TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE, WHAT INFLUENCED HIS/HER DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY?
I was always interested in the military because of my family's generations of service dating back to the Mexican-America War. My father's stories of action in the South Pacific, where he was a gunner on 40MM's aboard a DE. The war movies about WWII especially had an influence upon me. I joined the Navy on the Delayed Enlistment program in April '65 and entered active duty in July '65. I had aspirations of being an AE, but electricity in the practical form and I just didn't agree. I was transferred to NAS Boca Chica (Key West) and was assigned to the Crash Crew. After a couple of months, I became a Photo Mate striker. I volunteered for duty in Vietnam several times, and finally received my orders in late July of '67 and reported to NAS North Island for counter-insurgency training along with SERE training. I was assigned to Observation Squadron Sixty Seven (VO67) for duty in SEA. www.vo-67.org/ is our website that will explain our Top Secret mission. Basically, we dropped sensors on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and around the Khe Sanh Marine Firebase, before, during, and after the Tet Offensive of '68. We lost 20 crewmembers during our missions. One member, CDR Paul Milius, was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. Our missions for Khe Sanh were proven to stop the Firebase from being overrun by the NVA and the VC. The award I am most proud of is the Presidential Unit Citation VO67 received, albeit almost forty years later. VO67 was not declassified until 1998. Upon decommissioning, we were told that we were forbidden to discuss our mission with anyone, including family members. While with VO67, I was a photographer and an M60 gunner on our aircraft. Being a photographer, I was also assigned (loaned) to the USAF to fly on Forward Air Control missions in O2A Super Skymasters to detect gun and SAM emplacements on the Trail and southern North Vietnam. As far as any one person standing out as having the biggest impact upon me, I have to list two. First, SCPO Willam A Harper, who took me in as a Photo Mate striker in '66 and taught me quite a bit and helped me learn and advance quickly. He was strict and that reinforced my character. Another person was PH1 James Lee Weaver, who befriended me when I first came to the Photo Lab. We became very close friends, and continued our friendship when we attended Photographer's Mate "B" School in Pensacola. Our wives also became close friends, and we remain so today. One of the most humorous recollections was in Key West at promotion time. All those promoted we place in a large vat of water, and pottasium permanganate was added to the water, causing everywhere it touched your body to turn purple! Only those who knew their chemical training knew how to remove the staining! Upon discharge, i went to work as a newspaper photographer and was assigned to the Society Page. After a year of that, I left because I just wasn't excited by it after combat photography. I then went to various professions, including insurance, steel mill work, teaching, Private Investigation, and, finally, welding, where I was severely injured in 1991 and was retired because of it. The military influenced my life by teaching me order and discipline with my life, and to always act professional in whatever vocation I persued. I belong to several military associations: VO67 Association (Board Member), VFW, AMVETS, TLC BROTHERHOOD, KHE SANH VETERANS, MARINE CORPS ASSOCIATION, MARINE CORPS HERITAGE FOUNDATION, and, of course TWS. To those still serving, my advice is to always be a professional and to obey the orders of those in charge of you. Someday, YOU might be in charge. Always remember that the vast majority supports you! TWS is fairly new to me, but I have found a few friends, and am always captivated by the stories told my other former and present Navy personnel.
|
