I finally got my Bachelor of Science degree in June 2006, 40 years after starting my college career with an Operation Bootstrap course at Moody AFB. The motto for the graduation party was:
"40 years spanning five decades, seven colleges and one lousy degree."
I am married to a marriage and family therapist, and we have two adult children, one son-in-law, and one happy Beagle. On the whole, our life has been pretty good. I married my wife about 16 months after she hired me as a social services case worker. In October 2017, we will celebrate 38 years of marriage.
I am a Chapter Service Officer for William V. Brpoks Chapter 47, Disabled American Veterans. Our small (330 members) chapter is the most active in Nebraska; seven of our members are in the top ten DAV members state-wide for volunteer hours worked. In addition to the DAV, I am a Life Member of the VVA and also a member of the Tan Son Nhut Association.
Other Comments:
I enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 and was on active duty from August 1965 to January 1969. Following basic aircraft mechanic training at Sheppard AFB, I worked in the T-37 Periodic Inspection Dock at Moody AFB. I pulled a six week TDY to McDill AFB to learn the F-4, then a 19 month tour at Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam, as a crew chief with the 12th Tac Recon Sqd . On my "dream sheet" I asked for reassignment to Lockbourne AFB (now Rickenbacker ANGB) in Ohio. Some idiot in the Pentagon thought Idaho and Ohio were close enough and I was assigned to the 10th TRS at Mt. Home. I was loaned out to the 22nd TRS for a�21 day TDY to Germany following the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. I was released from active duty on January 28, 1969, completed my six-year commitment in the Individual Ready Reserve and was honorably discharged in August 1971.
My brother and I are the fifth consecutive generation of our family to serve in the military. My brother joined the Army at age 18 and retired as a Major. He lives a half mile from the Big Shanty battlefield where our great-great grandfather was wounded while serving in the 32nd Ohio Vounteer Infantry during the Civil War. His son, our great-grandfather served in the Ohio National Guard in the late 19th century; two of his sons served during World War I. Our dad served as a crew chief on B-24s during WW II and was in pilot training when the war ended; his male cousins all served in either the Army or Marines. His brother is retired from the USAF.
Description This period was from January 22-July 7, 1968.
The air campaign in defense of Khe Sanh, an outpost held by the U.S. 26th Marine Regiment. began on January 22. 1968. For 2 and 1/2 months Allied tactical air forces continuously attacked targets surrounding the base and B-52s dropped bombs near Khe Sanh on an average of every 90 minutes. At night AC-47 gunships provided illumination and close air support. Air Force and Marine airlifters. mostly C-130s. frequently landed under fire at the Khe Sanh airstrip. bringing in supplies and reinforcements and flying out the wounded and refugees. When the transports could no longer land because of intense mortar and artillery fire. their crews used parachutes and arrester cables to extract cargo from the aircraft as they flew a few feet above the ground over the airstrip. Beginning on March 6 the Seventh Air Force provided fighter escorts to suppress enemy fire and lay down smoke screens until the C-130s dropped their cargoes. Gen. William C. Westmoreland, MACV Commander, encountered difficulties coordinating the air resources of the USAF and U.S. Marines to meet both the military demands at Khe Sanh and the requirements introduced by the Tet Offensive that the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched on January 30, 1968. On March 8 he appointed the Seventh Air Force Commander. Gen. William W. Momyer, as Deputy Commander for Air Operations. MACV. to manage all tactical air resources in South Vietnam.
Late in March 1968 the North Vietnamese surrounding Khe Sanhmwithdrew. leaving only a single NVA division to oppose the Allied advance. On April 1, the 1st Marine regiment and the Army's 1st Cavalry Division moved along Route 9. relieving Khe Sanh 5 days later. On April 10. for the first time in 48 days. no shells fell on the base.
A week later, on April 19. the Allies mounted a helicopter-bome attack against A Shau Valley on the Laotian border. 30 miles south- west of Hue. The Viet Cong and NVA had built a vast stores and logistical base in this area since 1966. Preliminary USAF and Allied air strikes. including B-52 bombings between April 8 and 13, 1968. failed to clear the enemy from landing zones. In spite of the heavy resistance. on April 24, the U.S. Army seized the A Luoi airstrip at the northwest end of the valley. USAF transports airdropped supplies. often during bad weather and without tactical air support, because intense ground fire prevented the landing of C-130s until May 4. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese withdrew into Laos in mid-May, leaving behind large caches of weapons and supplies.
Earlier in the year. on January 30, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched the Tet (Buddhist New Year) Offensive throughout South Vietnam in an effort to regain the political and military initiative that they had held 2 years previously. At Bien Hoa and Tan Son Nhut Air Bases. alert base defenders successfully repulsed initial attacks, but in the next 2 weeks the air bases came under frequent mortar and rocket attacks; in all, the USAF lost 14 aircraft on the ground and another 114 damaged. During the Tet Offensive. Seventh Air Force pilots provided close air support for Allied troops. and C-7s and C-130s hauled ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements to isolated areas. Within 2 or 3 days Allied forces cleared the Viet Cong troops from all cities except Saigon and Hue. By February 5, the Allies had driven the Viet Cong from Saigon, although a large force remained in the vicinity. North Vietnamese forces that had taken the old imperial city of Hue were more difficult to dislodge. The Seventh Air Force used close air support carefully to avoid indiscriminate and unwanted damage in Hue; AC-130 gunships that could deliver precise fire day or night provided the most effective support. On February 25, Allied forces succeeded in driving the enemy from the city. Although
the Allies successfully and rapidly countered the Tet Offensive. the Communists gained a significant propaganda victory. Many Ameri- cans believed that a failure of U.S. military policy had permitted the Communists to mount so extensive a battle throughout South Vietnam.
