awards and decorations, hand-to-hand combat, train physical endurance, perform arrange ceremonies, manage requests for evaluations, monitor soldiers’ requests for items like ID cards and passes, maintain filing systems and first aid, and survive with all the equipment that she had. office supplies, and ensure all soldiers’ financial problems were resolved. Among one of her more interesting duties was that of moral welfare. In She would take grueling 1 hour long marches with a 40 this job, she arranged for flights, food, sleeping arrangements, and escorts for singers, comedians, and other entertainers that would come overseas pound pack and a heavy weapon. She would get up in the Sunshine practicing with a SAW on a shooting range in Afghanistan to keep the soldiers’ spirits up. Politicians such as Senator Hillary Clinton, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, and President George Bush were among middle of the night for night shifts and stand guard over a building for fire guard. However, her most favorite activity was beating up her friends the people whom paid a visit to Sunshine’s unit. Sunshine also set up events to meet the local governors of Afghanistan by making preparations for with pugile sticks to practice hand-to-hand combat. The training would break her down with physical exhaustion but build her up with teamwork. things like conferences, hospitality, and prayer shacks. Teamwork was exactly the thing that the drill sergeants stressed the most. If one person was in trouble, everyone was in trouble. Teamwork While it was a lot for her to do, Sunshine did not keep herself limited to just her main duties. During her free time, she volunteered to help was used to enforce push-ups, flutter kicks, and muscular endurance. Self discipline was taught to everyone. This way, they would be able to react deliver shoes, clothing, and other essential items to the children of a nearby orphanage. Her command had set up this operation to get to get the to any situation and the teamwork would just flow together. Sunshine learned to recognize the strengths of her comrades and utilize them as such. local children the items that they needed. People from overseas, including Sunshine’s daughter, sent over care packages containing these items for In this way, she would complete basic training, an achievement that she was extremely proud of. It had been tough, but for her, it was only as bad the children. Sunshine wrote back letters of thanks to everyone who did, a kind courtesy that they had not expected and were grateful to receive. as she’d made it out to be. Fortunately, she loved it. Sunshine also made sure to visit the hospitals that the soldiers had set up for the locals so that the injured children there also got gifts. Having survived the ordeal of basic training, Sunshine returned to her high school and graduated in May of 1999. But she was not finished Among the local children, there were some that Sunshine befriended. Two of them were Ramish and Jacob. Sunshine would go off base 70 yet. She still had to go through Advanced Individual Training, also called AIT, is where a soldier goes to prepare himself for their chosen Army job. to pick them up and bring them back to the base to have them help her with various tasks such as delivering newspapers and cleaning rooms. She For this, she would travel to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, also known as “Easy Jackson” and “Fort Jacksonlackson” for its easier training. While paid both of them out of her own pocket for their services. Sunshine brought many other children to help out around the base and paid them as she was still practicing teamwork, she was also training for the military occupation of her choice. In her case, she would be training to become an 50 51 well. Sometimes she would even play volleyball with them. Sunshine was glad to give them the opportunity to earn some money to support their families. “It’s More Than a Job, It’s a Lifestyle” Sunshine also set up celebrations on the base. Celebrated holidays included Christmas, Hal- By Victoria Roach loween, Hispanic Month, and Black History Month. A costume contest was held for Halloween, in which Sunshine had dressed up as a Dark Angel, jokingly winning the contest for the costume that Second Lieutenant James Mitchell joined the National most suited the wearer’s personality. Easter was not really celebrated, though, one of Sunshine’s Guard in April of 1995 at the age of seventeen. One year later, friends on base did decapitate a chocolate rabbit. During Christmas, one of the local men made after graduating from high school, he joined the United States Sunshine an elf costume to wear in only one day. On top of that, he’d done it for free but Sun- Army on June 23, 1996. Mitchell was very motivated to get shine did not allow him to go unrewarded. She paid him $20 for the outfit, money that was out of his hometown of Franklin, Indiana, so he joined the equivalent to one month’s pay for him. Army because it was a very natural transition from the Army Aside from helping out local children and lending a hand in celebrations, Sunshine also helped National Guard. “I had already been in the National Guard, out with other important tasks. She set up meetings for British, French, Korean, Australian, and so I already had a little taste of it, and I really liked it,” said Saudi Arabian officials on the base. She also flew various flags over the base as a favor to those Mitchell. When Mitchell enlisted in the Army, he was an E1 who asked for it. As by request, she flew American flags, the Indiana flag, a Korean flag, and Private and was assigned to Charlie Company: Second of the Sunshine played Santa’s Elf at Christmas time. more for those who asked. Bankers that needed an escort to refill the ATM machines on base 13th Infantry Regiment. Mitchell was sent to Fort Jackson, were assisted by her. Even when deployment was over, she stayed an extra two months to help the new unit moving in to familiarize themselves South Carolina for his basic training, where he met his platoon with their daily duties. drill sergeant, Sergeant 1st Class Drill Sergeant Clemons. There While lending a hand wherever she could made her feel good, there were still some moments that tried her. A lot of the local men did not was a lot to learn during basic training. Mitchell remembers like deployed women because they went against the local customs. The women in Afghanistan were supposed to keep their faces covered and stay the big blocks of training, the drilling ceremonies, the bayonet around the household to do their duties. Female soldiers, like Sunshine, did not cover their faces and were able to get around the area as needed. assault corps, the obstacle course, and learning how to march. Sunshine would sometimes get stones thrown at her and receive some rude gestures from a few of the locals. During one of her first trips to the There was also a few weeks dedicated to rifle marksmanship, orphanage, she manned a gun turret on a Humvee, one of the most frightening experiences she had. Locals would get too close to the vehicle, and learning how to shoot. Some of the things he had to learn prompting her to turn the gun on them and shout “Barish burue!” which meant “Get back!” in the local language. were not taught in basic training, “There are strange customs Mitchell (right) with Sergeant Gonzales in Afghanistan. The locals had also been allowed to open up a Bazaar on base where they could sell their goods to the soldiers and improve the area’s econ- and courtesies that you don’t know yet that you’re being held omy. When a new command unit took over, they shut down the Bazaar, raising much anger in the locals. The new units were unfairly suspicious of accountable for... you’re definitely on edge.” Basic training did a good job of preparing Mitchell for what he did later in his service. “It’s the foun- the local people and viewed all of them as terrorists. This standoffish attitude also caused the children to stop helping around the base when Sun- dation, and it did a good job of that.” The summer after basic training, Mitchell went to Military Police School in Fort McClellan, Alabama, in the shine left. Sunshine found the new units’ attitude toward the locals completely unfounded, believing that the people were no different from people summer of 1996. This advanced training allowed him to enter the Army as a Military Police Specialist. In addition to this, Mitchell has also attended back at home. The only difference was that they still lived in Biblical times and were suffering through extreme poverty. Officer Candidate School and is now a Second Lieutenant in Charlie Company: Second of the 151st Infantry Regiment. Sunshine’s first year back home was tough. She found that the deployment had changed her. It had calmed her down a lot and caused her to have In July of 2004 Mitchell was deployed to Afghanistan. They went through Kirgizstan to Kabul. “Everyone was nervous because you don’t no patience for ignorance or stupidity. She had to adjust to the changes in sleep time and to the different ways of American civilians. Firecrackers know what to expect yet. We took commercial flights all the way to Kirgizstan and then we took C130s. So, that change in aircraft, went with a going off reminded her all too much of the explosions that she heard from the minefields back in Afghanistan. She had to readjust to family life, change in tone. You went from the flight attendants in a commercial aircraft to a military cargo aircraft with all military personnel with weapon sys- too. Caring for a husband and kids was a lot more different than caring for soldiers on the base. Terrible events near the end of her deployment tems. So it was no longer ‘Here’s your peanuts.’” From Kabul International Airport they traveled to Camp Phoenix, which is where they would stay. also made her a bit more standoffish at home. The deployment also put stress on her marriage but through faith and religion, she was able to work Later in his tour, Mitchell spent about four months in Kandahar. While at Camp Phoenix Mitchell was assigned to Task Force Phoenix 3, where the it out. main mission for the whole task force was to disarm the Afghan militia because the special forces in the Afghan militia had together overthrown the While the experience was not a perfect one, Sunshine does not regret it. She is prideful of the work that she has done during her deploy- Taliban. In addition to disarming the militia, they also wanted to train a professional army for the country of Afghanistan. Mitchell was a part of the ment. She volunteered numerous times in Afghanistan and helped a lot of people there. She did her duty as a soldier of the United States Army, Security Force, and while in Kabul his job was Quick Reaction Force. If something was to happen, someone got injured, or there were some troops 72 and did it with honor. As she often says, the experience is what you make of it, and for her, it was a proud one.71 in contact that needed reinforcements, then it was the job of the Quick Reaction Force to help remedy the situation. Sometimes, if they were in a field then, “someone would take a shot at us and it would zip over our heads, and miss wildly.” 52 53 While in Afghanistan, Mitchell stayed in B huts, insulated wood structures that stand a couple feet off the ground.73 “It was decent but it part of Mitchell’s job. A lot of the time the locals would call them in to their definitely wasn’t anything fancy,” said Mitchell. These buildings were definitely better than when they got there. When Mitchell arrived, they were houses to have tea because that is a big part of their culture. Americans are “At this point, I am pretty staying in sandbag tents with bunk beds and were in the process of upgrading the tents with the wooden buildings. The only bad thing about the very up front, quick to get to the point, Afghans are not like that. “They want buildings was that they didn’t have any sandbags and were unprotected. Mitchell always had plenty of supplies and equipment for the most part. to sit down and have tea, talk a little bit about family, then dabble a little bit on much a career military guy, Mitchell had plenty of food and water, and all of his equipment was in good condition. They had the new body armor, and plenty of ammunition. what you’re interested in, then delay some more. And it requires a great deal All of the vehicles had either 50-caliber machine guns or Mark 19s, which are both pretty heavy weapon systems. Mitchell carried an M4 rifle. They of patience because that’s just not how their culture works.” The locals would so if you ask anyone that also had M240 machine guns, 203 grenade launchers, and 249 light automatic weapons. There was only one thing that was ever lacking. “Earlier in sometimes give the troops things, but they also helped them in other ways. On the tour, we had the thin-skinned vehicles. They were not armored. They were not protected against small arms fire, explosives, nothing. We ini- Memorial Day, an IED exploded right outside of the base when a foot patrol knows me, it’s more than a tially modified them whatever way we could, but by the mid to late tour we had all of the armored humvees.” had just left. They were really concerned that their guys may have been hit. The During his deployment, Mitchell kept in contact with his family by calling once or twice a week. “I had a new wife and a new child at home, IED ended up hitting a taxi cab and killing four people from the local village, job for me. It’s a lifestyle.” and, of course, I missed them. I missed the first year of my son’s upsetting the locals. After gaining intelligence about whom the attackers were life.” Mitchell also took a book of pictures to remind him of home. and how they were operating, they went out and started talking to people. “A -James Mitchell While in Afghanistan, Mitchell would generally do Quick couple days later they actually saw some foreigners in the area: some people Reaction Force for twenty-four hours then do foot patrols. He that didn’t belong. And they actually captured them and brought them to the front gate to turn them over to us.” never knew what time he would be going out because they didn’t The highest award that Mitchell has received is a Meritorious Service Medal. When he went to Kandahar, his platoon sergeant got sick and want to set a schedule. “Generally, we worked a shift rotation was sent back to the United States. Mitchell was the senior where we would be on some kind of details one day, foot patrols enlisted person after him, so he was the platoon sergeant the next, then Quick Reaction Force after that.” Mitchell did not after that. He was acting above his grade in position for about have a lot of free time because most of his time was taken up 90 to 100 days. It was for this and doing a good job in general with work. He was either on a patrol, coming back from a patrol, that he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. Mitch- or planning a patrol. The only time that he had some down time ell gained a lot of maturity during his time in Afghanistan. “I was when he was on the Quick Reaction Force. “You had to stay think that any time you suit up, load a weapon, and prepare ready to move at a moment’s notice, but you don’t know when to engage anyone, whether that fight ever comes or not, that moment’s coming.” Most of the people watched movies, your mindset is definitely somewhere else. You’re looking for read, or played video games. Mitchell did a little bit of all three. whoever is going to kill you before you kill them. You know, I One fun thing to do was pull pranks. “That was the order of the was a squad leader at twenty-seven years old, I had nine, ten day. If we were in the chow hall and somebody would get up to guys that their lives depended on my action, or inaction. If get something, and left their food unattended, then there was they see the target first, then they have to kill it, But at that sure to be some kind of shenanigans going on.” point, they are looking for targets, I have to think about what Today, Mitchell keeps in contact with almost all of the Mitchell with his wife, Stacey, and his son, James, before leaving for Afghanistan. the next move is to keep all of us alive. You just can’t sit there people from his unit, and two or three of them are his best friends. Some guys had bad attitudes about officers in general, but Mitchell didn’t feel and shoot targets.” that way. “We had a great executive officer in our company and he was a rather outstanding guy.” One guy in Mitchell’s unit that had gotten injured Mitchell got to come home from Afghanistan in July of was shot in the rear end, and the bullet got lodged in his thigh. He was evacuated. They were not going to send him to Afghanistan, but he wanted Mitchell (right) holding his son with Specialist Corey Decker, after returning from Afghanistan. 2005. On the day he came home they marched into the to go back. “He had to fight to come back. He had to demonstrate that he was physically capable and able to return to country, and actually had to armory in Indianapolis. He finally got to see his wife and son, make an effort to get back to us.” There were four other guys that died when they ran over a land mine. This was a devastating blow because there who had grown up quite a bit since his deployment. After returning home, Mitchell’s main goal was getting a full-time position, and he was hired was a captain, a master sergeant, and two E4s. “There were quite a bit of people that were hurt when they died.” by the Guard. Mitchell has had a lot of good fortunes in his career. “At this point, I am pretty much a career military guy, so if you ask anyone that Almost every day, the foot patrols would interact with the local people. Talking to the people and seeing what they had to say was a big knows me, it’s more than a job for me. It’s a lifestyle.”74
54 55 fare without him. In leaving his home in Indianapolis, he would be leaving behind his wife, Susie Sunrise in Iraq Naum, and his three children. Before leaving, Brett set up his finances so that Susie could man- By Damon Naum age their financial needs while he was away. Then, he was off to do his duty. Brett had three stops to hit before he arrived at his ultimate destination in Iraq. Two of these For some, the transition from Chi Chi’s manager to soldier might have stops were Budapest, Hungary and Gander, Newfoundland. There was no time for pleasurable seemed a bit disorienting. For Brett Naum, it was just business as usual. Liv- tours here. After both quick stops, Brett found himself in Kuwait. For about 45 days, he was ing in Indiana, he had been working mostly in restaurant management for responsible for receiving, processing, and sending soldiers off to Iraq. When that was over, it was quite some time. However, Brett wasn’t content to just overseeing how the his turn to step onto the war-torn land. food in the kitchen was faring. He saw an opportunity for something differ- At Joint Base Balad in Iraq, Brett was the Senior Human Resources Noncommissioned Officer in ent in the Army. Wanting a break from his usual job, Brett signed in with the charge. Here he would work for about 20 hours a day, leaving him very little free time or, more Army at age 28. importantly, snooze time. Brett processed personnel actions, assisted with tracking events such Though older than those who had signed up at the high school level, as getting injured soldiers evacuated to the right place for treatment, and assisted with corre- Brett was more than a match for most of the other new recruits. He was sponding communications between the stateside and war theater. Aside from that, he volun- already physically fit and a lot more mature than the people who had signed Some mud huts and palm trees visible through the fence teered at the education center six days a week, teaching other soldiers math, English, and college up fresh out of high school. At surrounding the base. algebra. The center had been short-stocked on people and, knowing of Brett’s background, asked Basic Training in Fort Jackson, him to lend a hand. Brett, of course, chose to do his duty for his fellow soldiers. Brett, of course, South Carolina, he knew that Brett’s free time was very rare for him to have but he spent it as best as he could. His entertainment was not to be found in the city of trying your best and doing as Balad. He could see mud huts, some palm trees, and a few goats and cattle grazing in the fields but nothing much beyond that. He played some chose to do his you were told was “the name flag football with some soldier buddies and went to a movie theater a few times but not very often. Sometimes, the United Services Organization of the game.” Excelling physi- tours brought music bands like Disturbed, Fuel, and singer Toby Keith. He was part of a selected group of soldiers who got to meet with Secretary duty for his fellow cally, he won the fitness award of the Army, Pete Geren, and Commander Sergeant Major of the National Guard, John Gipe. He even got to shake hands with governor of Indiana for being the most physically fit Mitch Daniels. However, he was not awed or star struck over the wealth and fame of such celebrities. He preferred to call home every chance that soldiers. soldier in his battalion. On top his busy schedule would allow. of that, he went for the Soldier Brett was able to see and meet some of the locals of Balad as well. The base hired on locals to do some of the physical labor and cleanup of the Month board several times. He liked basically everything about Basic at the base, paying them each $11 from a special fund. The locals were happy to oblige. Some locals were kind enough to bring some food to Training. He found it a real challenge to show himself what he was made of. cook with the soldiers. While it was all delicious, it also made them all ill, presumably from having not been properly refrigerated. One interpreter Having cleared the Basic Training easily, Brett was then ready to tackle in particular that had helped them out was helped out by Brett’s unit to get him a visa. This allowed him to come and live in the United States of Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, which happens to train America. more soldiers than any other branch training center of the United States Though in a country where war was being waged, Brett had no fear of being attacked. Mortars and explosions were only heard off in the Army.75 His main intent here was to learn advanced computer and electron- distance and never came close enough to give him any harm. Fighter jets were occasionally seen to take off on their own missions but the war ics. However, he was still out to show everybody else what he could really do. remained fairly distant from Brett. The only injury he sustained was breaking a hand while playing flag football. Brett’s only fear regarding the de- He easily won the fitness award again, but tacked on a few other honors to go ployment was the fact that he could not be at home to help out with family problems that were going on. with that. One such honor was winning the Soldier of the Quarter Award. For Once his deployment was over, Brett returned home, virtually unfazed and unchanged by his experience. There wasn’t really anything that his course work, he won the Most Distinguished Soldier of the Course Award. he needed to adjust to back at home. As always, he was right on top when it came to getting back into his routine. It was good to be home. He While still only a Private in the Army, Brett still had a lot of effort to give for liked having a comfortable bed to sleep in and temperatures far below 150 degrees fahrenheit. Such were the things that he had to learn to deal his new career. without in Iraq. But for him, that didn’t matter. It was his job and he was glad to have the opportunity to help out the soldiers at the base to get It was in the July of 2007 that Brett learned of his deployment to Iraq. their tasks done right. For Brett Naum, the deployment was business as usual.76 He was to deploy with the Headquarters of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat A beautiful sunrise in Balad, Iraq where Brett was stationed. 56 57 Navy
58 59 Infamy: A Story of War and Life By Ryan Humphrey Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy”.77 December 7th, 1941 was a date that rocked the United States to its very core. Countless Americans lost their lives as the Japanese launched an assault by air and sea against the base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Numer- ous other islands were assaulted by the Japanese as well, including Guam, Wake, and the Philippines. It was a day that drew the United States into World War II, a day that will live on in infamy. President Roosevelt said of December seventh: “…always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.”78 Dr. Rodney E. Phelps was there on the horrific day that Roosevelt spoke of. He witnessed firsthand the opening moments of the United States’ involvement in the war. Phelps saw the bombings and torpedoes ripping ships apart with hundreds of unsuspecting young men onboard. How he got there, however, is a story similar to many others just like him. Rodney Phelps grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was born on June 29th, 1920. After attending Arsenal Technical High School in eastern Indianapolis, he knew that he wanted to join the military. The year was 1938, and he had just graduated. Being broke and with no other career ambitions, the military was a perfect fit. He joined the day after he completed his schooling, and being too young, had to lie about his age to enlist. After traveling about, he ended up on a seaplane tender called USS Curtiss in Hawaii. This ship maintained and operated planes, and they were the earliest type of aircraft carrier. By World War II, they were used to supplement larger carriers. Seaplane tenders would actually lower seaplanes into the ocean with cranes, making them less efficient than other ships with the quick catapult launch.79 Onboard, Phelps passed the time in a number of ways. One way was to play cards with his buddies on the Curtiss. In fact, he ran a poker game himself! In his other time, he was a dental assistant. The dentist was often seasick, so Phelps got much experience. His experience would not only help him when the attack occurred on December 7th, but it also helped to launch his post-military career practicing dentistry. This is a great example of how the military experience can propel someone into other civilian careers. Phelps was onboard the Curtiss when the Japanese attack began. “The first thing I saw was the Japanese planes come over the stern of the ship,” said Phelps. During the bombardment, the Curtiss came under attack by a small submarine and was directly crashed into by an out-of-control Japanese dive bomber.80 Through all this, Phelps ran through the ship, saving as many people as possible. He completely emptied the con- tents of his medical kit twice, marking an “M” on the forehead of all the men he gave morphine to. At multiple points in the battle the ship was hit directly with bombs from Rodney Phelps shortly after World War II. the planes. One even caused the engine to explode. About twenty of the ship’s men lost 60 61 their lives.81 Phelps was lucky enough to survive, but received a Purple Heart for burns and a broken hip he sustained in the explosions. USS New Handstands and Matchsticks After Pearl Harbor, Phelps moved to a ship called the By Victoria Roach Orleans and was involved in numerous battles, including Okinawa, Saipan, Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, and others for a total of eleven major “Everybody just had one goal; that was to win the war...” Those were the words spoken by a true American hero that helped protect America engagements. At one point, his ship bombarded the island of Iwo Jima in the Second World War As a child, William Yeager loved playing war games in his backyard and was very interested in learning about World War I for two weeks. Other famous battles he saw were Midway and the Phil- in school. He graduated from Emmerich Manuel High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and enlisted in the Navy, at the age of nineteen. He had always ippines. Phelps would take care of the sick and wounded during these liked the Navy and finally got the chance to serve his country. His parents were not too happy about this, but if he would not have enlisted, he battles. The motto of the United States Navy’s medical department was, would have been drafted: they had to let him join. At his age, he didn’t really mind leaving home; he did have to leave his girlfriend, who later be- “Keep as many men on as many guns for as many days as possible,” said came his wife his wife. Yeager didn’t really have any idea what it would be like in the service, Phelps. This perfectly encapsulates Phelps’ job in the war. but he found out quickly. “I almost got to bury Ernie Pyle,” he said. While Phelps was sta- Rodney Phelps served on the USS Curtiss during the Pearl Harbor attack. On one ordinary Sunday, Yeager was sitting in his living room with his mom, dad, and tioned near Okinawa, Ernie Pyle was killed. Pyle was quite possibly the brother listening to the radio, when an announcement came on that Japan had attacked Pearl most famous war correspondent in United States history. While writing stories about the war, he became a hero back home. While near Okinawa, Harbor. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Yeager did not know very Pyle was shot and killed.82 Since he had played the bugle in an orchestra and was in the area, Phelps was asked to play “Taps” at the funeral. When much about the war going on in Europe, but nobody else really knew much about it either. He he showed up, though, Pyle was already in a temporary grave, and Phelps had just missed the ceremony. felt pretty indifferently towards Japan before Pearl Harbor, but after they attacked, his opinion Phelps’ eleven battles kept him busy through the end of the war. By the time it was all over, he had served for eight years. He was shipped changed completely. The Japanese had sunk many U.S. battleships. All of the sudden, Yeager to Maui and discharged there. From Hawaii, he boarded a plane that took him back to the Great Lakes. He was then forced to hitchhike through the had motivation to serve his country. night all the way to Indianapolis. His family had no idea that he was coming home, and they were shocked to see him walk through the door. His After Yeager enlisted, he was assigned to the Amphibious Group, which worked with mother broke down in tears at the very sight of her son. His military career was finally over. He had reached the rank of Warrant Pharmacist and landing craft. He was sent to boot camp in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for basic training. Starting received medals for his contributions in each of the battles. in January, he spent three months in Green Bay. It was shockingly cold, but no matter how After Phelps left the military, he decided to pursue the dental work he had practiced in Navy. He went to the Indiana University Dental much snow was on the ground, they still had to go to the drill field to march. His basic training School and was president of the senior class. He went to school on the G.I. was very helpful for what he did later in the war, but the most helpful thing he learned was Bill. This was a bill that benefited veterans, and most importantly helped discipline. He had to learn to take orders and be on time to survive in the service. After basic them to pay for their college education.83 He ended up practicing dentistry training, Yeager went to machinist school, where he learned to operate and set up machin- for fifty years, and his assistant of forty-three years became his wife. ery. When he left to go to war, his boat made a stop in Nova Scotia on the way to England. Serving in eleven major battles, saving countless, and living through Pearl Even though he did not have any previous experience on a boat, he only got seasick once on Harbor are but a few of the reasons Rodney Phelps is an American hero. the thirty-four day journey across the north Atlantic. He was one of the lucky ones because His life is not only a story of sacrifice, but an example of how serving in the a lot of people developed acute seasickness. As the boat pulled up to Plymouth, England, all military positively impacts veterans for the rest of their lives. As Franklin that could be seen was destroyed buildings because the war had already gone through and Roosevelt put it, “December 7th, 1941-a date which will live in infamy- wreaked havoc on the city. After staying in Plymouth for a while, the ship moved on to France the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air and Omaha Beach. They set up behind a breakwater that was created by sinking a bunch of forces of the Empire of Japan.”84 Phelps lived through that attack, and he old ships right off the coast of Omaha Beach. This is where they did their work of repairing emerged a man that all Americans, and especially veterans, can be proud small crafts. They even had divers that could go down under water to help repair the boats to have among their ranks.85 that came to them for repair. Yeager was a part of the Black Gang who was in operation of the boat itself; hi job included things like maintaining the main engines. He was also a first William Yeager loader where he had to load a clip of shells into the breach of a 40 millimeter gun. As Yeager’s The Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Association. 62 63 boat neared Normandy, the invasion had already begun. Yeager’s boat was pretty much caught in the cross fire, and that was not a good place to be. The Traveling Plane Captain Yeager made a lot of good friends during his time in the Navy, and he liked By Kavan Speck practicing gymnastics on his time off. They also watched a lot of movies while on board to pass the time. While on the ship, the men slept in bunk beds that were hung with Paul Garten was a hard working young man at the age of 22 when he made a life changing decision. November 10th, 1942 was just a simple chains. Once in a while, some of the men would replace the pins that held the chains in date to most American’s, but to Mr. Garten, it was something more. He had been working at an Alison’s plant for 18 months, having a successfully place with match sticks, and when the owner of the bed came back to get in bed, the paying job, and was engaged to Dolorous Garten. However due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and other conflict stirring in Europe, he had decided whole thing would collapse. The quality of the food all depended on where they were. to enlist in the Navy. In some places it was good, in some places not so good. Yeager’s unit never really ran He was shipped off to the Great Lakes for boot camp to begin his naval training. He underwent several harsh months of adapting to a new out of supplies because if they didn’t have something, they usually stole it. When sup- environment and life style as well as complex training to test his skills. Paul recalls plies were delivered to the ship, they usually sent a group to get the pineapples, and one night where a fellow trainee had been “goofing around” a little too much and they would store them down below. That food never made it to the cafeteria. Yeager his drill sergeant called the entire squadron outside. It was 2 a.m. and a bone- never really got homesick except maybe a little in the beginning, but not later. Yeager chilling, negative five degrees. They drilled for little over an hour and then went kept good communication with his family while he was gone in the form of letters. He straight back to bed, only to be awoken a few hours later. Mr. Garten recalls this as also took pictures along to remind him of home. one of his wake up calls during his stay at boot camp. The English people that Yeager interacted with were very nice people, and they After boot camp, he attended the United States Naval Reserve (USNR) and treated the Americans very well. Everyone in England had to have a job that helped service school for over four months in Durbin, Michigan. His stays there were much the war effort and they even had to have papers to prove it. For example, a girl would less physically demanding than boot camp, but were just as important. Service most likely be a part of WASP (Woman Air force Service Pilots).86 On August 6, 1945, the school better prepared him for his specific training in the Navy and gave him the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Yeager didn’t think that education necessary to qualify. the bombing of Hiroshima was necessary, and he definitely thought that the bombing Once he had qualified and passed all of his training, he had a short stay at of Nagasaki was unnecessary. He thought that one bomb would have been enough. Glennville, Illinois at the naval air base. During Mr. Garten’s stay there, he remem- After Japan surrendered, everyone was elated. After four long years, the fighting was bers that there were a few mid-air collisions involving the trainees at the base. Sur- finally over. On V-E Day, Yeager’s boat was in the Irish Straight between Scotland and prisingly, these were not uncommon at the time due to the new and inexperienced Ireland, and the skipper decided to stop in Belfast to celebrate. After almost two years pilots. of being away, Yeager returned home. Finally, during the August of 1943, he was sent to California and entered While at war, Yeager’s biggest fear was that his ship would get hit by some type into the Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU6). He stayed at Port Wanini for a short of bomb because there was a large number of explosives on their ship, and that would while and helped train pilots who would soon be seeing battle. The ship he was have caused all sorts of problems. During his service, Yeager was most proud of the fact stationed to, the US Colino (AK-97), made its way down the Guala Canal and Yeager and a friend work out by hand-balancing that he was a courageous American that had fought for his country. He was happy to headed for Russell Island. This meant that Mr. Garten was finally going to get to be home, but there was another host of problems plaguing America because people were dealing with all of the rationing. When Yeager got home, go at sea and into the war; this was his first time at sea in his life. This trip was a the first thing he did was get a job as a crane operator at Holiday Steele and the second was getting engaged to his girlfriend. Yeager thought that twenty-seven day ride the boat traveled at nine knots. When he reached Russel his time in the service made him more mature, and he said he never doubted that the Allies would succeed in winning the war “because we had too Island, he was reassigned to CASU 19 where he held the position of plane captain. many good leaders at the right time.” When discussing the price of war, Yeager said, “Well, I don’t see that we had any other option, just to see it Also known as a “brown shirt,” a plane captain’s job was to ensure the multi-mil- to its end. Seems like it’s never worth its price when you have three thousand young guys killed on Normandy; three thousand in one day. That’s a lion dollar aircrafts that served on the ship and their pilots made it back safely to 88 heck of a price.” While reflecting on his time in the service, Yeager said, “Well, it was a big effort, and everyone was working towards the same goal. the deck on a day-to-day basis. On a more specific and personal note, Mr. Garten There wasn’t as much inside fighting like there is now, politically or anything else. Everybody just had one goal: to win the war and get back home.”87 made minor repairs and serviced carrier aircrafts. Garten’s awards and a photo from WWII 64 65 He then went a few miles ahead to Segi Point where he serviced and worked F6F fighter planes. The F6F was the new and improved plane of its time, having just recently A Child’s Story replaced the F4F. It was more common on island airstrips than on carriers and brought By Tori Brandenburg with it 6-50 cal machine guns and a 200 HP Pratt and Whitney engine. When attending The world was raging with war. World War II resulted in more loss of life and material destruction than any other war in recorded his job, he would stand out on the airstrip for three to four hours waiting for the planes human history it lasted from Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 until the Allies’ victory in 1945. America was brought into the war in December to arrive back. He was not allowed to leave his post under any circumstances, which of 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. David Baughman was a child. He was sixteen years young and enlisted in 1943 to fight in WWII. He often proved to be extremely difficult at times due to the blazing tropical heat and unexpected thinks back on the time he spent serving. “I just did the daily thing; that was life. You do what you’re told and then you move on until you’re told rains. After waiting the three to four hours, the planes would arrive back and Mr. Garten to do something else.” He believed boot camp to be “one of the things you just do.” would service them. Although boot camp was not a said challenge for him one thing did become quiet He recalls that all the food on the island was dehydrated. The main foods they monotonous in his memory, “marching, marching, marching, marching, marching.” had there were carrots and lemonade which he thought tasted awful. He also recalls the After boot camp David Baughman joined the navy; his boat was the USS natives climbing up coconut tress and grabbing the large coconuts around the island. Intrepid. When he first boarded, they were anchored in San Francisco. “It was differ- Unfortunately, the coconuts were off limits to the American’s because they made them ent; that’s for sure. You don’t really realize how different life on a boat can be until extremely sick, sometimes causing severe diarrhea. This was the Douglass Scott Bomber(SBD), which was you actually get there.” After San Francisco, his ship traveled to Japan, China, and the His stay at Segi Point had ended and he was shipped off to New Georgia, Alam- Mr. Garten’s favorite plane. Philippines. He was in charge of the small air crafts and safety boats. He had a pretty eda for a short time. While there, they lived in tents which were nearly unbearable due regular daily routine. “I got up, cleaned my area, and went to do my duties.” to heat and abundance of mosquitoes. The main point of being there was to consolidate the Northern Islands and, therefore, Paul did not se much During Baughman’s years on the ship, it was still a segregated vessel. There- action as he did on other islands. fore, the colored men were bunked in the very front of the ship. “You see, that was Next, he went back to the states and the CASU 19 broke up. This was hard for Mr. Garten because he had been with these me for such a long the most likely place to get hit. So, why not put them there instead of us? That was period of time. Luckily he reunited with a few former men when he was reassigned to be a part of the CASU 6. He was stationed at Shoemaker, Cali- the thinking.” One afternoon as the men were relaxing, and about to turn in for the fornia on the merchant ship named the SS Afoundria. He recalls that as soon as he boarded the night, a kamikaze plane flew into the front end of the USS Intrepid. A kamikaze plane ship, his first job was to fire watch. These fire watches normally consisted of a four hour watch was a plane flew by a suicide bomber. They originated in Japan and were used to and were meant for the strict use of looking out for Japanese subs.89 This ship took Mr. Garten to bomb and damage an enemy’s vessel. “There was always the underlying question of Pearl Harbor where he spent the next sixteen months of his life. ‘Will I make it today?’ It was just something you tried to push to the back you know… When he reached Pearl Harbor, he was temporarily reassigned to continue duty with the not think about it. No, I don’t think I was scared; I don’t think I really understood CASU 1. While with the CASU 1, he worked the flight line and helped the test pilots. A test pilots what was happening. I was so young, and I just started doing what we practiced. If we job was to actually go up in the air and check if all parts of the plane were operating correctly and weren’t so well trained… we would’ve lost the ship that day.”91 fully functional. Mr. Garten was also a taxi pilot; someone who would turn the plane on at a regu- After the Kamikaze plane incident Baughman spent another eight months in lar throttle (1700 RMP’s), and taxi it over to the test pilots. He even occasionally went up with the the war. On September 12, 1945, they signed a separate “surrender” on this date in test pilots to high altitudes. Singapore. This “surrender” permitted the British to occupy Hong Kong, and China Paul Garten left WWII on January 5th, 1946 and moved back to his hometown of India- was allowed to regain sovereignty over Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Formosa and napolis. Even though he saw no combat, he believes that his job was just as important as any oth- Hainan. The war ended with the victory of the Allies in 1945, leaving the political er. To this day, he is proud that he once served in the Navy and continues to keep himself updated alignment and social structure of the world significantly changed. Baughman was on current events dealing with the US military. Mr. Garten’s favorite plane is still the SBD from awarded a Peace Medal and an honorable discharge. He lived a regular life. He had WWII because “it was a real workhorse being a multi-purpose plane and all. It was the whole one son and two daughters all who went to college and now have careers. He is now deal.” November 10, was something more to Paul Garten; it was a life changing experience, but it Writer Victoria Brandenburg and Veteran David Baugham an 85 year old man and shares a room in a nursing home with a fellow naval officer. “I was also a positive change for him that he will carry for the remainder of his life.90 Mr. Garten at his home in Indianapolis. at his current residence. would fight for my country again in a heartbeat, even being in the condition I am in.”92 66 67 duty in Japan before starting service in Korea. Kohlmann spent a large portion of his time enjoying the Japa- nese islands and has many pictures from Japan. Dentistry on Deck USS Missouri By Dan Eakle Directly after the occupational tour of Japan, the headed to Korea to support the ground forces. Kohlmann witnessed the last two stages of the Korean War: the war before US involvement, after War, it seems, always leads to more war. The after-effects of World War I led Germany and the rest of the world into a depression, which US involvement, and after Chinese involvement. Each part had a significant role in the outcome of the war. allowed fascist dictators to gain power in government and start their campaigns for dominance. Likewise, the occupation of Korea by Japan during Before the US started sending troops to Korea, the North Koreans occupied almost all of South Korea. Once WWII led to a political environment that would be the catalyst for the Korean War. That war would involve not just the Koreans, but also the Rus- the US troops dropped in, the situation completely changed and the North Koreans were pushed to their sians, Chinese, Americans, and many other members of the United Nations. This is the story of an American who served on the USS Missouri during limits. Everything balanced out when Chinese forces aided the North Koreans at reclaiming half of Korea. the Korean War. During the returning advance of the North Koreans, the USS Missouri was ordered to fire on the advancing Carl Kohlmann was born in Indianapolis on January 11, 1926. He grew up during the troops to cover American soldiers in their retreat. It was Christmas Eve 1950.The sixteen inch rounds being Great Depression and was in the military through a program called the V-12 program fired “were like Cadillacs in price and weight.” The land hit by the ship’s shells was engulfed in fire. It was a during WWII, and later served through the Korean War. The V-12 program was intended memory that will stay with Kohlmann for the rest of his life. to train individuals through college so they could perform jobs that required more educa- Kohlmann enjoyed a particularly safe profession aboard the ship. He witnessed very few actual combat tion. That includes doctors, dentists, and many other professions in the fields of math and events, all of which were at a far distance. Accordingly, he also saw very few casualties. His role on the ship science. Through this training he received a year of schooling at IU with the end intent as a dental officer required him to perform the same job that a dentist does. He ensured that the men on of serving in the military as a dental officer. Kohlmann began his enlistment at the age of the ships did not suffer from cavities or allow those cavities to cause irreparable damage. His opinion on the 18 during WWII. He was immediately put into inactive duty until the school year began. food served was very positive. “We were very lucky; there was always enough food and it was very good However, after one year of schooling, WWII had ended after Japan surrendered and the chow.” He spent his free nights watching films in the Officers’ Ward. Most of the people he served with program was halted. He finished his schooling on his own and achieved his dental degree were very serious because of their reasons for serving, and therefore the ship was generally prank-free. He before the start of the Korean War.93 enjoyed the company Kohlmann left the V-12 program and the military after the end of WWII. However, the of those he served Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950. The seeds of war were planted several years earli- with and thought very er, when Korea was taken from Japan’s occupation during WWII. Half of Korea was given to Supreme Commander of the Korean Conflict, highly of them. Douglas MacArthur, on the USS Missouri. the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR or current-day Russia) and the other half to the After serving in United States for restructuring the government. With Communist ideology in North Korea Korea, Kohlmann went on leave in Norway and France before and Capitalist ideology in South Korea, war was bound to break out. North Korea wanted a returning home. By the time his service had ended, Kohlmann united homeland, as did South Korea. However, neither side wanted to give up their ideol- was ready to start the rest of his life. He married his wife, ogy for government. This sparked the North Korean advance through South Korea to use whom he had met in Norfolk, and went back to Indianapolis military force to unite the Koreas and to keep a Communist form of government.94 to set up his own dental practice. He considered his service a When the Korean War started drafting, Kohlmann enlisted early in hopes of receiving a patriotic duty that was expected at the time and held no opin- better and less dangerous position, however he didn’t receive his most favorable station ions about the war. He made many friends through the service of duty. He served as a dental officer on the USS Missouri that was stationed in Norfolk, and continued the friendships for several decades. Through his Virginia. The USS Missouri planned to travel to Japan and Korea through the Panama Canal. service, he has carried on the tradition in his family with two The space between the ship and the canal walls were so slim that Kohlmann remarked he grandchildren serving in the Navy today. Looking back, Carl could literally reach out from the side of the ship and touch the walls of the canal. The ship Kohlmann is glad he served and made life-long memories dur- sustained minor damages due to a hurricane, so the crew took leave in Hawaii while repairs ing his service in the Navy.95 USS Missouri Carl Kohmann’s self-portrait in Hawaii were being made. Once the repairs had been made, the left for occupational The USS Missouri travels through the Pacific Ocean. 68 69 the ships docked, a band would come aboard and play. Although Mills didn’t keep a diary, he kept his memories in his head and his heart. “That’s Sailor at Sixteen all I needed.” By Sammie Meyer Max was discharged in 1949 on the east coast in Philadelphia. Coming back to Indiana, he did not return to school but ended up employed as a truck driver. He joined the Veterans Affair in downtown Indianapolis. He also kept on dancing and having fun. Max never received any injuries At a very young age, Max Mills enlisted in the Navy to experience events that would change his life in 1945. Not really knowing what was go- nor any medals, but his experience and pride was enough. However, his ship, the USS Randolph, did earn recognition. It earned some victory medals ing on, he blindly enlisted for the pride of his country, when just weeks later, he’d be sent off into the ocean to fight. as well as three battle ribbons. Before enlisting, Mills went to Emmerich Manuel High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. “I was only sixteen when I enlisted. I lied about my age Although Max didn’t realize what he had gotten himself into as a young man, he would still enlist today if a war like World War II was going to get in.” It felt good for him to join. He felt a sense of pride to be able to fight for his country. He decided which branch to join by a game of cards. on. “You had to have been there to grasp the full effect of it all.”97 His hand landed him in the Navy. Weeks later, he was sent to San Diego for training. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be and he got through it. The sense of pride is what kept him going as well as all the letters he received and sent to his “I was only family and friends. “The food wasn’t great, but it was enough. We were kept healthy and full.” “An old saying in Arriving in the Pacific on the USS Randolph, he had no complaints. The wind was blowing and the sea sixteen when I was nice. He was in charge of deck divisions, which designed and supplied deck machinery. He took care of the the Navy was, supplies and ammunition that were coming in. enlisted. I lied He shot the 40mm quad, an anti-aircraft tur- ‘If the five-inch ret, which was located underneath the 25mm about my age anti-aircraft guns on the starboard, or right, guns are side of the boat.96 The anti-aircraft guns shot at to get in.” the planes whereas he would shoot things that shooting, you’re were close range. Of course, he felt a sense of -Max Mills pressure; there were always planes and subs coming for the boat. “An old saying in fine. If the for- the Navy was, ‘If the five inch guns are shooting, you’re fine. If the forties are, stay alert. And if you hear the twenties go off, head for cover,’” he said. Mills had the ties are, stay alert. good fortune of always having a lot of supplies onboard, too. No one was ever hun- gry or out of ammunition. And if you hear There were a lot of risks to be at sea, but Mills enjoyed most of it, except for a couple of things including storms. “In the Navy, everything was unusual.” You would the twenties go off, never know what would happen from one moment to the next. Everything differed from people, to weather, to events. According to Mills, the mood of the officers head for cover.’” determined what type of day it was going to be. Sometimes they were happy, and other times they were moody. -Max Mills There were also many odd events that occurred. One time, on their way to the states, a pilot was flying in to land on the ship. However, the plane veered off into the ocean and the pilot drowned. Another time was when a solder was cleaning the bomb elevator. He was told not to mess around, but he did, and his legs ended up getting caught and cut off. Luckily, however, that man did survive. Writer Sammie Meyer and veteran Max Mills Mills spent his free time dancing and having fun when he was on leave. When Navy Vet Max Mills (on right) poses with his roommate and fellow Navy veteran David Boughman, featured on page 67). 70 71 Jeanie Rohl: Woman on the Home Front Kentucky Floatin’ on the Big Blue By Casey Rohl By Mark PanKonie Jeanie Rohl became a woman on the home front for four years when her husband, A down-home Kentucky boy, Donald Bruner joined the Navy with his friends in his home-town of Louisville, Kentucky, during the Vietnam Kenneth Rohl, was drafted and shipped off to a Naval Training Camp in 1951. During the War. Mr. Bruner started out by suffering through the “culture shock” of basic training in boot camp. He had never been on his own like that before: Korean War Kenneth served on two aircraft carriers, the USS Stickell and the USS Helena, with Boatswain’s Mate First Class Randle Snyder breathing down his neck each day. Despite the challenge, he managed to pull through and rose to where he worked as a cook and later as an anti-air gunner. The USS Stickell was a destroyer an E-6 Petty Officer First Class by the time he was honorably discharged. 98 made on January 5, 1945, just six years prior to Rohl’s enlistment. He was only shot at His first station was on the beautiful sands of Pearl Harbor; but when he saw the USS Nicholas for the first time, fear and surprise gripped only once, and fortunately, wasn’t injured. He served in the Navy for a total of four years. him thoroughly. The ship that was to be his home looked like a complete wreck. The Nicholas was covered with scaffolding with men running Jeanie stayed in Indiana during her husband’s boot camp in San Diego, California. from place to place hammering, bolting, and wielding the ship together during its time in “Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization” or “FRAM” for After his training, he was shipped to California. She moved with him, living in an apart- short.100 While assigned to this primary warship, Petty Officer Bruner experi- ment off-base with their first child named Bill who was but a toddler at the time. enced the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Pago Pago. While in California she was unemployed and only supported by what her husband earned, so life wasn’t easy. They had to be constantly frugal with their money. She spent most of her time taking care of Bill and rarely did anything social. However, she had a close neighbor that she would go see. One Christmas, her neighbor invited Jeanie to go with her When he saw the USS Nicholas for to go Christmas shopping. She also invited Jeanie to her parents’ house since Kenneth still wasn’t back from service. Jeanie spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with her neighbor and the first time, fear and surprise enjoyed it tremendously. She also enjoyed taking walks with Bill and would sometimes go Jeanie with her husband Kenneth and two of her friends outside see a movie while her neighbors babysat. She did not know how to drive, but the owner of her apartment. gripped him thoroughly. of her apartment allowed her to keep her husband’s car in the garage. When her husband came back for a short leave of rest and relaxation, he took her to see a country music show. After the first year in California, Jeanie moved back to Indiana and lived with her husband’s parents for ten The ship that was to be his home months. While she was there, she took care of Bill and their housework. Jeanie had two brothers in the war at the same time. Lester Ridner was stationed in Germany with the Army for four years, and her older looked like a complete wreck. brother Bill Ridner was a foot soldier in Korea and later in Japan. Kenneth and Bill managed to meet in a city overseas for a brief visit. Meanwhile, Jeanie corresponded with her husband through letters, at an average of 3-5 per week. The biggest delay in mail service was After his time aboard the Nicholas, Petty Officer Bruner was sent to San when Kenneth had to wait for the next ship to get his mail, which sometimes resulted in her receiving multiple letters at a time. She described her Francisco to the naval base Treasure Island. This marked the beginning of his thoughts about her husband: “I was worried about him; you can’t always tell if everything will be fine.” favorite part his time in the service: the travel. From Treasure Island, he was When Kenneth got home in January 1955, she was relieved to finally have him back. “The time after the war was a hectic one,” she said, next shipped to the USS Sellers in Norfolk, Virginia. From there, he went to “because, at this point, they were trying to buy a house.” Jeanie had saved up a small amount of money, but they had to live with Kenneth’s par- the Carrier, USS Independence. Upon which he would sail the ocean blue. ents from the January he got back till the next September. They had found a house in May, but were not able to officially buy it until September. A Petty Officer Bruner was a radar operator. He primarily worked in the story she remembered was when he first got back and they were moving back from California. They only had thirty-five cents, but Jeanie wanted Combat Information Center. This was where the radar and radio operators to surprise Kenneth’s parents. They ended up taking a cab after Jeanie told the driver that someone at the house would pay for it. Once they got helped with the navigation of the ship from waypoint to waypoint as well as there, everyone was shocked to see them. The first thing that Kenneth said was, “Does anyone have any money? We still have to pay for the cab.” helping with the coordination of both ships and planes in achieving combat Jeanie was constantly reminded of their “surprise” for his parents. Kenneth would remind her by playfully sneaking into the house and surprising objectives and goals. The objectives usually included shore bombardment, her while she was busy. Being a wife and mother during the war was a hard time for her, but it was a time she was happy to go through to help her strategic bombings, supply drops, the interception of troops or arms, and 99 country. She stayed home and gave love and support to the ones fighting to defend all of our homes. Bruner tries to find some relaxation on the ship with a little reading. defending against submarines.101 All of these efforts were helping take pres- 72 73 sure off of the grunts in the forests that were taking the brunt of the flak and dying. Men like Mr. Bruner were a necessity for the With Fight Comes Freedom coordination of the combined efforts of the American military By Theresa Carper machine. Mr. Bruner recalls his most fearful memory as occurring while he was on the Sea of Japan. His flotilla (group of ships) was Roger Pippenger is proud to have served in the stuck inside of a typhoon. He lived in fear of hitting another ship as US Navy; in response to his neighbor, Air Force veteran the sea tossed and turned. Mr. Charlie Spayd’s comment about the Navy “not really Petty Officer Bruner was a perfect match to the sailor counting as military service,” Pippenger retorted, “Yeah, stereotype. He wrote to his family back home from time-to-time well in the Navy we got three meals a day and gravy (Spayd’s story appears on page 96) while traversing the Pacific and “ran around drinking and chasing instead of beans” . girls” while he was on leave. He was well-supplied in the necessi- Roger Pippenger’s father gave him two choices. ties of any sailor. In terms of not-so-fond memories, however, he The year was 1961, and he had just flunked out of col- would include the cooks that fed him. He compares their talents lege. The draft was active at that time. He could either join the military or start paying rent to live with his fam- to the culinary ability of sewer rats. The food was good until they This plane was flown on the DEW line got their grimy and unskilled paws on it. Another memory involved ily. Pippenger feels he definitely made the right decision. an executive officer in the Philippines who had just returned from He enlisted in the Navy because he wanted to go to sea, but “the Navy had different ideas.” The veteran never even stepped foot on a ship. That’s leave. “The man was probably high on something because he because tests at the start of all men’s naval careers determine what they specialize in. Because he enlisted and wasn’t simply drafted, Pippenger was guaranteed a Class A “advanced” school (meaning he would never be debased to the workforce or deckhand level).103 He told the chief officer began stripping and streaking around the entire ship.” Needless to 104 say, the officer was dishonorably discharged. that he wanted to be a gunner’s mate: one who works with guided missile launching systems, gun mounts and other artillery. His other prefer- ence was a quartermaster: one who assists officers of the deck and the navigator, serves as a helmsman, performs ship controls, navigates and At the conclusion of his tour of duty, Mr. Bruner took an oil 105 tanker from Pearl Harbor towards home, taking six days to return serves bridge watch duties. But, his scores in avionics were too high and he was sent to the Naval Avionics fundamental school in Memphis, Ten- to the continental U.S. He landed at Treasure Island once more. Af- nessee. Pippenger had said to the commanding officer, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. When I enlisted, I was guaranteed a Class A school.” ter about a week, Mr. Bruner got a job as a computer programmer, The officer said, “That is a Class A school. If you don’t like it, you tell them.” Pippenger explained, “If the military’s going to send you to Memphis, an occupation that he has continued for twenty years. Unfortu- Tennessee, then you ain’t leaving. As soon as we got off the train they told us there’s only two ways out of this school, and one’s not preferable.” It nately, despite his service to his country, the G.I. Bill did not pay for was the hardest school he ever attended, including Culver Military Academy and college. the education he received for his job. To continue his connection The Memphis school began his technical training. He was instructed on navigational radio equipment. Basically, Pippenger learned two-and- to the military, Mr. Bruner joined the Fleet Reserve Association half year’s worth of electronics at MIT in twenty-nine weeks, eight hours per day. The curriculum alternated between one week of sweat tests and for retired sailors and marines. The Fleet R.A. has been a voice for one of non-sweat tests. He defined “sweat tests” as: “You better pass it or life becomes unpleasant.” If you failed two, you were finished. The camp the enlisted men of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard started out with 165 men, and seventy-five finished. Success, the veteran said, was the only choice. Men studied so much they dreamt about elec- since 1924. tronic devices. Mr. Bruner’s experiences while in the service did not Pippenger’s Memphis Naval Avionics school taught him how to repair radios and navigational equipment. When the certified electronics change his views on the military. He believes that war is a neces- technician finished that school, he moved to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois. There he was assigned his squadron, where he began sary evil and that the military is also necessary. Today, Mr. Bruner practicing as an air crewman. In the navy, everyone repairs their own equipment, and men specialized in that area are called air crewmen. His was a support squadron, so they trained pilots, crewmen and others to go on the Distance Early Warning, or “DEW” line. Pippenger began flying flash tries to keep things pretty low-key and likes having a more struc- 106 tured lifestyle; but admits that he has lost any tolerance for lack of traffic, which was Cold War, highest-priority traffic. He was stationed at Airborne Early Warning Training Unit: Atlantic, about sixty miles north of discipline. Some that early boot camp training remains instilled.102 Washington, DC. The DEW Line identified Russian bombers coming towards the U.S. The radar stations systems stretched across northern Canada and Alaska. When on the DEW Line, he had two-and-a-half minutes to identify planes. If he couldn’t, a message was sent to Iceland, and fighters Bruner (right) poses with a shipmate in the close quarters of the USS Nicholas were assembled along the East Coast to protect the United States from Soviet attack. 74 75 Pippenger was also involved with the Dominican Republic’s revolution in April of 1965. He was working on a plane that was transporting For example, he once single-handedly fixed a plane’s radio system simply by being obser- Marines from Cherrypoint, North Carolina into the Republic. Although he never “battled,” his plane was shot at from the ground. America invaded vant. The radio systems would shut off when the plane was in the air, and nobody could figure out “If you’re going to to rescue the people in the embassies (U.S citizens and Dominicans alike) and to prevent an allegedly imminent communist takeover of the Santo why. Pippenger sharply noticed there was hydraulic fluid in the junction box, which was shorting Dominican government.107 out all the radios in the plane. He was then regarded as a very reliable air crewman, and became be free, you’ll have Going into those kinds of stressful situations, the technician felt rushes of fear, adrenaline and excitement. But because he was never literally popular among the pilots. engaged in “combat,” the then young man felt immune to death. For entertainment, the men would go into town, talk to girls, see museums or socialize. Un- to fight for it.” That is, he felt immune most of the time. There was one extremely close call. At twenty-two, Pippenger was radio operating on a ship called fortunately, because of the ill-feelings about the Vietnam War at that time, they were not always “The Willy Victor.” They were flying into Argentina, Newfoundland’s naval air base with ninety-five passengers aboard. He was seated behind the pi- treated respectfully. Military uniforms were not always worn for fear of the public’s reaction. -Roger Pippenger lot in the left-hand seat and the copilot on the right. Across from Pippenger was the flight engineer. The weather was dangerous, they were almost He visited his Hoosier family twice a year at Christmas and Thanksgiving, and wrote his out of fuel, and the plane had made three passes trying to find the station’s runway. Death seemed inevitable. As the tempestuous winds were mother once a month. Six weeks before the premiere of his flying career, the young twenty-some sent his father his “will.” He wanted to be buried battering the plane, Pippenger recalled the conversation between ground in Arlington Cemetery like a true military man, and his money would be divided up between his family members. control and the pilots going something like this: In Pippenger’s opinion, the military is equal to the church in America’s hierarchy of importance. Because of his near-death landing adven- ture, the veteran strongly sympathizes with all the young men who have lost their lives fighting for their countries. Overall, the military was one of Ground control: 627, you’re five miles from touchdown, ten second gear his most worth-while experiences. The Navy taught him all aspirations can be achieved through hard work. By the end of his four years, the radio warning, roger. 627, you’re four-and-a-half miles from touchdown, you’re operator had risen to E5, which is a second class officer. His closest friends are the ones he served with, because they’ve truly been through some 1,500 feet above glide path. Get down. Roger. 627, you’re 1,500 feet difficult times. A recently-deceased Culver Academy friend named Jorge Silva was one of the few original members of the 1961 Cuban Bay of Pigs below glide path. Pull up, pull up. Roger. 627, you’re 750 feet above glide exile invasion force. The CIA and Cuban Americans wanted to retrieve Cuba from Communist rule and overthrow dictator Fidel Castro.108 Silva and path. Roger. other soldiers spent twenty months as political prisoners. At the abduction’s climax, graves were dug, and the prisoners were made to stand in front of them. Right before they were going to be executed, someone came running and yelling, “Don’t shoot!” The abductors had received word Pilot Johnson: We can’t make it! from President Kennedy that said, “If you shoot one prisoner, we’re Copilot Kennedy: Give me the controls, I see a hole in the clouds. coming.” The Cubans estimated how much each hostage was worth Kennedy nose-pointed the plane onto the runway, over-booting all four and ransomed for them. Jorge engines as ground control shouted, “You’re going to crash! You’re going Silva’s father gave up all his wealth. to crash!” Kennedy landed the plane halfway down the runway. They The Navy got him back into skidded and fish-tailed until the nose-wheels broke off. To turn the plane college, a nearly impossible feat at around, they had to reverse the engines. that time. He went into accounting When Pippenger sent in the report, Kennedy asked, “Did you put at Ball State on the G.I. Bill. Today, ‘Amen’ on that?” The veteran had in fact engaged in strong conversation Pippenger is a part of the Ameri- with the Lord, telling Him, “I haven’t even done anything I’ve wanted to can Legion and receives medical do in my life, God!” In what seemed like their last few seconds, Pippenger care through the Veteran’s Admin- said one could feel the power of prayer from the five desperate souls in istration. The veteran appreciates that cockpit. “Without faith, nobody gets anything done,” he said. After Roger Pippenger preparing a radio. the Navy’s gratuity because he the experience, he couldn’t help but go to church. earned it through fighting for his That event began his devotion to copilot Kennedy. Pilots like to pick favorites; they fly with the people they feel most comfortable with. If country. “If you’re going to be free, one crew developed an attachment to Pippenger, they’d fly with him all the time. you’ll have to fight for it.”109 Roger Pippenger, kneeling, pictured 4th from right, with his squadron 76 77 ited Italy, France, Turkey, Greece, and Spain. In Italy he took a bus tour to Rome where some of the men got into a bit of trouble. After a bit of ‘liquid From the Pope to the Pietà courage’, they tore down a Communist banner. Needless to say, some people got upset, including the admiral who had to apologize to the govern- By Maria Mancourt ment and repair the banner. In Vatican City he took the chance to see the Pietà, Michelangelo’s depiction of Mary and Jesus after his crucifixion. He’s glad to have seen it then because visitors can never be so close to it now that it’s protected by Plexiglass and armed guards. He also saw Pope One hundred thousand young men were drafted in 1964 for the Vietnam War. John Brooks was one among those thousands. There wasn’t Paul the VI. “All of the sudden the doors open on the apartments to the Vatican. Some officials come out and throw the little paper rug over the rail. much of a choice when it came to the draft, but men everywhere stepped up to become great officers. A number of men, like Brooks, appreciated The clouds come away. The sun starts shining. The Pope comes out and gives the blessing. They’re applauding after he gives the blessing. He goes the experience that could be drawn from military service. back in. They pull up the little rug. Brooks graduated from high school in 1964 which was during They go inside. It starts to cloud up the time of the Vietnam War. That September he received his draft card. and drizzle again. I thought, ‘This It said 1A, so he was going to be one of the first drafted. It was selective is a religious moment I’m not too service which meant that he could choose which branch of the military to concerned with.’” enter. “I have flat feet, so I knew I wasn’t going into the Army because it On the ship Brooks generally hurt to walk. Dad wanted read to keep himself entertained. me in the Air Force, but “...I joined the Navy On occasion he would receive let- I couldn’t flap my arms ters from his mother, but he wasn’t enough to fly. So I joined because I knew I big on writing. Although he never the Navy because I knew I really gambled, some of his ship- could swim.” could swim.” mates taught him how to play dice, Brooks was sent for which a few of them got into to boot camp at the Great -John Brooks trouble for; neither gambling nor Lakes Naval Training Sta- alcohol was permitted aboard ship. tion. He spent nine weeks Brooks stayed in the military in the frigid Chicago winter going through basic training. When the men for four years. He could have re- arrived at the station, the first thing they had to do was pack up all of their ceived a college education courtesy belongings. They were reissued everything from undergarments outward. of the government, but he wanted Then they all got their hair cut whether it was needed or not. “The old to be a deputy sheriff. The military joke was ‘You want your sideburns? Yeah? Here; catch,’ so that was an gave him the self-discipline that re- exciting time to get you to fit into this little mold.” ally prepared him for law enforce- Following graduation from boot camp, the men were split into ment. He won a National Service more specialized fields. Brooks went to Gunner’s Mate School to learn ribbon at the end of the four years. how to shoot “the big guns.” They fired .45 automatics and the 8 inch guns Brooks is now a deputy sheriff used on cruisers, as well as deck guns. Brooks also learned how to use the in Indiana and has a wife named guided missiles. His ship was a guided missiles cruiser, the U.S.S. Colum- Melanie. He was glad to have been bus. The Columbus was commissioned in 1945 as a Baltimore class heavy in the military. “I considered the cruiser. In 1959 it was converted to one of only three Albany class guided Navy a wonderful opportunity that 110 missiles cruisers. USS Columbus (CG-12), Albany class guided missile cruiser I could see places I may never go The Columbus spent its time circling the Mediterranean. Brooks 111 Insignia of the USS Columbus after its conversion to a guided missile cruiser in 1962 again.” had to the opportunity to see places he thought he’d never see. They vis- 78 79 ship. On the ship, the men played cards and watched movies. As they got closer to An Angel for the Heroes Vietnam, monsoon season arrived. The rain came down like no other. Moran best de- By Morgan Pierle scribed it as a “torrential rainstorm”. He also said that he had never seen anything like it, and it was pretty impressive. “There was a strong feeling of patriotism.” Dr. Thomas Moran was inspired to join the military during the time of the Vietnam War, 1954- The monsoons continued throughout his days on the ground as well, and the 1964, because of the nationwide pride that he thought would be supporting him.112 Studying medicine for many years got him to Vietnam for two constant rain affected the concentration of the soldiers. Ground injuries not only years, working in a medic camp that provided care to all sides of the war. Moran wanted to help the heroes, so a medic position in the Navy was included gunshot wounds, even though shrapnel wounds were the most common (A quite suitable for his desires. The Navy was the right choice for him, giving him a broader spectrum of what the world was composed of and still is shrapnel wound is caused by small pieces of metal that are scattered by a bomb or today. similar weapon when it explodes and are intended to injure people).113 One “trick” On October 21st, 1938, Thomas Moran was born to William E. and Mary J. Moran. They raised him in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. With that the Vietnamese would pull on the U.S. soldiers was to stick and camouflage sharp his dad widowing his mother at age ten, Moran was always there for his mom and his five siblings (four of which were boys and one girl). His moth- bamboo sticks in the road. When a soldier would step on one, it would puncture er was there for him, however, when he graduated from Cathedral in through his boot and his entire foot. Thomas saw some of these wounds. 1956. Thomas received scholarship help from the Notre Dame Club of As a medical officer, Thomas had to examine the bodies of the young men Indianapolis to go to Notre Dame and study pre-med for four years. killed in action and identify them. He recalls an instance with one of the ceased young After graduating from Notre Dame in 1960, he attended the Indiana men: “They had him in a body bag, and that body bag had to be opened up. He had University Medical School for a full-term in the Medical Center. After been marked ‘killed in action.’ He had taken a round of mortar in the middle of his the four years at Indiana University, Thomas took a one year internship Thomas recieves encouragement from his naval medic mentor chest and his backside. Pretty handsome young guy…probably just out of high school. Dr. Charles Kelly. at Vincennes University. Moran said, “I did not get full-ride scholarships I didn’t know him, and I didn’t have to tell his family what occurred, and I didn’t have to medical school. However, medical school at that time was extremely to knock on his front door. But I looked at him and I actually kind of was transformed,” he said. economical. In the early sixties, it was a thousand dollars per year After his two years in the Navy in Vietnam, he went back home. The day after he which is just unheard of in modern day.” got back, he went straight to work at a hospital as a doctor. He felt lonely, so he started All this experience in the medical field had to be put to good use. dating around, but he just got tired of it. But one time in early 1969, it was different. Her In 1965, at the age of twenty-seven, Moran went down to the recruit- name was Thelma Pastorius and when she walked in the room the very first time the met, ing office located downtown in Indianapolis to enlist. “I was single at he thought, “She’s really beautiful. She must have something wrong with her if she’s not the time and thought that I would probably be asked to serve which married at her age of twenty-four.” Obviously he was just joking around. They went out was fine,” Moran explained. He said that he chose the Navy because once, and then didn’t see each other for a while. Later in October of 1969, they reunited, he had close friends who had been in the Navy and enjoyed it, but fell in love, and got married on January 24th, 1970. They had their first child, Erin, on also because Moran wanted to see the world. “I had never really seen March 24th, 1971. big oceans. One of their little sayings was ‘Join the Navy and see the Moran decided to go back into the service, but to the reserve instead of active world!’ I was young, and I wanted to see part of the world, so I joined.” duty (Active duty is full-time military duty while reserve is part-time). This kept him in the Having no outside pressure to serve, the young man was very excited Thomas and his wife, Thelma, walk through an isle of soldiers on his last walk United States and close to his wife and child. They had another child, Tom, on September as a Naval soldier at his retirement ceremony. to serve. 29th, 1972. Their third child, Ryan, was born on January 12th, 1974, and David Eric was The first line of duty was a two-week training camp in Coronado, born six years later on January 14th. a little island off of the San Diego shore. At the camp, a soldier would learn the following: how to properly put on a uniform, respect for authority Thomas Moran served for 30 years on reserve before retiring in 2001. He is now and others, and other basic military knowledge that many may not have known before hand. Within those two weeks, it was also required that each a family physician and going on 40 years with his lovely wife Thelma. He said that he never soldier learn specific tasks that suited his planned specialty. For the navy, there was much teaching of driving and the maintenance of ships. Only regretted the path he chose for himself and would do it all again. His pride in his country having two weeks to learn all this led to small errors along the way. still lives today.114 After training was over, it was time to go into the Navy. A Navy ship didn’t see much combat because opponents wouldn’t open fire on a Thelma and Dr. Thomas Moran on their wedding day. 80 81 Support from the Seas Planes, Goony Birds, and a BLT By Cori Castoe By Mark Pankonie Norfolk, VA, 1967: Linda Clark and her two girls lived close by at a naval base while her husband of 9 Jeff PanKonie joined the Navy at the age of 19 in Minnesota, prior to years, Jim Johnson, was at sea on the USS Forrestal. They were a happy family in Bainbridge, Maryland when the United States’ Vietnamese drafts. His brother was already in the Navy and they got the call that Jim was to go to sea. But Linda and her daughters didn’t worry. Jim would never see according to Jeff’s thoughts, “Someone had to have a big gun in order to hit war. His ship was just a back-up ship. him.” Mr. PanKonie thought boot camp was “fourteen weeks of pure unadul- Although she was married to a Seaman First Class, Linda’s life was never really affected by war. “It was terated fun”. It was like, “being at home,” except that he had to make his bed so unbelievable that you really couldn’t comprehend all the things that were going on.” She reiterated sever- everyday and hand-wash his clothing. al times that she was too young to really understand what was going on at the time. She explained how most Two men he remembered from boot “The military is of the feelings she feels today occurred later in life once she had a better understanding. camp were drill instructor Commis- At the naval base, Linda worked at the naval exchange. This was a department store where the sailors saryman First Class Prettyman and necessary for could shop at a low price on behalf of the government. As she recalls, childcare was provided at the base. Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Black. USS Forrestal The government knew that families were being torn apart and, in many cases, their main source of income Mr. PanKonie survived basic without freedom.” was earned from husbands being shipped out to sea. To counteract this, they provided many of the wives with on-site jobs and childcare at the base any problems and with considerable for free. With her job at the exchange and the Jim’s naval income, she and her children always had enough to live on. They always had a comfort- ease. -Jeff PanKonie able standard of living and were never stressed financially. Mr. PanKonie’s first station was Jim never had any real emotions about the war. He just knew that he was supposed “They are doing a on Midway Island. He had to find his own way of getting there. A parachute to go out to sea periodically and do whatever he was told to do. However, the political aspect rigger by the name of Thompson helped him to get on the right flight. He of the war upset him. The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of great job of protecting was also stationed with the Naval Patrol Squadron, VP 40, for a time. He was South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment.115 Many people agreed with Jim transferred to Moffett Field in California, where he maintained his status as and his shipmates in believing that the US should’ve just stayed out of the war. It was causing the people and the educational personnel on base. During his time with the Navy, Mr. PanKonie too many hardships. He and Linda both thought that America should not have been at war. was stationed in Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Guam, and even They thought that it was a senseless war. Nothing was being gained by fighting. They both be- country as a whole.” in Vietnam. lieve that after 5-6 years into the war, America realized that we were not going to win this war. Mr. PanKonie had been stationed on Midway for some time in 1927, “We realized it a little too late because of all of the casualties that could’ve been prevented.” -Linda Clark where the only thing a guy could do was watch the weekly movie, go bowling, She also mentioned the televised parts of the war. Every now and then, a commercial and write letters home. Midway Island’s main purpose and objective was to would state something along the lines of, “Uncle Sam wants you” or “War going well.” But the fighting was not televised like it is today. She believes act as a waypoint out in the middle of the enormous Pacific Ocean for ships that the war would not have lasted as long as it did if the public was educated. All they really knew was that the enemy was ruthless and had no carrying troops over into Vietnam. Midway was also utilized as a forward regard for human life. “War is such a feudal thing that causes so much grief,“ she repeated. radar position. After being stationed on Midway, the VP 40 had him flying all Linda experienced some first-hand mental problems that the fighting caused. Her cousin had been to war and had come back with Post-Trau- over the place, from station to station and island to island, and so on. His first matic Stress Disorder.116 In the years following, he tried to commit suicide several times and has since died of natural causes. She explained how mission was also his first time flying in a seaplane. The boys stalking around in many soldiers did not want to talk about what they’d been through, seen, or done. Many soldiers would come back from war and be treated terri- the forest often relied heavily on the reconnaissance conducted by the Naval bly. They would be yelled at and even spit on in airports and bus terminals. Vietnam was not their fault, yet they were being punished for it. Patrol Squadrons. One memory he had during his time flying in the VP 40 was For Linda, war has never been good. “There must be another way to solve problems. I want my country, children, and grandchildren protect- of a little restaurant in Iwakuni that served a BLT, because it was something he ed,” though she commends today’s forces for security levels they instill in today’s rough society. “They are doing a great job of protecting the people rarely found in restaurants during his time in the service. and the country as a whole.”117 Mr. Jeff PanKonie in his Navy uniform Mr. PanKonie had a few other memories, like the time his chief came 82 83 into the office one day and he smelled something awful. It was only when he turned around that Mr. PanKonie noticed the case. “A goony bird had pooped all down the chief’s back; yeah the office got a kick out of that.” Another From Home with Love memory was when his mother sent him bourbon balls and got his whole barrack drunk By Michael Moyer with them. He also fooled an ensign into believing he’d quit for trying to tell him how to do his job. The only problem with that was that there was a law that prevented enlisted John Miller never thought he would have to live with the constant worry that one of his kids’ lives would be threatened. However when men from quitting the military at that time. his son, Michael, enlisted into the U.S. Navy, that constant worry became the reality for his everyday life. After his time with the VP 40, Mr. PanKonie returned to the states as John was born on April 27, 1930. He had previously enlisted into the Marine Corps Reserve, but was never sent into war. He married De- a recruiter in Indianapolis, Indiana. He remained there until his honorable discharge lores Skillman on November 5, 1949, and later had six children together. Their oldest son, Michael (Mike) Miller, was born on July 17, 1953. John on August 13, 1977. After he left the Navy, Mr. Pankonie worked in construction, as a and Mike had a strained relationship and weren’t your average security guard, and then for West Lafayette to go to Purdue University. A hefty sum of father and son – it seems that the costs for his education was paid for by the Disabled Veterans Program, a program they butted heads on several established in 1920 as a charity that helped provide for our wounded defenders.118 occasions. John worked as a Mr. Pankonie had severely injured his back on base in Midway. He went to Purdue milkman and his long hours Medals PanKonie earned to study math, engineering, and graphic design. He went on to work for Firestone’s made it difficult to spend much Building Products Division and now holds the position of senior engineer. time with his children. After his experiences with the military, the beliefs he had prior to his service had not really changed at all. Mr. PanKonie still Mike and John always believed that the servicemen and women should be honored and proud upon their return for serving their country. He also believes that these fought because they each men and women who put their lives on the line for their country should never return to the America he set foot on when he returned home. The thought of themselves as the America he returned to was a land where the soldiers were spat on and cursed for doing what their leaders told them to do and risking their lives boss of the family, and that numerous times as their fellows in arms died all around them. “The military is necessary for freedom, and the people who keep cutting and de- shared thought constantly grading it should realize that, without it, they wouldn’t be able to do much.”119 caused problems. Because of their bad relationship, Mike was always looking for ways to spite his father. When he turned eighteen, he finally found a sure way to do just Mike’s naval photo after several that – he enlisted in the U.S. years in the Navy. Navy, knowing that his father wouldn’t be happy about the decision. He served as an engi- neer on the naval vessel USS Independence, a nuclear carrier launched on June 6, 1958.120 In fact, it was “the nation’s oldest” as it neared its decommission date in 1998.121 The main part of Mike’s role in the Navy was to work on aircrafts. After Mike moved from the family home into the naval bases, both father and son seemed to realize that their opin- ions of each other were too harsh. Their strained relationship took a turn for the better mainly because the feelings for each Mike with his parents at his sister’s graduation A young Jeff PanKonie in high school PanKonie joined the American Legion after his time in the Navy. other reminded them that they were always going to be family, 84 85 and that deep down, they loved each other. Mike and his parents talked regularly; about After being in the Navy, once a week via letters The Will of Someone Else Except for the constant missing and absence of Mike, life for John never really changed By Dayle Hayden John realized that while his son was in the Navy. Any chance that John got, he would travel to visit Mike. They met in Norfolk Virginia (naval base) a couple of times. They would share stories and For any woman, it is maternal instinct to protect your children, right? To kiss their boo-boos, cover them with bandages, and hold their Mike’s outlook on life catch up. One story that John remembers in particular was quite gruesome. Mike was hands when crossing the street? Well, what if your child was out of reach, out of sight, but definitely not out of mind? What if at any given time working on an aircraft (a VF102), when a fellow naval officer was being careless and got the only way you were able to know if your child was happy, safe, and carefree was when you received a short, blue-lined letter once a week? was “just plain better.” sucked up into one of the jets engine. The heat and the fan in the engine killed the man This is what life was like for Dolores Skillman-Miller. Every mother loathes the day her first and spit him out the other side in thousands of pieces. child leaves and is out of arms length, but it only gets worse when that child isn’t just going to their Overall, Mike was in the navy for nine years. He was sent around the world including places like Italy and Turkey. His brothers and sisters own apartment or the college of their choice. It gets worse when a child is going anywhere on the were extremely proud of their brother for all that he was doing. John’s relationship with his son when he returned was improved 100%. They planet, at the will of someone else, like Turkey, England, or Greece. did everything together. They took many vacations together, volunteered at St. Roch Catholic Church, and even worked on job opportunities. In On his eighteenth birthday, June 17, 1971, Michael Miller left home to attend a Naval Training John’s exact words, “Mike went into the Navy an asshole and came out a man.” John’s son was rewarded two medals: service man of the month, boot camp in Michigan. From there he was recruited to work on an Aircraft Carrier, theUSS Indepen- 123 and one in boot camp. John feels that this recognition helped Mike grow up and understand that hard work was rewarded. dence, which transported VF102 fighter planes. He traveled all around the world, from Turkey to After being in the Navy, John realized that Mike’s outlook on life was “just plain better.” Mike and John’s relationship stayed this way and England. were incredibly close until the day that Mike unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack on February 25, 2007.122 Of course Dolores missed Michael. He was her baby boy, her first born. Other members of the family and family friends were proud to know someone in the Navy. It’s not that she was not In memory of Michael A. Miller proud of Michael, but worry definitely took its toll on her. The first couple of months she suffered July 17, 1953 – February 25, 2007 from insomnia. Of course, staying up and thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong can We miss you. do that to a person. Everyone missed him, but life went on. The only thing that changed in their daily lives was that they now had one fewer bed to fill and one less mouth to feed. They kept in con- tact with letters once a week, but sometimes this was not enough to keep a worrying mother at bay. When Michael was in the Navy, there wasn’t really a specific war going on. He was recruited in between Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War. This meant a lot less worry about close combat and murder, but Dolores was still completely against war at any given time, let alone when it meant taking her baby boy away from her. Dolores has never understood why “countries can’t just get along…” and that she would “give anything for the world to just get along.” After 9 years in the service Michael got an Honorable Discharge, which was awarded only if a rating from good to excellent was received for their service. He returned home a new man. Gone was the rebellious 18-year-old, and in his place was an honorable, respectable, and disciplined man. Looking back, Dolores “couldn’t believe how much he had changed.” After his homecoming, life returned to normal. Dolores and her husband, John Miller, spent much more time with Michael post-service. John and Michael got along better because of the alter- ations the Navy had had in his character. They traveled to Las Vegas with him in his later years. The three of them and Michael’s wife, Mynevia, greatly enjoyed the quality time spent together because the military had brought them all closer. Unfortunately, Michael’s time and his family’s time together John and Mike on a vacation to Cancun Side by side are wife Delores and husband John Miller was cut short from a heart attack on February 25, 2007. Even though he is not here in person any- Michael Miller and his sister Mary Miller-Moyer. more, he is definitely still a huge part of their hearts and memories.124 86 87 up to be promoted to An Education in Aviation a supervisor. With this By Taylor Wicker position he was handed a great deal of responsibility Doug Bradburn had just graduated high school and was planning the and stress, both of which next steps in his life. Growing up in a small town in Northeast Ohio, the only he took with a driven and things he was absolutely sure of were that he didn’t want to spend the rest determined attitude. of his life flipping burgers and living in his small hometown. He thoroughly His parents divorced, he was separated from enjoyed being on the carri- his brother at a young age, and grew up with his ers with planes constantly mother along with most of his extended family in taking off and landing. The Ohio. His grades were not ideal and his plans for rush and risks that came a career were unsure and shaky. After looking at from being around huge, his life with his future in mind he decided that he dangerous aircrafts and needed structure, something his childhood lacked. from walking near the His school counselors told him that with his test giant machinery at night scores, college was not an option. With their lack are feelings and memories of faith, he became extremely motivated, and be- he’ll never forget. Here gan to make plans to prove them wrong. he learned how to be a Some of his friends had joined the military, Bradburn today leader, and with that he and with the help of his veteran uncle he enlisted also learned the responsi- in the Navy. He traveled to Great Lakes, Illinois for boot camp, and received bilities that came with hav- the structure he’d been looking for.125 With the Navy’s long-lasting tradi- ing a position of authority. tions, strict training, and mentally exhausting classes, Doug slowly learned This would later help him the values he had been missing. He chose to pursue an education in avia- in tons of aspects of his tion, and began to take electronic classes, courses in electrical training, and life. take basic aviation classes. There are memo- Carrying the remind of what ries that stand out more Bradburn directs planes on an aircraft carrier. His time spent in his counselors had said in than others. His time spent in the Navy was full of new experiences. Despite knowing how everything worked electronically and having faith in all the back of his mind, he be- the elements that makes a launch successful, taking off a ship in an aircraft that went from zero to 130 miles an hour in a second and a half was the Navy was full of came first in his class at his needless to say a nerve wracking experience, and one that not many people can say they’ve experienced as well. electronics school and with Three months into the Navy, Doug had decided that he wanted to do something involving science and he wanted to coach football. The new experiences. the highest GPA in his class two came together and he chose to be a teacher and coach high school football. In 1990 he was conveniently accepted into Ball State, a college in was able to have first choice Muncie, Indiana where his brother lived. It had been many years and a very long wait to catch up with him, and Ball State was highly recommend- of orders, an incentive he had most definitely earned. ed. It was the perfect opportunity. Four years later he moved to Indianapolis to become a teacher and coach at Perry Meridian High School. After a year of school, he was sent to a temporary duty until an Leadership skills he learned in the Navy eventually helped him with his career. Interacting with people who are just a few years younger opening in his preferred field became available. He was sent to Virginia than the people he served with, his military background still helps him 20 years later, when he’s educating and inspiring students every day.126 Beach, Virginia for aircraft maintenance, where he slowly worked his way Doug Bradburn holds his M1-Garand in the air during training. 88 89 Air Force
90 91 Ruby’s Independence By Morgan Pierle
In the summer of 1936, Ruby Gilliatt was riding in the back of a pick-up with several other teenagers when Charles Hughes, the driver of the pick-up, invited her to sit next to him in the cab. He drove around, making stops just to have an excuse to spend more time with her, both enjoying each other’s company. It didn’t take much time for the two to fall in love. Later on in the years to come, Gilliatt found out the hardship of living without the continuous company of her loved one due to the war. But even World War II couldn’t stand in their way. John and Hattie Gilliatt gave birth to Ruby on November 17, 1921. She was born and raised in Orange County, Indiana, just south of Paoli. Her parents would later have her brother, making her the second-youngest child out of her four sisters and one brother. Gilliatt said that she was lucky to have good parents. “We were poor, but everybody was poor.” As a child growing up in The Great Depression, she learned appreciation for others, especially her mother and father. Her father caught wind that an English bank was handing out money to families. When he went to the bank, he received $1500. This large sum tremendously helped them throughout the years and got them to where her family wouldn’t have to be on welfare. Gilliatt noted that, “most people back then didn’t want to be on welfare because they were just too proud.” In the summers, her sisters would find work cleaning, being a nanny, or anything else that would put some change in their pock- ets. The oldest found a couple that lived in Michigan City, Indiana, that needed help tending to their house. After graduating from high school, the sister passed her job down to the next oldest sister, a cycle which kept repeating. Ruby’s youngest sister, who was just two years older than she was, had the job that the sisters had passed down to one another throughout the years. At that time, Gilliatt was fourteen, which gave her older sister two more years at the job tending to the house. Instead of waiting those two years, her sister got her a job at Charles, Baby Elizabeth, and Ruby stand together in the country, just before the home, starting in the summer of 1936. She didn’t make much in Thomas has to depart for overseas. 92 93 her two years there, but it was still money. Each summer Gilliatt and her sister would tend the house, and the couple would sometimes go away fore Charles left for his overseas duties. Baby Elizabeth was just a little over one at this time. for two weeks at a time. This left her and her sister, who was not much older than she was, alone for a long while. The gardener would come by Times got tough. When her husband was deployed overseas, Ruby, along with other everyday, but they were still alone for the most part. World War II wives, didn’t know when her husband would be done with his service, if he was When she was sixteen, she stopped working in Michigan City when her sister got married and moved to Chicago. She didn’t start working okay, or even where he was most of the time. She had to raise her daughter by herself, always again until after her high school graduation, which was when she moved up to Chicago with her sister who had found her a job as a nanny. At this in fear that he would never come back. Letters were sent back and forth between the two lov- point, Charles Hughes, soon to be her husband, had already enlisted and was in training to be a mechanic in the Air Force. ers as often as the postal service would allow them. To support his family, Hughes had all but Hughes and Gilliatt decided to marry in February. They met in Louisville, Kentucky, to get their marriage licenses, blood tests, and another six dollars of his pay sent to his wife so that she wouldn’t have to worry about getting a job. test for her. As soon as they were cleared to get married, they did. February 28, 1941, was the start of a lifetime together. Hughes’ mother also helped. She handed Gilliatt two envelopes, each of them containing $500, Immediately after their marriage, Hughes had to get his wife back to Chicago, and he himself only to be opened and used in times of desperation. “I ended up saving both of them, and we had to go back to training. When the new Mrs. Hughes returned, the woman she worked for used them later to help pay for our first house,” she said. “Here I’m married, noticed something different about her. She asked her about it, and was told that she had gotten After Hughes was honorably discharged from the service in 1946, he and his wife married. The woman said, “Well, why didn’t you go on a bought their first house togeth- and I didn’t even honeymoon?” Reflecting back on this, she says, “Here I’m er. The house was on 21st street married, and I didn’t even know what marriage was!” in downtown Indianapolis. Three know what The April of that same year was her last in Chicago. years later, they had their first Hughes came up and took her back to Indianapolis, where son, Mike, on July 2, 1949. The marriage was!” they would start to rent their first apartment together. next year, Hughes was asked They didn’t stay there long because he had to leave again to go back into the service to -Ruby Hughes for work and training. They left the apartment, and Mrs. help with the Korean War (June Hughes enjoyed some time moving around to different 27, 1950-January 31, 1955).127 places, visiting her family and friends. Despite Mrs. Hughes’ desire that Her job as a nanny in Chicago was offered to her again, but her husband wanted her to be free to go her husband stay home with to wherever he was when he would call for her. When he finally did call, he asked her to meet him in Coral her and the kids, he left for ten Gables, Florida, where he would be learning at a machinist school for a few months starting in November. months. While he was gone, she She moved to Florida and stayed with him through the duration of his training. experienced one incident where About a month after leaving Coral Gables in early March, she had a sudden urge of morning sick- she thought that people were Ruby in Coral Gables. ness. Nine months later on a Sunday night, while living with Charles’ cousin who was also pregnant, her Ruby and Charles pose for a picture in trying to break into her house. Coral Gables, Florida. water broke. That Tuesday, December 8, 1943, baby Elizabeth was born. Five days after, Hughes’ cousin had She was challenged with coping with two children and an absent husband. her baby as well. They both took home their babies on Christmas Eve Night and set them under the tree to look like presents. When he returned, the two looked for land on which to build a house. While Charles Hughes was still in training and doing work, Ruby stayed with his cousin and helped out. She contributed to the family by After finding a lot on Wicker Road on Indianapolis’ south side, and finding a good watching the babies as well as their boys and sometimes even cooking when needed. One night when she was cooking some corn, she noticed man to be the contractor, the building process began. After eight years in the that there was a mole on the corn. It’s known that when there’s a mole, you’re not supposed to eat it. Ruby said, “but it smelled so good.” So house on 21st Street, the happy family moved into their new home in 1955. she tried it, and it tasted fine. Later, when she was talking to one of the family’s relatives, she felt kind of sick and decided to go lay down. Mrs. Ruby Hughes continues to live in their home to date, but without her Hughes found out that she had gotten food poisoning and later was diagnosed with botulism when Elizabeth was just six months old. She stayed husband who died in June of 2008. Ruby Gilliatt and Charles Hughes’ two children with the family until Elizabeth was about seven and a half months old. After that, she traveled around, visiting her parents’ and sisters’ homes. grew up to have children of their own, who, in turn, also had children, giving her Despite her travel to various cities, she always favored life out in the country. It gave her peace of mind and space. She tried to visit the Ruby and Charles’ first family home on 21st street in more than a handful of great-grandchildren with whom she can share her many countryside of Indiana as well. While out in the country, Charles, Ruby, and their daughter reunited again for one last time together in 1945 be- downtown Indianapolis stories, and plenty of love.128 94 95 Being Called In By Dayle Hayden It was senior year in Colorado, 1950. Most seniors would be turning in the last of their college applications or scholarship essays. But not for Frank Corbett, who was instead applying for the Colorado International Guard because he really had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. Surprisingly, in May of 1951 he was recruited for service in the Korean War and, by July of that same year, was stationed in Germany. Like many that join the military, Frank originally just “felt like being a part of it” and “never figured on being called.” The month before his July departure, Frank lived at home and commuted to and from Camp Kilmer, a training camp that was reactivated after the upsurge of violence in Korea. Also during that last month, he helped pack equipment and guns to ship overseas to the base in Germany. In order to preserve these guns for the trip, he had to coat them in Cosmoline, which cleans Frank Corbett in his convertible Frank Corbett standing in front of a truck he worked on Frank Corbett working on equipment and protects all metals with a colorless, sticky film and displaces water from surfaces controller, he also directed the movement of aircraft by radio. He then retired four years later in of the guns that they used this on. September of 1957 after many years of government service. After the sea journey to Germany, Frank and his small, tight knit unit worked He retired with a total of at least 3 medals: an Occupational award for his service in Ger- as telephone linemen in the Air Force, doing odd jobs that otherwise wouldn’t get many (the medal was created after World War II to recognize those who had occupational service done. But life wasn’t all work and no play (these were 18-20 year old men). They in Germany or Japan),130 a couple of Victory Ribbons, and one hard to attain award which was had their fair share of fun, such as one time when putting up a radio tower in Eu- the Good Conduct Medal for being in the Air Force. This medal was awarded only if one had the rope, they snuck under the barbed wire and into the closest Russian towns for the character and efficiency ratings of exceptional or higher throughout the service.131 After retiring, night. Of course they were back by morning, as if while in his early 40’s, Frank went to college at IUPUI (which was supported and paid for by the they were never gone. They also had the “En- G.I. Bill because of his military service) but didn’t complete a degree program. He then worked for listed Men’s Club”, with activities to do such as Frank Corbett the EAA in St. Louis for five and a half years before meeting his wife, who was a nurse at Evansville. movies, pool, bowling, and swimming. Life was good for these men. They had no food rations, unlike some The EAA was where he continued his love for aviation, like he did in the War. other soldiers that were stationed in Korea. A typical food ration for the soldiers was a box about 5 to 10 From that point in his life, Frank decided not to return to the military because he could inches containing three meals for one person. These boxes usually contained a can of eggs and ham or pork never imagine himself traveling around the world without his wife. He didn’t want to break up the and beans, a can with two cookies and gum drop candy, and some coffee, jam, cocoa, and cream.129 These home; he wanted to support his family, which is what he did with the rest of his life. He now lives “healthy” foods, more or less, were heated by dropping the can itself in boiling water or else being eaten fro- comfortably on the Southside with his wife. zen. Most of the rations were left over from World War II. But on top of the relatively good food (compared Frank feels that the military is always excellent plan (or backup plan) for our generation’s to the rations) that Frank’s group got; the currency was great. One US dollar was worth 4 marcs and 20 pfen- future because it provides a good opportunity for education. He joined for that reason exactly. As nigs. For one mark, the soldiers could get a steak, eggs, and a liter of beer. On the black market, one could stated earlier, he joined because he wasn’t 100% on what he wanted to do with his life at the time. get up to 40 marcs per American dollar. But as Frank said, don’t make the wrong choice when deciding something big like that, because Frank returned to the US in November of 1952, and was released to the International Guard in when it comes to anything military related, you either like it or hate it.132 December. In September of 1953, he joined the Navy and trained for air traffic control, where he was re- Frank Corbett poses in front of lake. sponsible for directing aircraft operating from airfields or from the decks of aircraft carriers. As an air traffic Frank Corbett 96 97 explosives were used in training instead of actual nuclear war heads. They correlated Charlie Spayd: All-Time Flyer radar systems tracking the airplane and the missiles. Information from both was By Theresa Carper entered into a computer, and the radar (if it was locked on correctly) would guide the Charlie Spayd was itching with a typical teenage boy’s military missile. His one-man, highly responsible job was controlling the missile radar. When wanderlust. He enlisted in the Air Force at seventeen, and served the missile was fired, Spayd used a radarscope to track its signal. He was struggling between the Korean and Vietnamese Wars from 1958-1961. His pre- to retain the signal inside its “gate,” and soon lost the missile completely. It explod- vious home life “wasn’t the best.” His older brother, who was already ed right above their heads. As a purely unintentional adversity, he was never pun- in the army, advertised how great service was. The Air Force was a ished. After all, the system relied on primitive-but-mostly-effective vacuum tubes natural choice because Spayd had been flying solo since the age of (devices used to modify or create electrical signals by controlling the movement sixteen. of electrons in a low-pressure space). Vacuum tubes have very short life spans 135 His family resided in Louisville at his time of service. They and aren’t nearly as reliable as transistors or microchips. Personally, he weren’t close, and his father was a shift worker. As a teenager, he never fired any guided missiles in combat. thought his mom was “too much,” and that escaping was a good Spayd never thought of himself as disappointed from his lack thing. The service men had thirty free days a year, and he returned of battle. He liked his job and his work. He was promoted to home about once or twice per year. a technical specialist (who receives the same wages as a cor- Born in 1940, some of Spayd’s first memories were of sacri- poral) after a year and a half of experience. The army pays fice due to WWII. He remembers rationing coupons and crushing up its commanders in different branches the same for equality. tin cans for the war effort. During the Korean War, he, like other little His earned about 120 dollars per month. It wasn’t the ideal boys at the time, regarded it as fascinating instead of horrific. His salary, but the veteran said you could never have that; he uncle fought in the Pacific during WWII and brought home a Japa- made enough to do what he wanted. nese rifle as a souvenir, which was given to his older brother. This He had two duty stations: one in Amityville and one in inspired a war glorification in Spayd; he thought only of success and Hicksville, Long Island, New York. The whole city at the no drawbacks. “It was always: the machines! The winning!” time was ringed with anti-air craft sites. There were Fort Benning, Georgia was the site of his basic training. enough nuclear weapons to “glaze over” Long Island. Spayd’s technical training was at Fort Bliss in Texas, which was: “obvi- On the plus side, the bases had extremely tight secu- ously named after some person, because there was nothing blissful rity. Nuclear weapons were hidden underground, just about it.” He learned about anti-aircraft guided missiles at the begin- below policemen and their patrol dogs stationed ning of the Cold War, which were the biggest technological innova- inside double sets of barbed-wire fences. Wealthy tions of the time.133 Most of his instructions involved radars and basic people were common in the area. “We coexisted computers, but he also endured physical conditioning: calisthenics, with their swimming pools.” One of his neighbors push-ups, pull-ups, and running. It reduced everyone to the same would even host an annual pool party for the level, which is what the military does to build team morale. Spayd whole unit; consequently, the men did help cut called this method, “crude but effective. The military doesn’t worry his grass. about hurting people’s feelings, it just gets the job done.” Everyone In retrospect, Spayd has nothing but good in all the military branches have to survive basic training. feelings about his military time. The veteran’s worst experi- About once a year, the unit would test their missiles in New Spayd’s Air Force vest ence happened during a drill, when he was preparing a radar Mexico’s White Sands, a missile range still in operation today.134 High Charlie Spayd’s formal Air Force photo site for action. He rushed out of the radar van to adjust the 98 99 antennae and ran smack into a ventilation vent. The blow to his head knocked him unconscious. “I should have got a Purple Heart for that,” he chuckled. Water Skiing on the Saigon River Spayd’s most significant memory of the Vietnam War is the interference of government By Victoria Roach and politicians and the handicapping of our soldiers. Lyndon Johnson went as far as to designate “I didn’t know what to expect, but I wasn’t disappointed.” These are targets from the oval office. Although the president is indeed the supreme commander, Johnson the words of Staff Sergeant Thomas Harris regarding his time in the United limited the potential fighting.136 In Spayd’s opinion, had the president restrained himself, Vietnam States Air Force. As a child, Harris loved playing war just like every other boy. would have been a different place. “The military didn’t lose the Vietnam War. The politicians lost “We played cowboys and Indians, soldiers, good guys and bad guys, and we it.” shot guns; played army all of the time back in the swamp; mostly played any- He had a friend who was an air-traffic controller and received a bronze star for his service thing to do with guns.” Harris also liked to make models of cars and airplanes. that was extremely upset with the way the soldiers were treated during and post-war. Spayd re- After graduating from high school in 1960, Harris started working at Fram Oil gards our war in Iraq and Afghanistan as similar, but with less political involvement. “The govern- Filters in his home town of Greenville, Ohio. One year later, Harris went to ment has tied one hand behind their backs with their rules of engagement. They will not turn the the Greenville post office to enlist in the Air Force on May 10, 1961, at the military loose to do what they are supposed to do. Many people don’t like the military, but it’s a age of nineteen. Harris enlisted because “it was the normal thing to do back necessary evil. then.” There were really only three options for a high school graduate: go to Their job is to college, work in a factory (which Harris did and didn’t like) or join the service. take territory He chose to join the Air Force because he was a mechanic and liked to work and hold it, Spayd’s Medal of Recognition on cars, and would be perfect for the job. He was anxious about leaving home destroy, tear when he was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for basic training. things up, and The first day of basic training was very memorable for Harris. As soon win the war.” as he stepped off the bus, he got in trouble with his drill instructor that was He continued to about a foot shorter than Harris. As he yelled at him, Harris just tightened work with airplanes after his jaw, which made the drill instructor even more furious. Harris got on the the war and still flies today. “bad list” right off the bat. After this eventful first day, Harris was nervous His experience influenced about what was to come during the rest of his training. Basic training ended his son to become an up being quite bearable. During the day, they cleaned the barracks, polished aircraft inspector. Spayd’s the floors, marched in formations, and did physical training. They also -at friend and neighbor Roger tended many different classes. One of the most difficult parts of basic train- Pippenger also served in ing for Harris was getting ready in the morning. Every morning at reveille, the military. Upon hear- there was only three minutes to get ready and get outside in formation. This ing that Pippenger would included getting dressed and making your bed tight enough that a quarter also be interviewed, Spayd could bounce on it. In order to be ready in three minutes, Harris would make remarked jokingly, “Now, I his bed at night and sleep on the floor in his uniform. Harris’ training was don’t really know why you’re sufficient for preparing him for what he did later in the war, but he would going to talk to Roger, since have liked there to be more combat training because he didn’t receive any in the Navy isn’t really military Spayd’s lighter bearing the the Air Force. Harris also wished he could have gone to the rifle range more Spayd keeps this framed certificate along with other mementos from his service. service”137 (Pippenger’s story number of his battalion. often. Later in his training, he got the chance to shoot an m16 machine gun. appears on page 71). Harris said, “That was a kick. I enjoyed that.” The most helpful part of his Thomas Harris in his Air Force uniform 100 101 training was all of the aircraft machinist schools that he went to. Harris attended classes for many roofs that weren’t very good at stopping mortar shells. It rained so much that it would sometimes flood the barracks, sometimes as much as six different planes: 103s, 133s, 135s, 121s, B52s, 123s, O1Es, C123s, 124s, C118s, and 130s. Since inches of water would run under the beds. the United States had not gotten involved with the Vietnam War yet, Harris returned home after The food was usually pretty good, except for the milk and eggs because they were made from powder. Harris wasn’t much of a milk drink- his basic training. When he got home, Harris married his high school sweetheart. Harris was then er, but when they finally got real milk, he drank at least a gallon. When they got real eggs, he ate eight or ten. Another thing that was in short assigned to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. He was assigned to the MACT (Material Air Command supply was fresh vegetables. When fresh lettuce came in, Harris piled his plate high with only lettuce and a whole bottle of Kraft Thousand Island Transport) squadron, he maintained cargo planes. While Harris was in Hawaii, his daughter was salad dressing. Safe drinking water was usually pretty far away, so most of the time, the men would just drink beer because it was easier to keep born, but didn’t get to see her until she was six months old. Harris was then transferred to a much a case of warm beer in their locker than it was colder Michigan to a Strategic Air Command Base where he maintained B52s that carried atom to walk a couple of blocks to fresh water. Even bombs, and 135s that refueled the bombers. Michigan was the coldest place Harris had ever been though they never ran out of food, Harris said and, coming from Hawaii, he hated it. So he volunteered to go to Vietnam just to get away from would have given his right arm for a Made-Right, temperatures that were 40 degrees below zero. a Greenville favorite. If they ever ran out of other Harris was supposed to go to Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam, but he had some bumps in the road supplies, they would usually go to Saigon and get to get there. He had to get to Travis Air Force Base in San Francisco, California, but just before his it from the black market. flight was scheduled to leave, the airlines went on strike. Harris had some cousins in town visiting Harris stayed in touch with his family in from Colorado, so he had to sit in the back of a station wagon with four kids all the way to Colo- the form of letters. “My wife wrote every day, rado. When Harris finally got to Colorado, the airline strike was over, so he got a flight from Denver every day. Didn’t send them every day, but she to Travis Air Force Base. He left Travis Air Force Base and stopped in Alaska and Tokyo, Japan on his Harris (left) and Ortez taking a ride in a helicopter would write a few pages, and the next day she way to Vietnam. would write a few pages, and told me what they When Harris arrived in Vietnam, it was raining so hard he could barely see in front of him. Harris got off the flight and stood in the rain were doing, what the kids were doing. And I until he got his bags, then got on a bus that took him to where he signed in. got a letter every few days, always good to get.” It was raining so hard that the ditches on either side of the road were filled While Harris was in Vietnam, he got one week with water. As he was sitting on the bus, he saw a man trying to jump across of R and R. He spent his week in Hawaii with his the ditch. The man didn’t quite make it, and the water was so deep that the wife. “That was definitely the best week out of man went in over his head. While in Vietnam, Harris’ job was to maintain the the whole year and a half I was gone,” he said. C123s that were old cargo planes that had been converted into spray units For a reminder of home Harris took pictures of that sprayed Agent Orange on the jungle. Agent Orange is a de-foliage concoc- his wife, his children, and his ‘55 Chevy. tion that killed the over-growth and under-growth so that the enemy could The most common way to pass the time be more easily seen.139 While in Vietnam, Harris traveled from Ton Son Nhut was to sit around and drink a beer, but some- to Bien Hoa Air Force Base a couple of times. He also traveled to Phu Cat with times they would also watch movies in an empty his squadron, but he did not have to move there with them because, at the lot behind the barracks. The movies were pro- time, he was too close to coming back home. While at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, jected on a fence that they had painted white. Harris came under fire of enemy mortar and rocket attacks. While under fire, One day while Harris was waiting in line to see he would get into a corner and cover up with a mattress. On one particular the movie, a sniper shot a civilian that was wait- morning after a suicide attack the night before, the barber shop was unable to ing with them. The sniper mistook him for an open because many of the barbers had been killed in the attack. officer because he was in a khaki uniform. From While in Vietnam, Harris would work twelve hours a day, seven days that day forward, Harris always wondered who was watching him as he waited in line to see the Harris working on an aircraft a week, or sometimes more. He lived in two story wooden barracks with tin Harris (third from left) with a group of friends 102 103 movie. While in Vietnam, Harris met Sergeant Ron Dobie and they went many places “Looking In” On the World on his Honda Scrambler. One interesting place that they went was the Saigon River. “Every time I see that on Scott Brodzeller “One time we went up near Ben Hoa up on the Saigon River. There was an army out- Have you ever had the opportunity to see things through some- post up there, and, I don’t know where they got it, but they had a speed boat. We’d TV now, when those guys one else’s eyes? Former U. S. Air Force Senior Airman Jim Ellis certainly sit up there and drink beer, and they would water ski on the Saigon River. They’d draw has, but his experiences were not all fun and games. “I felt stress all the straws to see who would go first to water ski up and back and then the other guys come back, I’m happy time. As an intelligence analyst, the information that you gather and would wait till that guy drew fire from the snipers on the other side of the river and provide can mean the difference between life and death…mission suc- they would take them out from our side of the river. That was a little interesting. Luck- because that was just the cess or failure.” ily I never really learned how to water ski, so I just sat there and watched the crazies.” Ellis was 23 and living in Fishers, Indiana during the Global War Harris and Dobie became very good friends during the war, but went their separate most unbelievable thing on Terror and the Iraq/Afghanistan Conflicts. As it happened, this was ways after it ended. After losing track of each other for close to twenty years after the also when he decided to take the bold move of enlisting in the military. war, Harris got back in touch with Dobie, and they ended up being best friends. I’ve ever felt.” Because of the nation’s poor economy, he lost his job as a bookstore One interesting civilian that Harris met in Vietnam was Waldo. “His name was manager. This new need for something to do and his very strong sense Waldo, that’s all I know. Crazy Waldo. He had been a WWII pilot for Germany, then -Thomas Harris of patriotism seemed to be only natural causes for his reasoning to join he became a civilian airline pilot. He lived close to where some of my friends lived off the service. So, on May 19, 2003, Ellis enlisted in the United States Air base because he would sit in the same bar we did and drink. When he got really drunk, he’d get a little crazy. He wore double Luger Holsters, one Force. He chose the Air Force because he felt as if he would perform under each arm, and he’d get drunked up and he’d start shooting, and the bar girls would all get scared and run screaming when Crazy Waldo got better in the primarily mind-based setting as opposed to the mostly drunk.” physical Army. This aspect alone made Air Force boot camp much less On the day that Harris left Vietnam, “it was raining, it rained a lot. I could not believe when we got on the airplane to come back. It was physically demanding than that of the Army or Marines, but it was by no Australian Airlines, I think. BOAC, 707, big four engine jet, and I had an aisle seat. There were civilian stewardesses and they wore miniskirts with means a walk in the park. Ellis added: “Boot camp was very fast paced, high boots, and as they walked up and down the aisle every guy on the plane leaned out of their seat as the girls walked by.” Harris’ happiest and I had to gain a lot of knowledge really fast to prepare for war.” So memory of the war was when he finally got to see his family. “When my flight landed in Vandalia, Ohio, at the Dayton Airport, and I walked into while his training experience was intimidating, Ellis knew that he was up the terminal, and there was my wife and kids. And every time I see that on the TV now, when those guys come back, I’m happy because that was to the challenge. He easily completed the courses, and was finally ready just the most unbelievable feeling I’ve ever felt.” Harris was home in time for Christmas of 1967. The only thing that was different was that his for his first assignment. children were a year and a half older. After the Air Force training programs, Ellis was assigned to the Harris was very angry when he found out that the United States had lost the war. “ I got to watch us lose the war when I was back at home Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He went through after I got out of the service, which I don’t understand to this day because we won all of the battles, but we lost the war. It makes me wonder why the usual processing and was given his main assignment based on his 141 we were there for fifty thousand guys to lose their lives and a couple hundred thousand to be tore up. I just hope someone got rich over it all.” qualifications from boot camp; he was to be an intelligence analyst. After Vietnam, Harris had one hope for the future: that he didn’t have to be gone anymore. This is why he got out of the service. Harris This involved remaining mostly stationary and relaying important (and was gone off and on for almost five out of the seven years that he was in the Air Force. A few days after Harris got out of the service, he went sometimes highly classified) information to aircrafts in certain war- back to work at Fram Oil Filters after being gone for over seven years. Since he didn’t like working in a factory, Harris later got a job at Trans World specific missions. Ellis was actually placed into a fairly elite team, as it Airlines, where he worked for the next seventeen years. turned out, because their main duty was to provide intelligence for the Harris is now a member of his local VFW. “ I stop by once in a while to have a beer with them, and play Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments.” F-117 Nighthawk jet. Most of the methods were classified, but this was While thinking about his time in the service, Harris reflected on the maturity he gained while being in the United States Air Force. “ I guess it primarily done via video communication, encrypted text, and other com- made me more mature in one way or another. I went into the service when I was 19 and Vietnam when I was twenty-three, twenty-four, and mon military “spy tools”. Ellis was quite surprised when he was able to 140 twenty-five. I’m sure it did. If nothing else I’d have grown up wherever I was at, maybe. I’m not sure I’ve grown up yet.” use this highly sophisticated equipment, because “from an intelligence Ellis stands in front of a missile launcher at Holloman 104 105 these things with them. Throughout his entire military career, Ellis advanced to the rank of Senior Airman (basically the military equivalent to an assistant manager in the world of business) and was a very successful leader. In fact, while at Holloman Air Force Base, he eventu- ally had the job of training all of the new recruits at the base after they completed boot camp. Ellis did such Ellis and the intelligence branch of Holloman with the F-117 Nighthawk Jet an exemplary job in training the new inductees that the Air Force recom- perspective, I could ‘look into’ just about anywhere in the world.” But, this device also had many downsides as well. Often the cameras would be mended that all of the other base focused on the front lines of battle, where fighting would cause casualties that would be on the screens. Ellis didn’t appreciate this aspect, as he trainers in the entirety of the U.S. Air knew he couldn’t help those who were injured halfway across the globe. Besides that gruesome detail, the communications devices were really Force should train exactly the way quite useful, and the main portion of an intelligence analyst’s job. that he did. His method is still used Although Ellis was helping out with the war in Iraq at the base, he was eventually sent on a side-mission and was deployed to Korea to today, which is an extremely high continue helping with the intelligence standpoint of the war while the U.S., China, and South Korea tried to discover more about North Korea’s honor. His awards and achievements controversial nuclear plans. The flight over to Seoul, South Korea really stands out in his mind: “During our flight to Korea, I was able to share some from the service include the Air Force intelligence information with the pilot that caused him to change our flight path.” This was one of many instances where he felt like his intelli- Achievement Medal, two Outstanding gence training truly impacted the work he was doing. While Ellis and his crew were in South Korea, they took a bit of time off to go tour the DMZ Unit Awards, and many other various (Demilitarized Zone, or the border between North and South Korea), and a small service medals. town known as “Propaganda Village”, a small town near the border that would Despite his incredible suc- blare messages about how great North Korea was, reflecting its completely isolated cess in the military, Ellis was forced dictatorship government.142 Ellis recalls another highlight from the trip, where a to retire due to a terrifying accident. “rookie” intelligent analyst was giving an intelligence briefing, saying that he knew While deployed in Iraq, Ellis’s unit was for a fact that North Korea would not test a nuclear weapon. However, three days forced to evacuate because of a car later, they did. “From an intelligence standpoint, it was hilarious.” bomb. Luckily, it didn’t detonate, but While being an intelligence analyst could be stressful at times, there were ways Ellis’s knee was severely injured in Ellis (front right, seated) with his intelligence unit at Holloman that a soldier could take his mind off of a hard day’s work. It would often be a the process of evacuation. He has had to undergo surgery, and is even now listed as a disabled veteran. While he has remarkably healed from the popular idea to contact relatives while on a break, but more often than not, many incident, he is still trying to regain the ability to run after two years. military personnel would try to do this all at once. Ellis stated that while on an Today, Ellis is 31 years old and lives with his wife, LiaAnn, and daughter, Madison. He works as a project manager at Briljent, a company in overseas trip, there were four computers and four phones that up to 250 people Indianapolis, Indiana. Ellis believes that his current job allows him to use his well-known, successful training practices every day. He is still a full could be waiting for at one time. So, time was more commonly spent in a break supporter of the military, but does believe that war has become far too politicized. Due to his affiliation with the current war in Iraq and Afghani- area where one could watch television, play an X-box system, play basketball, lift stan and its classified information, however, he does believe that it was started for the right reasons. While he may no longer be able to serve, Jim weights, or even have a barbecue with all of the other soldiers. Ellis had quite Ellis has a legacy in the United States Air Force that will always remain.143 Looking into North Korea for Propaganda Village a few acquaintances in the Air Force, and he spent much of his spare time doing 106 107 Marines
108 109 Robert Crouch By Maria Mancourt The flag-raising at Iwo Jima is an internationally known image, an emotional sight indeed. However, the flag depicted in the photograph is actually the second flag to be planted by US Marines. The first was taken down by the Secretary of the Navy, James V. Forrestal, and replaced by the bigger, more easily-recognized one. Major Gunnery Sergeant Robert Crouch was at Iwo Jima during the first flag-raising. Behind him atop Mt. Suribachi, that little flag was hoisted up by three young men to declare the capture of Iwo Jima; what a sight to see. Crouch decided to join the military in June of 1942 when he and a good friend saw To the Shores of Tripoli, a film about a young man who also enlists. It’s a witty tale of love, opportunity and amazing military skill obtained through training on a naval base. The fic- tional Marine thrives at the base, but at the end of his term he decides to leave. On his way home, he hears that Pearl Harbor has been bombed, and he immedi- ately turns around and rejoins.144 It was so inspiring to Crouch that he and his friend signed up after thePearl Harbor bombing. Robert Crouch Crouch didn’t have a hard time choosing which branch to join; he became a Marine. “We were standing in line looking at the signs outside of the recruiting office, and I said, ‘I like that uniform better than that one.’” He was only seventeen when he signed up, and he went up alone because his friend had flunked his physical. First, Crouch was sent to the San Diego Recruit Depot for basic training. The men were split into platoons of seventy-five to eighty-five men. They had three drill instructors. “They were the law. They told you when to get up, what to wear, what to eat, when to eat, when to go to bed, and made sure that you washed, ate, brushed your teeth, and shaved.” During the second to last week of basic training the men learned how to fire rifles and pistols at the rifle range. When it came to shooting, form mattered just as much as precision. Crouch was good at form and a decent marksman. When the pla- toons were broken into smaller branches, he was asked to stay as a rifle instructor. He trained recruits to shoot for two years. Camp Pendleton was Crouch’s next stop. He joined a reserve outfit made up of 1,506 men. They boarded a ship that sailed down to Pearl Harbor. They changed ships and then traveled through the Pacific islands. First they went past Kwajalein. Then for Robert Crouch at Camp Pendleton California in 1950 fifty-six days the men had to wait at Eniwetok until they were needed, just itching for 110 111 the chance to leave the ship. Crouch’s division also went to Saipan and Guam. At Guam, they assisted the 3rd Marine Division, the 1st Marine Divisional Brigade, and the 77th Army Division during the invasion. On Dreaming, Believing, then Becoming December 21st 1941, Japan began bombing Guam; it was only days after Pearl Harbor. Captain G. J. McMillin, the governor of Guam, surrendered By Marina Young almost immediately. Allied troops liberated the island about three years later. July 21st 1944, fifty thousand U.S. troops shelled and bombed the beaches for three hours.145 Crouch’s outfit arrived several days after the initial invasion. All of the men were scattered across the island, laying low A seemingly small decision of a young seventeen-year-old would end up changing his life forever. Every child has a dream of what they in fox holes. As a major sergeant, Crouch was the second highest ranking officer from the reserve outfit. A second sergeant from one of the other want to become in life. Jerry Young had one that most people are afraid of; he had always dreamed, since he was a boy, that he would be part of divisions came up to him in his foxhole. He asked, “What outfit is this?” Crouch replied, “I wish I knew,” confused by the lack of ability to keep the the Marines. In his childhood, he would often play the game of cops and robbers with his friends or go play on the ice. He wanted to grow up and 1,506 men organized without any real leadership. There was only one man who was decent with typing who kept all of the records. As for the rest defend his nation through the Marines, but the dream of becoming a Marine wasn’t an easy task. Since he was only seventeen at the time of en- of the men, many didn’t even know where they were or why they were there. listment, he had to get a parent’s permission. His father, Walter Young agreed to sign for his son as long as he promised to defend his country and After a few days, the men left Guam only to be shepherded off to Iwo Jima, where the aforementioned flag was raised. Japan had twenty- become more of a man. two thousand soldiers standing ready to defend Iwo Jima. This island was very important to them because they had two airfields stationed there. Jerry Young arrived at his first training facility in the year 1957. The Lebanon Conflict had just started gaining some heat from around the The U. S. wanted to take control of the airfields and block supplies going to Japan from South East Asia. We bombed the island for two months be- world. The Eisenhower Doctrine was just passed in the U.S. This document stated that the U.S. would help support the peace and independence 146 of the Middle Eastern nations. Lebanon was sharply divided between Muslim and Christian faiths. While the government was mainly Christian, the fore any of the troops landed on February 19th, 1945. The devastation didn’t end after the flag-raising. Crippled B-29 planes were being continu- 148 ously landed at the newly acquired airfields. Crouch stood by the runways as planes crashed. Ninety-eight B-29s came to Iwo Jima. Fifty of them majority of the nation’s population was Muslim. This is the main reason for the Lebanon Conflict. crashed, leaving five hundred men sinking in the Pacific Ocean. When he got to the camp, he seemed to be one of the youngest men there. “It was scary, but it gave me the confidence that I could do anything Crouch stayed at Iwo Jima until that I could set my mind to,” Jerry exclaimed. Sergeant Lacky was the immediate person he had to respond to. He had always thought that this Japan was invaded which ended World War man was actually really crazy, but he soon found out that Lacky was an amazing instructor. “He taught me everything I needed to know to survive, II. In January of 1946 he was released from so he was a good instructor,” Jerry stated as he remembered his past. active duty. He spent the majority of the After his training, Jerry believed he was in the best shape of his life and was already feeling better about himself. When they got to Leba- Korean War at Camp Pendleton in south- non, they laid on the beach just relaxing and playing sports to pass the time until they were given orders. When the orders didn’t come in im- ern California. He spent the last nineteen mediately, they were sent around places to train and guard. One of the most memorable places he got to visit was Rome. He loved the different months in Santa Ana, California. He was sites and amazing people, but any vacation anyone took during the Marines wasn’t really a vacation. They were forced to participate in difficult discharged in September of 1984, totaling training exercises that would work them from dawn to dusk. “It was so exhausting; all the running and drills! It seemed like we never had a spare forty-one years, eleven months, and four moment,” Jerry exclaimed. Jerry never saw any combat, but he knew that he had worked as hard as he could. His unit didn’t have any specific jobs, days of military experience. but they were supposed to be prepared for anything and everything. In 1937, when he was only nineteen One of the things that got him through this painful training was the friends that he had years old, Crouch made a ring out of a silver made in his unit. They would always challenge each other and try to make things more of a dollar aboard his ship. Around the time of game, but of course all while staying serious. Although they were not allowed to be friends with the Korean War, he gave it a girl named their officers, he felt like they were really good mentors. Shirley. She is his wife now. That ring means Jerry Young was finally released from his unit after many grueling months of hard work more to her than her wedding ring. and difficult procedures. He recalled being in Camp Regime, North Carolina when he was enlight- War is brutal, but Crouch never re- ened with this wonderful news. This was a huge moment for him. He had finished what he had gretted joining the military. “I never regret- come to do: protect his nation, even if he didn’t see any combat. ted going, never regretted anything I did. After he arrived back home, he met his future wife,Jane Wilson. They would later have And if I had to do it over, I’d do it again… three children: Lori, Jerry Jr., and David. He never had a chance to return to school for a degree, I did about everything they could put me but he became a successful car salesman who could support his family. He is currently a truck through, and I’m still here.”147 driver for Aldi. “If I had to do it all over again, I would do it for them,” Jerry stated. He now dedi- The Marine Corps 232nd birthday. Robert Crouch was the only one who could still fit into his dress uniform (bottom left). cates all of his time to his family and believes they are most important.149 Cloud of smoke and debris from explosion 112 113 a pool behind the barracks. There were also a few nice beaches in Hawaii that were Serving Our Country with Marine Pride located right off the base. By Chelsi Carter Thinking back to the time when he served our country, Gary recalls one very In July of 1974, around the time that the Vietnam War was ending, Gary Summey, resident of Brookville, Indiana, had made the decision to unforgettable event that occurred the last month he was at boot camp. “The last enlist in the United States Marine Corps at the youthful age of seventeen. Mr. Summey was influenced to join the United States Marine Corps by month we were there, we had all learned to function as a group in everything we did: one of his friend’s dad. His friend’s dad had served in WWII in the air wing with Pappy Boyington, and he heard stories of the time they served. working as a team taking care of yourself, and taking care of the guy next to you.” Boyington was a United States Marine Corps officer who was an American fighter ace during World War II and was awarded with both the Medal One evening while all the men were marching up and down, also referred to as the of Honor and Navy Cross.150 Gary Summey was not the only one in his family to serve for his country. He had both an uncle and brother who each parade deck, they were called to a sudden halt around dusk. As all the men that served thirty years in the United States Army, and two nephews who served four years each: one in the United States Marines Corps and one in the were once marching stood at attention, they stood to watch while the American flag United States Army. was lowered and folded. The men continued marching and the drill instructors called Mr. Summey looks back on his training camp experiences and remembers all of the tough times he endured. “The first few days were pure cadence as ninety-four kids tried to keep step with his voice and follow command. A cadence is a traditional call-and-response work song that is sung by military per- terror. Hour after hour of screaming and yelling.” Gary remembers his instructors very clearly as being mean, “It was their job to break us of civil- 151 ian attitudes and make us Marines. They were very good at it.” The instructors were trying to sonnel while running or marching. After a few minutes of that, the Marine Corps weed out those who could not handle the tough times that lay ahead. Mr. Summey developed Hymn played on the loud speaker system. “You could feel ninety-four people stand a new attitude within the first week of his training and dealing with the intense instructors: “If straight and tall while marching. The drill instructor was silent, and all you could hear they can dish it out, I can take it.” is a single person marching. It was eerie how that hymn snapped people to attention “If they can dish it out, I Every day of basic train- and brought out the Marine pride in them.” ing began at five-thirty am for Mr. While Gary was away from his family, he continued to keep in touch the best can take it.” Summey. After the grueling and he could. He made phone calls every couple of months and he could also write let- repetitive schedule, he learned how ters every week or. Although Gary was prepared for combat, he did not get a chance -Gary Summey to be out of bed before the lights to apply the skills he had acquired for that occasion. The highest rank that Mr. Sum- came on. Soldiers wouldn’t dare to mey obtained was that of Corporal. He did receive medals in honor of his service wake up late or leave with their bed not made. A trashcan would be kicked through the bar- including the Rifle Sharpshooter Badge, National Defense Service Medal, and a Good racks, followed by an hour of everyone cleaning up. After the morning chores, Mr. Summey Conduct Medal. and his fellow servicemen would march to breakfast. Physical training was next in order for the Gary Summey was at Camp Pendleton in California the day that his service day, which lasted about an hour and a half. The rest of his days would include classes involving ended. After he had left California, he was on his way to Phoenix to visit a friend be- marching in formation, rifle instruction, first aid, military protocol, hand to hand combat, and fore returning home. He worked for a year until he enrolled at IUPUI. Today, Mr. Gary survival. Summey is working as an Electrical Engineering Technician in field service. After Mr. Summey’s stay at boot camp, he traveled to Twentynine Palms, California. He In today’s society, the mention of war and soldiers serving for our country is describes his arrival as being in the middle of nowhere in the Mojave Desert, and it was ter- all around us. There never seems to be a day where at least one news channel does rible. While he was in California, he attended Combat Engineer School where he learned all not have coverage of something dealing with the war today. Due to all of his per- sonal experiences with the military and his dedication he has to his country, Gary about construction and demolition. After Mr. Summey finished the course, the Corps asked for volunteers for duty. He volunteered for both the 152 locations of Hawaii and Japan, but only got selected to go to Hawaii. When Mr. Summey arrived in Hawaii, he recalls it as a very beautiful place. believes that there is too much news coverage of today’s soldiers and war. While there, he was to provide security at the Naval Ammo Depot, which supplied ships and submarines from Pearl Harbor with weapons. Since Mr. Summey was only seventeen years old at the time, he did not feel much pressure or stress while he was away. He had a good time and learned a lot about himself and what he was capable of. Every base that he went to had entertainment. The base in California had a Gary Summey standing proudly in uniform. bowling alley, a gym, a theater, and stables. Hawaii had just as many opportunities for entertainment including a bowling alley, tennis courts, and 114 115 Appendix
116 117 Notes: 27 1 Clark, Edward E. Personal Interview. March 17 2010. “Nuremberg.” Map. Google Maps. Google, 4 Jan. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. 28 “Fort Hood, Texas | Welcome to Fort Hood.” The Fort Hood Homepage. Web. 19 Apr.