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to Veterans The Wilmington In recognition of Veterans Day November 11, 2019 Club

Veterans share their histories of service In advance of Veterans Day 2019, members of the WIlm- armed service and comment on what it meant to them. Here ington Rotary Club were asked to describe their time in the are their answers.

Larry Anderson Joseph F. Augustine U.S. U.S. Army, Private First Class Specialist 5th Class My education at UNC Chapel Hill was I served in the Mary- interrupted when I en- land Army National listed in the United Guard from 1965 to States Army. I was sent 1971. I started with the to Medical and Surgi- 29th Infantry Division, a cal Tech School at Fort high-priority unit during Sam Houston. Upon the , where I completion of the re- was a member of a rifle quirements, I became a platoon. During the last member of the Medical Corps. I was sent to the 98th General Hospital in Munich, Germany and was in the WWII Army Occupation. For 14 months as a physi- cal therapy instructor, my duties were to help rehabilitate injured soldiers. At that time Munich was 95% destroyed year and a half of my service from the bombings and had not time, our company became part been reconstructed. My abil- of the 729 Maintenance Battal- ity to speak fluently in German ion. My final job was serving gave me a unique opportunity as an accounting specialist in to get to know the local people charge of controlling the com- of Munich. pany’s inventory programs. Later, I was a major in the as well as com- Editor’s note: An earlier version of this mander of the Chapel Hill Civil publication was distributed at the club’s Nov. Air Patrol. I was the pilot on 5, 2019 meeting. This updated edition includes many NC missions where we information about additional Rotarian veterans searched for missing civilian who chose to submit statements and photos. and military aircraft. 1 Scott Betz Henry Brown U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, Major Petty Officer Second Class I graduated from the Military Insti- I served in the United tute with a BS in civil en- States Navy from 1970 gineering in June, 1960. to 1979. I was stationed I received a commission aboard the USS John as a second lieutenant in F Kennedy, CV-67, for the U.S. Army on June three and a half cruises. 14, 1960. I was assigned For two and a half cruis- to Fort Benning, Georgia es I was a member of and graduated from the Attack Squadron VA-72 Officers Basic Program. where I worked on the I was subsequently as- jets’ radar and bombing signed to Fort Jackson, computers. For my final S.C., where I served as commander of a basic

training company. In 1961, I was assigned to serve as post engineer at Fort Jackson based on my engineering background. cruise I was a member of ship’s I subsequently applied for and company. It was an incredible received a branch transfer to time in my life. The experienc- the Army Corps of Engineers. es and places I traveled shaped I was promoted to first lieuten- my adult life. I was honorably ant in 1961. At the end of my discharged and am still proud active duty obligation in 1963 I of my service to our country. entered the Corps of Engineers Reserves, being promoted to captain and later major during Ken Bishop my tenure. U.S. Army, Corporal Kathryn Bruner I was drafted into the U.S. Army January 21, U.S. Coast Guard, 1953. I was sent to Camp Gordon in Georgia, Operations Specialist where I was placed into Joining the U.S. Coast the Signal Corps. I com- Guard felt like my call- pleted my basic training ing. I have a younger sis- plus six weeks of radio ter I wanted to set an ex- repair. After my training ample for. I had the great I weent to Camp Loe- privilege of working in der in Salzburg, Austria. Washington at a Small This is a beautiful , Boat Search and Rescue

divided by the Salzach River. I worked in a small house on a mountain with Morse Code and teletype equipment. I worked Unit, in Oregon at a Search and with the teletype equipment Rescue Air Station and finally in keeping the signals 5/5, which North Carolina working for the went downtown to the crypto Command Center for the State. guys. I received an honorable Serving in the Coast Guard was discharge as a corporal on De- an honor and I would do it all cember 21, 1954. over again if I could. 2 Bunny Donohue William Bryan Fuller U.S. Navy, Lieutenant U.S. Navy, Lieutenant I served in the After finishing Offi- Navy Nurse Corps from 1969- cer Candidate School, 1973. I began at the hospital I served as an officer in Portsmouth, Virginia as an aboard a ship where we ICU nurse. I then served on the replenished the United USS Sanctuary hospital ship in States Sixth Fleet in the Vietnam where I worked in the Mediterranean Sea. My Intensive Care Unit 18 hours a day taking care of wounded U.S. soldiers and Vietnamese Nationals that were brought in on helicopters. I then served at the Subic Bay Air Station in the Philippines where I took care of men and women assigned to the base and those arriving on incoming ships. Finally, I served on Parris Island in South Carolina where I took care of Ma- main job was performing offi- rine recruits and I met my husband who was a Navy doctor. cer of the deck bridge watches. I grew up in a Navy family. My dad served in the Navy for I served active duty from 1964 30 years and both of my parents are buried in Arlington through 1967. National Cemetery.

James L. Edge Robert Greer U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class Port Securityman Second Class I served in the 82nd Air- I joined the US Coast borne Division from Guard Reserve in the mid- 1952 to 1955 and for sixties. I was going to college six years as an active and worked as a lifeguard at reserve. This included Wrightsville Beach in the sum- mer. We worked closely with the Coast Guard. I was getting close to graduation and the draft was in play. I decided on the Coast Guard rather than be drafted. I stayed in the reserves until September of 1972 when I was honorably discharged with the rank of Port Securityman Second Class. combat action in Hay Street Bars. I grew up in and around Fort Bragg and always planned James Hundley to be a trooper and earn a GI bill. U.S. Air Force, Major Special thanks to: I served in the Air Force as an • Rotary Veterans Committee – Scott orthopedic surgeon at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas for Betz, Matt Mylott, Noah Woods, and David two years. Grandey • John Meyer for layout and design of this publication • John Lyon for printing this publication 3 Bill Humphrey Russ La Belle U.S. Army, Corporal U.S. Army, Sergeant I served for two years I served in the Civil during the Air Patrol, which pre- doing cryptography code pared me for being draft- work under the “for eyes ed into the U.S. Army, only” classification for where I served from 1962 to 1964. I began in Fort Hood, Texas, do- ing artillery surveying as an Army MOS 153a. I then served in the 2nd Armored Division. High- lights included amphibi-

ous training and being on the trains headed to Cuba and then the Army, which was the high- turning back around when the est classification they had. I Missile Crisis subsided. We was an S3 corporal and served were also air-lifted to Germany at a well-secured location. to perform maneuvers for three weeks to prove to NATO that the Army could deploy a divi- Wilbur D. Jones, Jr. sion vs. having to have a per- manent presence. Finally, Pres- U.S. Navy, Captain ident Kennedy was supposed to I was commissioned from in review our division on his fate- 1956. As both a Regular Navy and Navy Reserve officer, ful day in Dallas. I served on six ships in the Pacific and Mediterranean with a specialty in amphibious Howard H. Loving Jr. warfare. I commanded two Navy Reserve units U.S. Navy, Captain including an amphibi- I am a retired United ous assault support unit. I States Navy captain. served for four and a half I served from 1960 to years as a captain in the 1990. I served in combat Pentagon and served on during the Vietnam War the staff of the chief of na- from 1971 to 1972 and val operations as the Na- in the Persian Gulf and vy’s weapons systems in- North Arabian Sea from tegrated logistics support 1980 to 1981. During coordinator. I retired in my career I had four 1984 after 28 years of ser- tours as a commanding officer. The Navy vice. I served the Department provides significant leadership of Defense nearly 41 years as opportunities to young officers a Navy officer and civilian, in- serving at sea starting with cluding seven and a half years underway officer of the deck at the Pentagon. responsibilities in a battle group in unscripted situations. My family’s complete support during my four command tours and their willingness to live overseas on four occasions meant the most to me during my career. 4 Richard McGraw Tom McMillan U.S. Air Force, Major U.S. Coast Guard I served in the United Hospital Corpsman First Class (HM1) States Air Force from I served in the U.S. 1955 to 1983 both as an Coast Guard on active enlisted man and as a duty from 1965 to early public affairs officer. I re- 1967. After leaving boot tired from the Air Force camp at Cape May, N.J., I attended Hospital Corps School at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illi-

Reserves as a major. I served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970. For me, the service was all about nois. After graduation, I served growing up, teamwork and at the Great Lakes Naval Hos- looking out for your brothers- pital, then spent time in Cleve- in-arms. land, Ohio and Yorktown, Va. After active duty, I remained in Bill McMillan the Coast Guard Reserve for six years, last serving as a hospital U.S. Air Force, Major corpsman first class (HM1). I served in the Air Force Reserves from John Meehl 1963 until 1968 and went on active duty from 1968 U.S. Air Force, Staff Sergeant to 1970. I served as a ma- jor in the USAF Medi- I served in cal Corps at Travis Air the Air Force Force Base in California from 1969 to where I became chief of 1972, includ- the Gastroenterology De- ing two tours in Vietnam and one tour inside Chey- enne Mountain, Colo., tracking partment at a 400-bed general satellites. While in Vietnam, I hospital and a 200-bed casu- served in Saigon (now Ho Chi alty staging unit. This experi- Minh City) attached to a four- ence gave me great insight into service joint command called what our troops faced in Viet- Military Assistance Command nam. My Air Force experience Vietnam (MACV). I also served was very useful throughout my as an adjunct to the U.S. Em- medical career. bassy in Saigon and received a letter of commendation from Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker for my night teaching at the University of Saigon.

5 Matt Mylott Clark Pearson U.S. Marine Corps, Captain U.S. Army, First Lieutenant I enlisted and was I was in the Reserve later commissioned Officer’s Training pro- in the Marine Corps gram (ROTC) at the from 1999 to 2008. University of Southern I was a critical skills Mississippi from 1954 operator at 2d Re- to 1958. I also joined the connaissance Bat- Army Reserves in 1956- talion and ultimate- 1957 before graduation. ly with 2d Force After graduation, I was Recon Company. assigned to active duty My team was one of the very first Ameri- can elements in Af- ghanistan and my battalion ran point for 2d Marine Divi- sion in the invasion at Ft. Lee, Va., for training, of Iraq. I returned to schooling, and assigned as bat- both countries later talion executive officer in 1958 as a platoon com- and 1959. After active duty I mander and com- served in the Army Reserves as pany executive offi- a first lieutenant from 1960 to cer. I left the Marine 1967. I am currently a member Corps as a junior of Post 10, American Legion. captain. I was most Nick Rhodes Jr. U.S. Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel I served in the Air Force from 1966 to 1987. I was commissioned through the ROTC program at N.C.A&T State University. passionate about being ac- I served on active duty be- countable for the lives of my ginning as an aircraft main- brothers, for fighting tyranny tenance officer at Chanute and evil and fighting for those AFB in Illinois, Kunsan who can’t fight for themselves. AFB in South Korea and Norton AFB in California. After completing gradu- ate school, I became an Billy King R&D systems acquisition management officer in the satellite communications of- North Carolina U.S. fice at Hanscom AFB in Mas- sachusetts. I then attended the Air Force National Air Command Staff College Guard, Sergeant at Maxwell AFB in Alabama I served from 1968 to 1974 in before returning to Hanscom the North Carolina Air National AFB as an acquisition and in- Guard. formation technology officer in the Space Surveillance System Directorate. I returned to South Korea as director of logistics for the Air Force Military As- sistance Group and finished my career at the Pentagon as the program manager for the Saudi Arabian AWACS Procurement. 6 Robert ‘R.B.’ Richey R. Joe Rogers U.S. Navy, Lieutenant U.S. Army, Colonel Following gradua- I grew up at the Army tion from the U.S. Na- post in Fort Leavenworth, val Academy in 1964 Kansas where my father and temporary duty as a served in the Army. So it computer instructor dur- was a natural that I would ing Plebe Summer at the make the Army a ca- Academy, I entered the reer where I served from Navy’s Nuclear Power 1945 to 1976. I served as Program and became a an infantry rifle platoon nuclear submarine offi- leader and infantry heavy cer. I served aboard two weapons company com- ballistic missile subma- mander in the Third In- rines and as the senior nuclear ship superinten- dent at the Charleston

fantry Division in Korea from Naval Shipyard. Submarine pa- 1952 to 1953. I served as an trols related to serving as a stra- aviation battalion commander tegic deterrent during the Cold in the First Aviation Brigade in War with the Soviet Union and Vietnam from 1965 to 1996. I shipyard duty involved refuel- served as chief of staff of the ing and retrofitting nuclear sub- First Aviation Brigade in Viet- marines. I left the Navy after nam from 1971 to 1972. I re- five years of active duty asa tired as a colonel. lieutenant, USN, upon conclud- ing that submarine patrols dur- ing the Vietnam War were not Bill Rose the best way to raise a family. U.S. Navy, Commander Upon graduation from Page Teer UNC, I entered the Navy Officer Candidate U.S. Army, First Lieutenant School in Newport, R.I., I served two tours with and received my reserve the 11th Calvary “Black commission. My first Horse” Regiment in the assignment was as gun- U.S. Army as a first lieu- nery officer aboard USS tenant and platoon leader Eldorado, an amphibi- in 1967 and 1968. We ous flagship out of San were all tanks, probably Diego. I spent the next the toughest, baddest two years aboard, most bunch of all. We survived of that time deployed to WESTPAC support- ing the war in Vietnam. After two years at sea, I asked for a transfer to serve with the River Patrol Forces in Vietnam. I ar- rived two weeks before the big Tet Offensive in 1968 and saw the worst of the Tet Offensive lots of action then and during in Vietnam. One of my jobs was the remainder of my tour there. “tunnel ratting” and in my pho- After Vietnam, I entered the to I had just set some charges Reserves. Alongside my career to blow them up. I married my in banking and active civic life, wife Joan two weeks before my I ended up staying in the Re- first trip. serves for twenty years, retiring with the rank of commander. 7 Jacob N. Shepherd Frederick Willetts III U.S. Army Air Force, Captain U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer Second Class In 1969, I did a six- month tour of active duty at Cape May, New Jer- sey, Yorktown, Virginia and during the Vietnam War on Governors Is- land in New York where I was involved with the loading of explosives. I then served five more years in the Reserves do- ing monthly drills and

two weeks of deployment each summer where I was assigned to the Coast Guard Captain of the Port inspecting ships at the Port of Wilmington and served at the Reserve Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia. I was honorably discharged in 1975. Julie Wilsey I was a captain in the U.S. Army, Captain Eighth Air Force, which now serves as the Air I was commissioned Force’s Global Strike as an engineer officer Command. During World directly after gradua- War II, I was stationed in tion from West Point in England and was a first June, 1992. I served in pilot, flying 27 bombing construction and combat missions over Germany engineer units in Germa- in a four-engine B-17 ny, Macedonia and Fort bomber named Bottle Baby. I was always inter- ested in flying. I had an uncle who served in the Bragg. I completed service in 1998 as a captain, earning air- borne and jumpmaster qualifi- Air Force in Alaska and I was cations. raised in Greensboro which had a large airport.

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