Memorial Day. Who has served in the military?

[dj]

Well, since it was memorial day yester day I got to wondering about how many members are either retired military or currently in the military.  I know of a few others that are/have been in the military.  I think it woud be interesting for all of us military members past and present to give a brief summary of what branch you were in and where you served.  Never know, maybe we have some members that served in the same areas at the same time.

I'll start off.  I am a ground radio maintenance tech in the Maine Air National Guard.  I have only been in for 5+ years, but it has been a great time for me.  I have learned a hell of a lot about who I am as a person, and before any of you guys ask yes Air Force Basic training is very easy and no we don't have time out cards.  ;D

Since joining my unit I have had the chance to go to Turkey (2 times), England (2 times), Delaware (once), Georgia (once), Biloxi Mississippi (twice, both times for training schools.  once for 10.5 months and the second for 2 weeks).  Other then that I have stayed state side working at my shop on full time orders.  I have also had a chance to meet lots of great people from all over the country, both during schools and during operations both stateside and overseas.

I have seen many great sites that I never would have seen had I not joined the military.  For anybody who has never been to Turkey it is a beautiful country filled with lots of early christian church history.  I got to visit places from the bible and see some of the earliest churches in that area (most carved right into the rock of the mountain sides).

[h2olawyer]

Cool idea for a thread.

When I got out of high school, the military was not a very popular direction to go (late 70s post Vietnam Syndrome).  I never joined and regret that decision these days.  I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone who has made the decision to serve this country by joining military service.

My father was in the Philippine Islands with the US Navy just after the US regained them in WWII.  My mom's brother was killed on board the USS Astoria in the battle of Savo Island (in the Solomon Islands near Guadalcanal).   My grandfathers fought in WWI in France.  My mom's father - a Swedish immigrant - was severely injured in the Argonne Forest.  He was passed by several times when those looking for wounded thought he was dead.  He could only blink his eyes.  Finally, a sharp eyed soldier noticed him blinking & got him to medical treatment.  He spent many months in hospitals in Europe & the US after that, but came back to his homestead in Wyoming and lived into the early 1950s.

A friend of mine joined the Marines in 1980.  He was injured in the bombing of the barracks in Beiruit.  Haven't heard from him in years, but I suspect he's likely involved in intel work these days.  He learned Arabic in the mid 80s and has those "Joe Anybody" international looks.  He was also an Embassy guard in South Africa.  Another friend was in the Army for many years - retired just last Summer.  He rose to the rank of Colonel & served as General Abizaid's chief intel officer.  His brother is currently an MD serving with the Navy in San Diego.

This Memorial Day was the first time in over fifteen years that I couldn't make it to the local Memorial Day services.  I was on the road, returning from some SCCA races in Utah.  I did take time to think about all our fallen soldiers, sailors & airmen from the current conflicts as well as all those we lost over the entire history of this nation.

H₂O

[dj]

H20, sounds like your family has a lot of military history.  And it also sounds like you were brought up with a lot of respect for those who served and gave all they had.  It is good to know that thier are still people out there who remember what Memorial Day is all about, not just another day off from work.

[Sable]

Like DJ, I'm in the Air National Guard in New Hampshire (12.5 years in), 10 as Security Forces (Air Force Military Police) and the last 2.5 years in Computer Networking and Maintenance, 7.5 years until I retire!

After volunteering for every overseas deployment (and getting none), I got sent to Washington DC (right after 9-11) to Andrews AFB where I spent all of my time doing all kinds of special security details (got my Vision 2 days before I deployed there, then it sat for 2 years). Spent all of my free time ordering parts for the Vision. In 2005 I changed from MP to Communications for a less physically demanding job (the mind was willing but the body wasn't).

Places I've been to: San Antonio Tx x2, Ft. Dix NJ, Charlston SC AFB, Gulfport, Ms, Langley Va AFB, Indian Springs AFAF x2, Ft. Hood Tx., Niagra AFRB, Hurlbert Field Fl., Andrews AFB DC, Volk-Field Wi, and last and certainly least Biloxi Mississippi to Keesler AFB.

~John

[kiawrench]

lol, i walked across the stage in 77, got my diploma, and didnt stop until i was seated on the bus to ft benning, basic, infantry school were a cakewalk, (am son of army drill sgt), airborne school was a bit skaky, but fun,,  left ft benning, went to ranger school selection (RIP), ranger school, us army ordinance school( demolitions and explosives certified) then back to ft bragg for special forces selection course, as a walk in, then after selection went to training as 18E , SF engineering , with english and korean as my two lang skills , with farsi arabic as a third, but not certified. was stationed in korea, germany, thailand, hawaii, and paticipated in operations in quite a few places, some we can not ,by law discuss.  i did get to go to the falklands, panama, grenada,lybia, belgian congo, kuwait, saudi arabia and iraq, finishing up after an extended tour in bosnia. almost 20 years of being all i could be. at 21 yrs in, i was retired for medical reasons, and have worked in a few fields since then ,  my latest job gives me true personal satisfaction, but early termination of a career with this company doesnt have much in way of benifits- blackwaterusa- ( i just handle shipping of equipment and supplies, but still know where it is going )  i tried just being a mechanic, but it turned out to be too dull for me!

[dj]

Wow Kia, you are a real "Billy Bada$$" aren't you.   ;D  Sounds like you did quite a bit in the service.  Do you miss it?

Hopefully your dad didn't make you keep a wall locker with perfectly folded clothes in it!  ::) Couldn't resist.  ;D

[kiawrench]

no dj, not a bad anything , just a guy that grew up in military and didnt see any other choice but continue the tradition.  i got lucky, got to see a lot of things and go a lot of places, but trust me, i am clearly paying the price for all that fun - a choice like that will take it's toll on your body ,and as i get older, i remember every single injury i ever got-- they just seem to all be tied into one big chain----
but ,if i could go back and do it again, yes ,in a split second, and with no wasted steps .

and yes , my father liked to see everything having a place, and being in it if not in use. he was a lot like the drill sgt in "full metal jacket" R.Lee Ermy. he lived by the rule that if something didnt kill you ,it could only make you stronger! Glad i only brought daughters into this world .

[Coil Coyle]

James Edward Coyle II          MM 2     1940-1942                                                             died in action. Coral Island, Coral sea 1942
Roger Dale Roberts               SP 1  "never came home" from Viet Nam                                        died on the streets of Bakersfield 1991
Jack (no middle initial) Coyle  PFCNormandy D Day +6 "We walked ashore, I can't claim much...Well, we saved the Jews."       Cancer 1999
Rodney Thomsen                 S 1      War of the Pacific. Loving Father of Lori Ann                                                           Cancer 1998   


:'(
Coil

[steve]

I was in the Army Reserve in 1970 to 1977.  Vietnam was still happening but was mostly winding down.  I had to wait to get in because others were trying to avoid the draft then but my number was so high I stood little chance of getting drafted.  by 1971 very few were concerned with the draft.  I went to Ft. Ord in Monterey for basic and they were experimenting with the new "volunteer army".  Very relaxed and low discipline.  Then went to Ft. Polk in Louisiana and wow what a change!  Almost everyone there was going to Vietnam or just got back from there.  Very, very hardcore and tough.  I learned a lot that's still with me today.
I was a drill instructor for six years.  I wasn't very good at it but once put into that job it was impossible to get out of it or change because there was so much demand.
My dad flew b26 bombers in Italy during WWII and my uncle flew p38's.  When my uncle came home on leave, he had to have his mom sign for him to get a Calif driver license! 
My uncle went on to fly jets in Korea and during the Cold War he dissappeared over the Atlantic Ocean while testing our defense capabilities.
Steve

[ps2/bikevision]

i spent 2 years in the Army Reserves beforeing going active for only 6 months. My circulation system got all screwed up from one of the million shots i got before going to germany. End up getting booted before i could have any real fun. I did my basic at Ft. Knox, KY (school of hard nocks) then a.i.t. In Ft. Sill, OK. mos was multi launch rocket systems crewmember. Sounds coolier than it was. If id stayed in i would of been taking alot of collage classes just to stay busy. Not much call for that training in the real world.

after floatimg around for a few years like a lost child working odd jobs, trying to figure out what id do next, i got my cdl and started driving truck. All my life i wanted to be in the army. The plan was always, since i was very little, to pull 20+ years in the army, retire and travel the country driving truck.

at least i can say i have achived my life long goals. Though a bit qiucker than i had planned. One should not achieve there life goals at 23 years old. Now at 25 im starting over

[Lucky]

It may not be considered "real" military, But I am a member (now associate) of the Kentish Guard, R.I.M.

The Kentish Guard is the second oldest, continuous (read never decommissioned) military unit in the United States.  Second only to the Old Guard, who perform for the president, & state ceremonies.

Technicaly we could be called to action, but would be fighting with slightly antiquated weapons, lol

The K.G. was chartered Oct 29.th, 1774.
Our website is here: http://www.kentishguards.org/index.htm

I have marched in parades all over New England, we are allways at the head of the Colonial division, in 1981 i took part in the recreation of Rochambeau's march to Yorktown where the British eventually surrendered in 1781. Nathanial Green started out as a private in the Kentish guards, & later on in the war had Count de Rochambeau train the militia company in the manual of arms.

The uniforms shown in the gallery are from the federalist period, consist of a heavy wool 'Great coat" wool trousers, vest, leggings, boots, Jabeau (lacy thing under the chin), leather Shako helmet with bears fur & plume denoting Rank. The entire uniform including canteen, acutriments & brown bess, weighs over 80 lbs. try marching 20 miles in that in a parade for 4th of July or Bristol...

As a member of the Militia we carried springfield 45/70's, or for more formal ceremonial events, Brown Bess Muskets.. I still have my Bessie, & if you've never seen & heard a black powder weapon fire, it's something you won't soon forget...

I love New England History...

--Lucky

[Night Vision]

they must have decommissioned you... I didn't see your name on the roster...

my dad was in a Fife and Drum Corps... that's about as militant as my father's side of the family got, sticks and flutes  :D

My mom's great uncle? was a Russian Cossack and some of her uncles fought in WII...

I was too young to get drafted for Viet Nam but it was looking like it might be close.

[Lucky]

they don't list associate members.

[h2olawyer]

Pretty cool organization, Lucky.  With all that history available in New England, it must have been a blast to go do & see lots of 'Revolutionary' stuff.  Out here, we have a few Indian massacre sites & even one Civil War battle site - Glorieta Pass in Northern New Mexico.  I believe it's the westernmost civil War battle site.  Several old Forts - Ft. Laramie & Ft. Fetterman (where Alfred Packer the cannibal was captured) are the two best known ones.

H₂O

[Aelwulf]

Active Duty Air Force, Staff Sergeant (E-5), just passed 11 years.  I'm currently stationed in Cheyenne Mountain AFS, Colorado Springs, CO and about to be sent to Vandenberg AFB, CA in August-ish.

I joined at 20 after running out of money for college, enlisted as an E-3 (due to college credits).  Basic at Lackland AFB, TX April-May 1996, Tech School in Monterey, CA for Arabic Linguist May-October or November 1996.  I was just a hair shy of keeping up there so washed out and sent to Weapons Troop training at Goodfellow AFB in Wichita Falls, TX until I believe April or May 1997 (462/2W1 Weapons, not Ammo :P ).  I was then sent to the B-52 mine shop in Guam (although I wasn't supposed to be) until about August 1998.  Did backshop repair work along with helping whatever aircraft units that came through (B-1s, B-52s, B-2s, F-18s, F-15s, F-16s, A-10s, etc).  I took six weeks of leave (three of which involved a 10,000 road trip around the eastern US and Ontario) then off to Germany at Spangdahlem AB to work flightline for F-16s until October 2000.  While there I was deployed to Nevada, Florida, Turkey, Italy (for Operation Allied Force) and England.  I returned to the States at Mountain Home AFB, ID from 2000-2001 expecting to get out and was approved for retraining into Space Operations.

Trained at Vandenberg AFB, CA from roughly November 2001-March 2002, returned to Idaho for a week to out-process then went to 4 SOPS at Schriever AFB on the other side of Colorado Springs here.  Worked there until April 2004 when I was reassigned to this unit (1 SPCS) to avoid getting mandatorily retrained.  While in Space Command, although not deploying there directly (which I frequently miss), I've done comm and warning support for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Think that's it here for the most part.  Brother joined the Marines out of high school (supposedly because my dad told him he'd never make it through that sort of thing at one point or another) and was stationed in Hawaii for four years as a TOW gunner.  He spent about six months of the year on a Navy ship between there, Australia and Japan.

Dad wanted to join the military but they told him no because of his colitis.  They discovered my brother has it as well at the MEPS station but still took him, times do change.  My grandfather on my dad's side, if I remember correctly, was in the Navy during WW2 stationed at a desk in San Francisco.

[don_vanecek]

My dad, who would be just over 100 were he still alive, tried to enlist in WW1, was turned down for flat feet, finally accepted, got on the train, the war ended, got off the train. He had come to this county from Austria Hungary about 1906, we are sure he would have been cannon fodder had my grandparents not come here.

I was just about ready to sign on the dotted line to go into an AF ROTC program in 1970 when I won the draft lottery. Both my older brothers were in, one in the NE national guard, the other brother flew the KC-135 and did two Nam tours. In the 80's he tried to get into the airlines and keep working for airlines that all went broke! I really get a kick out of how he finished his last eight years (for his 20) in an army reserve unit as a buck private (a helicopter repair unit). At his retirement ceremony however he was back to a Major in the AF! This means of course his retirement pay is at his highest rank, not as a private. He tells me he had to constantly keep the army reserve unit from trying to give his all sorts of responsibility (but not necessarily any major upgrades in rank) during the time he did the reserves.  He still flys a Cessna 172 that he bought back in 1975, at this time however he is trying to build a kit plane-sure will be neat if he ever finishes it! With all his AF training, he is someone you feel very comfortable flying with in that little Cessna!

I currently have two son-in-laws active Navy and my youngest son is active Navy reserve (he's in intelligence, so he tells us if he told us what he did he would then have to kill us!).

[Walt_M.]

Drafted into the Army, May 20, 1968. Basic training, Ft. Jackson, SC (they had me convinced they could kill any one of us at any time and get away with it).
CH 34 helicopter school at Ft. Eustis, Va then on to Germany to fix obsolete helicopters for 18 mos. Came back a SP5.
It was a good experience for me but it was not for everyone.

[gbranche]

USAF, C-130 crew chief, 1977-1986
12/77-01/78: Basic training, Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX
01/77-05/78: (maybe - don't remember the details) technical training, Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, TX
05/78-06/81: 3380 FMS (supporting 7th ACCS), Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS
06/81-03/86: 41st ECS, Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ

As a crew chief, I got to fly with the airplane to lots of different locations, some that I would not have chosen to go to if given the option. Some of the more memorable destinations were Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA; McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA; Lowry AFS, Denver, CO; Fort Campbell, KY; Murtle Beech, SC; Hurlburt Field, FL; Goose Bay, Canada; Reyjavek, Iceland; Frankfurt, Germany; The Azores; Sigonella NAS, Sicily; Wadi Qena, Egypt; Masirah island, Oman; Rota NAS, Spain; Bermuda. There were probably many more, but I just can't remember them...

The only time I had a "real job" to do was in April of 1980, on the trip from Hurlburt->Azores->Sigonella->Wadi Qena->Masirah. That was the one that we ended up leaving an airplane, and 8 good men, behind. <sigh>

Yes, I know exactly what Memorial Day is for. Thanks for starting the thread.

Greg
(I'll go back into lurker mode now...)

[Mutt]

21 years retired USCG. Boot camp Cape May, NJ Jun 82 retired 03 Aug. I was stationed all around the country mainly because there was only 3 overseas duty stations and my rate wasn't needed there. I was/am an electronics technician with telephony/telecommunications background. Lot's of networking, cabling and PC crap. I was stationed in Clearwater, Fl and then NY NY, then Yorktown, Va, then Ft. Macon, NC, then back to Yorktown, then to Alameda, Ca, then Charleston, SC then Sault Ste. Marie, Mi and finally San Diego for retirement. I was stationed on 3 large vietnam era ships fitted with modern day electronics and weapons. My last tour we got to work with the Russian Coast Guard. We got pretty messed up on thier ship. They continuously drink vodka and we made several toast in the wardroom, fun! If you ever watch TLC and see "The Deadliest Catch" you know what we went through during crab season. Everyday we were medvacing someone off a trawler, mostly heart attacks. The 2 ships I was on out of California took me to the ice shelf of the bering sea and all around Alaska and as far south as the Galopolis Islands, Central and South America. The San Diego ship spent way too much time in Acapulco. The most fun ship was out of Charleston, SC. I got to visit numerous port calls in the carribean. Key West was always our in brief and out brief stop, I mean party. Go to www.hogsbreath.com to view the drunk cams. Also be sure and visit www.sloppyjoes.com to see beer goggles at work. It's all called the Duval Crawl. Duval is the main street where you can crawl from one bar to the other. There was a lot of fun mixed in with a lot of no fun but I would do it all again.

After visiting Manta, Ecuador I can turely say, we have it good in this country thanks to all the service men and women.....Thanks!

And thanks to our Canadian friends to the north for watching our topside!

Mutt  :)

[h2olawyer]

H20, sounds like your family has a lot of military history.  And it also sounds like you were brought up with a lot of respect for those who served and gave all they had.  It is good to know that thier are still people out there who remember what Memorial Day is all about, not just another day off from work.

dj - It is I who am thankful for your service as well as all others on this forum & everywhere else.  I am merely trying to be a good citizen.  Memorial Day is a solemn holiday - for at least part of the day.  Attending Memorial Day services where they honor not only the fallen, but their families as well, should be part of every American's celebration.  Sadly, the services here, in a city of over 120,000, only get a couple hundred showing up.  I even have a hard time getting my friends to attend.  I'll admit to wiping away a tear or two when they play taps.  When I attend, I make it a point to thank the veterans around me for their service as well.  Not really their holiday, but it's the best chance I get every year to show my gratitude in some small way.

The known military history of my family goes back even further.  My great grandfather lied about his age & enlisted in an Ohio regiment to fight in the Civil War.  (I have the Regiment & Company details but they are on my other computer.) He and his cousin were both 16 when they enlisted.  He fought in the Shenandoah Campaign under General Phil Sheridan.  He was injured in the Battle of Opequan in Virginia, near the end of the war.  He recovered from his injuries just in time to muster out with the rest of his regiment as it was disbanded.  Dad says he never talked much about the war, but did talk of the beautiful country he saw while he served.

Dad was working as a draftsman for REO Motors when the US entered WWII.  He went from designing glove box latches to designing bomb fuses almost overnight.  He tried to volunteer to shuttle bombers across the Atlantic, but he had scars on his eardrums from a childhood bout with TB.  So, he enlisted in the Navy before he had the chance to be drafted.  They sent him to diesel school in Camp LeJune and code school in Connecticut.  While in code school, he signed up for submarine duty, but his red - green colorblindness ruled that out.  By the time he was sent to tht Philippines, the war in the Pacific had turned in our favor.  Although the US hadn't retaken the PI when his boat left, (an Army Troop Transport, of all things), MacArthur made his return to Manila before dad got to Palawan.  He spent about a year there working as a mechanic in ACORN 47.  It was a Naval Air Base.  P-38s & Black Widows (early night fighters) flew out of there.

H₂O