Are You A Veteran?

[BALDEAGLE1949]

Joe Luster

Army

April 69 til Nov 70  Just over 19 months

E 4

11 Bravo  Infantry  Grunt  M60 gunner    If you were not infantry you were support

Only permanant station was Viet Nam

Was hit 5 times & rode 3 choppers down They shot my hide so full of holes it would not hold shucks, still made it home with a little sanity, depends on who you talk to as how much I have  100% disabled service connected Vet

I have a ground burial plot in Arlington with my name on the stone. I buried my late wife there in 1999 which locked my site in

To all who played in the big playground in South East Asia      WELCOME HOME BROTHERS

[hermanmullins]

Joe, 

Sorry for the loss of your wife.

Welcome home and God Bless You For Your Service to Our Country! 

Herman 

[BALDEAGLE1949]

Herman,

I would not take a million dollars for that experience, but you could not get me to do it again for a million dollars at my age. I had the honor of serving with a group of guys who would have died for me & I would have died for them. To many of them died for us all. I am closer to many of them than I am my blood family.

Some men go thru life looking for a good woman. The good Lord gave me a super woman and then decided he wanted her in heavens choir. Then he gave me another one who is amazing. I have been blessed to have had two wives who have to be counted among the greatest women God ever put on this earth.

[Winnie2015]

Retired Air Force E-7,  1991 to 1996 (25 years)  Active & Reserve. Retired from Westover ARB, MA  Telecommunications Center Specialist Supervisor.  Stationed: Otis AFB, MA; RAF Bentwaters, England,, RAF Lakenheath, England, Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota.  Various deployments to Aviano AB, Italy; Moron AFB, Spain, Saint Truiden, Belgium, RAF Sculthorpe, England.

I was advised to stay in the reserves.  Best advise I have ever been given.  Paid medical and pays for the motorhome.  :-)

Edited May 9, 2017 by Winnie2015
spelling and clarification

[wildebill308]

Winnie2015, Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service.

Bill

[bosun]

Retire Coast Guard Chief Boatswains Mate.  Retired in 1995 off the USCGC Ouachita at Chattanooga, Tn.  Served on various river buoy tenders, Search and Rescue/law enforcement Stations and schools.  

Semper Paratus!

[hermanmullins]

Thank you for your service Hooligan. 😆

Herman 

[jpmihalk]

US Navy Surface Warfare Officer

1986-1997

USS LaMoure County (LST-1194) - CIC Officer
Special Boat Unit 20 - Ops Officer
Instructor - Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic - Dam Neck
USS Nitro (AE-23) - Ops Officer
USS Saipan (LHA-2) - 1st LT

[bigred1cav]

Yes US ARMY 1963

[rayin]

First things first. SeaJay how are you doing now? Haven't heard from you in years.

1. Ray Fowler

2. U.S.A.

3. 21 years

4.1SG-E8

5.Began my career  as a welder/machinist in a Construction battalion, 2 yrs later reassigned to HQ Ft. Lewis, 2 yrs later reassigned to  computer data analyst (go figure) for 2 yrs.     Requested  MOS change to 11B prior to CDA assignment, where I spent the rest of my years bouncing around stateside posts working as a drill sergeant/St. drill/ 1SG (11B5MX)

6. By the time my MOS was changed to 11B, Vietnam was over.

My ancestors have served in the military (every war or conflict) since the Revolutionary War.  

 

 

[gbs2132]

1.  Steve Bohrer

2.  US Air Force

3.  Sept 1975 to May 31, 1997

4. E-7 Master Sergeant

5. Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE Ranger)  Any equipment used on the flightline to support aircraft powered and non-powered.  Also served as a Technical Training Instructor at Chanute and Dyess.

6.  Clovis, NM 1976-77, Ramstein AB West Germany 77-80, Hill AFB UT 80-81, Chanute AFB, IL 82-87, Dyess AFB, TX 87-97

[BillAdams]

Welcome!

[wildebill308]

2 hours ago, gbs2132 said:

1.  Steve Bohrer

2.  US Air Force

3.  Sept 1975 to May 31, 1997

4. E-7 Master Sergeant

5. Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE Ranger)  Any equipment used on the flightline to support aircraft powered and non-powered.  Also served as a Technical Training Instructor at Chanute and Dyess.

6.  Clovis, NM 1976-77, Ramstein AB West Germany 77-80, Hill AFB UT 80-81, Chanute AFB, IL 82-87, Dyess AFB, TX 87-97

Welcome to the forum.

[RICHARDBRALEY]

1. Richard

2. Navy

3. 1968 - 1971

4. E4

5. Operations Specialist in NAM, EW on John King

6. Vietnam ('69-'70), USS John King DDG-3 ('70-'71)

 

[hermanmullins]

Richard,

Welcome aboard Shipmate and welcome to the Forum

Thank you for your service.

Herman

[gulya]

On July 7, 2017 at 10:50 PM, RAYIN said:

First things first. SeaJay how are you doing now? Haven't heard from you in years.

1. Ray Fowler

2. U.S.A.

3. 21 years

4.1SG-E8

5.Began my career  as a welder/machinist in a Construction battalion, 2 yrs later reassigned to HQ Ft. Lewis, 2 yrs later reassigned to  computer data analyst (go figure) for 2 yrs.     Requested  MOS change to 11B prior to CDA assignment, where I spent the rest of my years bouncing around stateside posts working as a drill sergeant/St. drill/ 1SG (11B5MX)

6. By the time my MOS was changed to 11B, Vietnam was over.

My ancestors have served in the military (every war or conflict) since the Revolutionary War.  

 

 

Welcome from one retired 1SG to another

[punxsyjumper]

On 5/9/2017 at 9:01 AM, BALDEAGLE1949 said:

Joe Luster

Army

April 69 til Nov 70  Just over 19 months

E 4

11 Bravo  Infantry  Grunt  M60 gunner    If you were not infantry you were support

Only permanant station was Viet Nam

Was hit 5 times & rode 3 choppers down They shot my hide so full of holes it would not hold shucks, still made it home with a little sanity, depends on who you talk to as how much I have  100% disabled service connected Vet

I have a ground burial plot in Arlington with my name on the stone. I buried my late wife there in 1999 which locked my site in

To all who played in the big playground in South East Asia      WELCOME HOME BROTHERS

We were always told, unless you're walking point, you're rear echelon, haha. Stay sharp.

[punxsyjumper]

Kind of late getting in here but better late than never.

1) Jim Wicker

2) Army

3) 4 years DEC77 - DEC81

4) Went in as an E-nothing, 20 months later made Corporal and got out as an E-5 squad leader

5) 11B1P  Airborne grunt and got the bad back that goes with it.

6) Basic at Dix, AIT at Benning and jump school also. Went to Bragg with the 82nd ABN during the Zaire call out and was there during the hostage situation wondering why we were just sitting there. In spring of '80 got levied for Korea and volunteered for JSA up on the "Zee. After the tree cutting incident, they started pulling guys out of the eighty duece and slapped MP arm bands on us. People don't realize that in '53 a peace treaty was never signed. They only did a cease fire and I'm here to tell ya, that ain't workin' either. We were shooting at them and they were shooting at us but we're not supposed to talk about that. Spring of '81 went back to Bragg and after a bad night jump, screwed my back up. I went in for the full 20 years but after being jerked around because of my injury, I told 'em to shove it and went back to work at US Steel, bad back and all. 

My thanks goes to all who stepped up to the plate. 

[hermanmullins]

Jim,

Thank you for your service. 

Was at Benning 2 years ago a got a personal tour of the Parachute Loft . Man has it changed since I packed chutes 54 years ago. 8 years as a Navy Parachute Rigger. Did my training at Lakehurst, NJ.

Herman 

Edited September 19, 2017 by Hermanmullins
Missing word

[punxsyjumper]

3 hours ago, hermanmullins said:

Jim,

Thank you for your service. 

Was at Benning 2 years ago a got a personal tour of the Parachute Loft . Man has it changed since packed chutes 54 years ago. 8 years as a Navy Parachute Rigger. Did my training at Lakehurst, NJ.

Herman 

Very cool. During basic at Dix, a few of us went to Lakehurst for some kind of detail that I'm sure I didn't volunteer for. Got to see the Hindenburg monument and the other zeppelin hangers. I forget what we did there but we had lunch inside those hangers. They were huge. 

[ispjs]

1.  Joe Spidle Sr.

2.  Army

3.  March 70 to November 73

4.  E-5

5.  64C20 MOS

6.  Germany - Viet Nam - WSMR (New Mexico)

[manholt]

Lucky you..2 out of 3 is not bad.  I just got Nam!  Thank you for the blank check!

I'm in here somewhere..

[ispjs]

There were three of us that were lucky.  We made grand plans for getting Harleys and traveling the U.S. when we got back.  We were 18 and 19 year old kids.  Plans changed, we all got older, raised families.  Mark Aberle was the first to die of AO related cancer this year.  My other buddy Vernon was diagnosed with the same types of cancers a couple months ago.  In the last 8 years I have watched my brother-in-law and my first cousin die of AO cancers (both VN Army combat vets).   

Yes, it was a blank check with no date filled in.

 

[wayne77590]

I posted somewhere back but I encourage any veteran with ailments to seek VA support. If 'Nam vet the presumptive lists of diseases from AO are many. 

Like many I was stubborn. Retired in '84...in '96 friends kept urging me to file for VA... I did and it is one of the better decisions I have made.

Before anyone criticizes the, the Houston VA is one of the better ones in the country.

Thanks to all who have served and may you years be filled with happiness.

[ispjs]

I hear you Wayne.   After my BIL and cousin passed I really didn't dig into any information on Agent Orange or the VA for that matter.  They were both a few years older than me and were in different locations at different times in country.  But now with two of my closest friends that I was housed with while in VN contacting AO cancers I have taken notice obviously.  I know there are more and more cancers and health problems being listed by the VA as caused by AO exposure.  I am discussing some of these things with my civilian Doctor next month and may take advantage of some free screening offered by the VA here in Florida.