Prescott Noon Lions Club LION PRINTS...Lion Jack McLain US Navy, V-12; 1943-1946 The following account was written by Lion Jerry Jackson from an interview with Jack. V-12? The term

November, 2019 Extra Issue Lion Prints Issue Salute to our Club Veterans Page 1

I was blessed to serve with many

fine and brave Officers and Sailors.

Lion Harry Gooding

I had a great time in the USAF, and still

communicate with several of my former buddies.

Lion Chuck Matthews

I was not involved in anything exciting, but

I learned a lot including becoming a man.

Lion Paul Chastain

One of my favorite memories is when we were in a storm

in the North Atlantic...the view from the deck at night in

a storm was awe inspiring. So violent and so much a

vision of littleness of our existence in comparison to the

overwhelming power of the great ocean.

Lion Bob Carlisi

When asked by a recruiter where he wanted to be and

the type of work, Lynn replied “England, France or

Germany...in engineering or construction. I ended up

in Upper Michigan outside of Marquette at 35 degrees

below zero in the winter...I wound up in the Air Police

(not the Space Force)….another close call.

Lion Lynn Boutwell I grew up in a military family. My dad and uncles all

fought in WWll, My brother was a Capt. in the Army

running supplies and munitions up Hwy 1 in

Vietnam. This was literally in my blood to serve.

Lion Kim Zimmerman

Prescott Noon Lions Club Salutes the Veterans of our Club

One of the things I learned, and I carried it on

to this day. No matter what branch of service,

we all wore green and we all bled red.

Lion Tony Hollins

After seven years of flying aircraft, now

I had to learn how to shoot them down!

Lion Al Baker

Vol. 70 Issue 11 Extra The Club that has it all and gives its all! November 2019

LION PRINTS Prescott Noon Lions Club

Being from Southern California, I was

never as cold as I was in Korea.

Lion John Miller

Fortunately, I was discharged four months early

and was able to go to college using the GI bill.

Lion Bob Dressler

[Re: saving Vietnamese refugees at the end of the

war] The other sight was a burly American sailor

carrying a baby across the flight deck, clearly

happy to be helping the child and its mother.

Lion Bill Schwabe


The Lion Prints wants to recognize all Lions who served their

country, whether they were in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air

Force, Coast Guard or National Guard.

Prescott Noon Lions are unique due to a variety of our

backgrounds. Our hometowns, education and professions are

diverse. One common element among more than half of our

members is a commitment made in one or more of our country’s

armed services. While all of these members are veterans, their

individual experiences are all different, starting with the branch of

service, when they served, where they served and why they

served.

This editor felt believed that a tribute could best be

accomplished by having each veteran tell their own personal

story. This was done through personal interviews, responses to

email requests and in some cases by referring to Lion Jerry

Jackson’s writings of them.

There is always good natured joking among veterans, referring

to each other with derogatory names according to their branch of

service. However, the camaraderie among fellow soldiers is a

unique bond. Lion Tony Hollins submitted the following story

that expresses this bond.

A civilian asked his veteran friend

“Why did you call that stranger a

brother, when you don’t even know

who he is?” Fair question...Here was

his reply. “See that uniform he is

wearing? He serves in the United

States military. That, in itself, makes

us brothers. Don’t care where he is

from, what color he is, who he votes

for, or even who he prays to. He is

still my brother, because he chose to

put himself second, and his country

first. For all I know, he has walked where I have walked, left

sweat where I left sweat, and left drops of blood, where I did

too...And that too, makes us brothers. From the time he raised

his right hand, and signed on the dotted line, until time no

longer exists, he will forever be my brother. Same with the

women who served. They will forever be my sisters. They

have my back, and I have theirs.” The civilian friend stated,

“wow, I never looked at it or even thought about it like that.

That’s awesome.”

“Does every Vet feel like you do?”

“Yes they do...We are family, first and foremost. Forever

Family…”

Thank you all for being my family, and being there for your

brothers and sisters when they needed you.

-unknown writer

Below is the format for each veteran. Some items such as rank

and work performed as well as comments were not always

provided.

Name of Veteran

Branch of Service and time served

Places where served

Rank and type of work performed

Personal comments

Below is the order in which the Veterans

are listed on the following pages. There

are 60 names listed. For those counting,

here is the tally;

Army 23, Navy 21, Air Force 16, Marines

2 and Coast Guard 1.

This adds up to 63 since three members

actually served in two different branches.

Prescott Noon Lion Veterans

1941-1945 WWII

1930’s Tom Curtis Navy

1943 Jack McLain Navy

1944 Zeke Breese Navy/Army

1945 Pete Zaput Army/Air Force

1950-1953 Korean War

1950 Oce Dotson Navy

1951 Jamie Fox Air Force

1951 Adrian Langhus Air Force

1952 Martin Banks Army

1952 Hal Ely Coast Guard

1952 Al Baker Army

1953 John Miller Marines

1953 Chuck Matthews Air Force

1954-1962 Cold War

1954 Jim Ware Navy

1955 Jerry Jackson Army

1955 Tom Cardinal Air Force

1956 Dan Burt Navy

1956 Gary Wilson Air Force

1957 Gene Erickson Army

1958 Jimmy Duke Navy

1958 Paul Chastain Navy

1958 Bill Parker Air Force

1959 Lee Nidess Navy

1960 Bob Williams Marines

1961 Chris Orth Air Force

1961 Joe Funke Army/Air Force

1961 Ron Barbour Air Force

1961 Bob Hester Army

1962 Joe Maresh Army

1962 Dick Beers Army

1963-1975 Vietnam War

1963 Bob Cape Navy

1963 Lynn Boutwell Air Force

1964 Rhuno Nelson Air Force

1964 John Lysak Army

1964 Bob Peters Navy

1964 Mike First Navy

1964 Bill Schwabe Navy

1965 Jim Townsend Army

1966 Norm Delucchi Navy

1966 Gene Moreno Army

1967 Bob Welch Army

1967 Bill Dunn Air Force

1967 Kim Zimmerman Army

1967 Steve Hodges Navy

1967 Ray Lee Navy

1967 Michael Peters Army

1967 John Schmitt Air Force

1968 Tony Hollins Army

1968 Tom DeChant Air Force

1969 Harry Gooding Navy

1969 Bob Dressler Army

1970 Buz Williams Army

1970 Mark Leathers Army

1971 Steve Byers Navy

1971 Isaac Acosta Army

1972 Phil Weliky Army

1972 Richard Quintero Navy

1973 Al Sargeant Navy

1976-1989 Post Vietnam

1976 Jake Passer Army

1980 Rich Carlson Air Force

1983 Bob Carlisi Navy

1990-1991 First Gulf War

2001-Present Second Gulf War


1941-1945: World War II

Lion Jack McLain

US Navy, V-12; 1943-1946

The following account was written by Lion Jerry Jackson from an interview with Jack.

V-12? The term probably doesn’t ring a bell with most of us. Actually, it sounds like it might be

a missile. Or maybe a vitamin. Not even close, though. In fact, it was a U.S. Navy program which,

during World War II, provided the lifeblood for a case of anemia experienced by Flagstaff’s

Arizona State Teachers College, which now thrives as Northern Arizona University.

The problem back in 1943 was that there was a major exodus of male students who had gone to

war. In fact, at the end of the 1943-44 academic year more than 500 former students were in

uniform, and the school’s enrollment had plummeted to 81 – only four of whom were men. So the

Secretary of the Navy at the time, Frank Knox, noting that the enrollment crisis at ASTC and other

small colleges throughout the country, inaugurated the V-12 program, a military officer trainee

undertaking, on campuses nationwide. And, before the war ended, more than 1,000 young U.S.

Navy sailors and Marines received such training in Flagstaff, where ASTC was one of 131 V-12

campuses nationwide.

According to John S. Westerlund, who holds a Ph.D. in history from NAU, “The on-campus

training and education breathed life into the tiny institution. The seamen created new tradition and

activities, and saved the college from closure in the face of dwindling wartime enrollment.”

One of the participating sailors was longtime Prescott Noon Lion Jack McLain, who joined the

Navy one month after his graduation from Prescott High School in 1943. He went on to obtain his

degree from the Flagstaff college after the war ended, and played on its intercollegiate basketball

team. His subsequent working career centered on teaching and coaching at schools in

Arizona and California.

In October 2012, he and his wife Winnie attended a memorial dedication of the V-12

program on the North Quad of the NAU campus. Included in the commemoration was a

pamphlet containing a reprint of an article titled “Anchors Aweigh: The U.S. Navy’s WWII

Port of Call at Flagstaff” that was penned by the aforementioned John Westerlund. It was a

fitting tribute to a unique program that provided a very successful wartime innovation.

Lion Pete Zaput

US Army Air Corps, 1945; US Air Force, 1946-

1947

Kesler AFB, MI; Served in France and Germany

at the end of WWII and during the occupation of

Germany.

Pilot; Pete flew a low-wing pursuit plane, P-36.

He was not involved in any combat missions.

The following is from the Las Fuentes newsletter:

After leaving home, Pete joined the Army Air

Corps, where he learned to fly a P-36 Corsair.

Unfortunately, there was a major fire at the

National Archives in 1973 and Pete’s records

were destroyed.

Zeke Breese

Lion Zeke Breese

US Navy, 1944; US Army, 1947

Paratrooper school at Fort Benning, GA; Camp Campbell (now Fort Campbell, KY;)

Korea, 1950-1952; Munich, Germany; discharged in 1966

Command Sergeant Major

Zeke enlisted in the Navy on his 17th birthday. Three years later, after the war he

switched to the Army as a paratrooper. During his 22-year military career, Zeke made

437 jumps.

Lion Tom Curtis

US Navy

USS Wasp (CV-7) Aircraft Carrier; Tom also served on a destroyer in 1938

Chief Petty Officer

Tom was aboard a destroyer in the Mediterranean Sea prior to the war in 1938. He also

was aboard the USS Wasp Aircraft Carrier in the South Pacific during the war. After

supporting troops during the invasion of Guadalcanal, the Wasp was hit by three

torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. Tom survived the resulting fires, explosions and

sinking of the carrier. (On January 14, 2019 the ship was found by a research vessel.)

Lion Dan Burt provided the photo at right of Lion Tom Curtis and his patches, ribbons

and medals from his service in the Navy. Included in the medals is a Purple Heart

Commendation.

Pete Zaput is shown in the cockpit of the P-36


1950-1953: Korean War

Lion Jamie Fox

US Air Force; 1951-1955

Lackland AFB, TX, Philco Techrep School, Philadelphia; Nellis AFB, NV; Lowry AFB,

CO

Staff Sergeant; Airborne radar technician, maintenance and operational preparedness of

radar/gunsights on F-86s and F-84s

After climbing up on the maintenance hangar, Jamie watched the atomic tests conducted

near Las Vegas. He also where he saw many “good shows” like the Mills Brothers on an

opening night at the Sahara Lounge in Las Vegas.

Staff Sergeant Jamie Fox

Lion Oce Dotson

Naval Air Reserve, 1950-1957; 2 years active and 6 years in reserve

San Diego; and one tour to Korea aboard the USS Kearsarge Aircraft Carrier

Oce joined the Navy and wanted to be a pilot. However, the Navy didn’t allow

him to take pilot training because he was married. During his tour of duty on

the USS Kearsarge Aircraft Carrier to Korea, his squadron VC35 flew missions

over Korea in B51s. USS Kearsarge Aircraft Carrier

Lion Martin Banks

US Army; 1952

Basic Training at Fort Custer, MI

After three months, Martin was diagnosed with a condition prohibiting him

from serving longer. He did spend time after that at Reed Medical Hospital.

Lion Adrian Langhus

US Air Force; USAF ROTC, 1951-1955; USAF active duty, 1956-

1959; Inactive Reserves, 1959-1985.

Mission AFB, TX; Greenville, MS; Luke AFB, AZ; Nellis AFB,

NV; Turner AFB, GA

Captain, pilot training through advanced fighter bomber (F-100 AC),

Duty-copilot on KB-50, Air Refueling Tanker

Adrian graduated at the top of his class USAF Pilot Class 57-P, (First

class of all college grads).

Adrian “Got a short ride in a burning KB-50 Air Refueling Tanker at

McClellan AFB, CA. AC applied breaks at take off air speed causing

all four main tires to burst into flames with about 20,000 gallons of

high octane gasoline in our tanks.”

In the photo at right, Adrian posed with an F-100 A model. The “F-

100 A model, no flaps,185 knots over the fence, if the drag shoot

didn’t deploy, it took about 1.5 miles to slow it up.”

Adrian Langhus

Lion Hal Ely

US Coast Guard, 1952- 1956

Based in New Bedford, MA; patrolled North Atlantic

Petty Officer 2nd class

The following information was provided by Hal’s wife, Barbara, in a

telephone conversation.

Hal was originally drafted into the Army, but due to a heart murmur, he

was assigned to the Coast Guard. For a full month, Hal would be out to

sea on duty and then return home for a month.

On July 25, 1956 Hal was involved with the rescue of passengers from

the ocean liner, SS Andrea Doria when it collided with another ocean

liner, the MS Stockholm near Nantucket, MA. Due to the impact,

Andrea Doria immediately began to list thus rendering half the lifeboats

unusable. The USCGC Legare responded to the SOS. Several

commercial ships as well as a couple Navy ships responded to the

distress call, too. Passengers and crew rescued totaled 1,663 from the

Andrea Doria. Among the rescued was Hollywood actress Ruth Roman.

Another 46 people died from the collision.

Reportedly, the crew ‘rescued’ an entire crate of cognac from the Doria

floating in the sea.

Hal’s wife, Barbara, mentioned that Hal still wears his Lions pin.

Although he does have Alzheimer’s, Hal remains active with charity

work by fixing bikes for children at a bike shop.

The SS Andrea Doria listing after the collision with

another ocean liner


Lion Al Baker

US Army; 1952-1972; drafted into the Army

in 1952. Retired in 1972 after 20 years and 2

months

Basic Training at Camp Chaffee, AR; Officer

Candidate School in Fort Sill, OK; Flight

school in Texas; duty stations in Alabama,

Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Ohio,

Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia; Korea,

Vietnam and Germany, twice

Artillery Lieutenant Colonel and Master

Army Aviator

Two years were spent in school, basic

training and leadership school at Camp

Chafee, AK, and OCS at Fort Sill, OK, with

an interlude of Flight School in Texas. Then

Al went to Germany for the last few months

of the occupation. After 3 years in Germany,

he came back to Fort Sill for a refresher

training in Artillery.

In Alabama he was a flight instructor in fixed

wing aircraft, following a short TDY to a

contract instrument flying school before

going to Fort Wolters, TX for helicopter

school.

After completion in helicopter training, Al

was shipped to Korea for a year where he

served as operations officer of the

detachment and flew the General on

weekends.

Returning to Fort Bliss, TX, he took an Air Defense Artillery

Advanced course. “After seven years of flying aircraft, now I had to

learn how to shoot them down!”

Onto Fort Irwin, CA Al served as an airfield commander at the

Army’s Desert Training Center. While there he was assigned a TDY

at Fort Campbell, KY for the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then it was

another TDY at the Howze Board as a scout platoon leader of an air

cavalry troop. During this time he led a group of 10 armed and

overloaded helicopters to prove what the Army needed for aircraft

and organization for the future. This led to the formation of the 1st

Airmobile Division, which became the 1st Air Cavalry Division

which went to Vietnam in 1965 as the Army’s first Airmobile unit.

After surviving 2 years in the desert, Al was sent to Germany while

enroute to Virginia as an aircraft maintenance officer. In Germany,

Al was assigned for 5 months in the 8th Infantry Division Helicopter

Company as Executive Officer. Then he was transferred to the

Division Artillery as Airfield commander. While stationed there he

was TDY at the Paris Air Show for 21 days with an armed Bell H-13

helicopter, “a real treat.” Another stop was at the Belgium Air Force

Base Air Show. Then Al was headed back to Germany.

Soon after the flight back to Germany, he received a “5 day alert to

pack my family and return to the States and report to Fort Campbell,

KY to form a new helicopter company and ship to Vietnam. After

about 60 days we shipped out of Oakland, CA on an old WWII troop

ship and after 21 days on the water arrived in Vietnam. We set up

camp around a Special Forces camp and proceeded to clear the jungle

for a heliport and camp. I survived 13 months with only 1 bullet hole

in my helicopter and returned to Fort Rucker in 1966.”

At Fort Rucker, AL he became a Committee Chief of the Aviation

School’s survival training program. While running the escape and

evasion program, Al ate grass hoppers to show the students how tasty

they were.

He attended the Air Force Sea Survival program in Florida and

managed to finish his college degree (after 14 years of night school)

at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Returning to Fort Rucker, Al was assigned to the University of

Akron, OH as an Assistant PMS of the Army’s ROTC program. He

was also in charge of the contract flight training program part of the

ROTC program. He also spent summers at Indiantown Gap, PA with

the cadet summer training camps. Al retired in October, 1972 as an

Artillery Lt Colonel and Master Army Aviator.

Al Baker in Korea, 1960-61

A more recent photo of Al Baker in a parade shows how

fit and trim he still is. Not too many veterans can say that

their uniforms still fit them.


Lion John Miller

US Marines Corps; 1953-1956

Served 16 months in Korea

“Being from Southern California, I was never as cold

as I was in Korea.”

The photo at right “shows the tent that eight of us

lived in. It was either hot or cold.” Location was

Kimpoi, Korea, 35 miles north of Seoul.

Lion Chuck Matthews

Michigan Air National Guard, 1953-1954; US Air Force, 1955-1959

Boot Camp at Sampson AF Base, Lake Geneva, NY (in the Finger

Lakes area. “It was an absolutely beautiful place to take boot camp.”)

Then camera tech school at Lowry Field in Denver, CO (“great duty

station.”) Then Davis-Monthan AF Base in Tucson, AZ, assigned to the

303rd bomb wing– B47E’s. “I was on an RB version.” Then Guam,

South China Sea

In Guam, Chuck noted “We were on a SAC turn-around team, rotating

every 90 days with the 22nd bomb wing out of March AF base in

Riverside, CA. Every 90 days we went TDY to Guam. During our fly-

overs we landed several times in Japan at Yokosuka and Yukata. Took

several leaves in Tokyo thanks to my Uncle Sam. We also flew into

Clark Field in the PI, and also a one-time stop at Hong Kong, delivering

film to the RAF. The Brits still ran Hong Kong in 1957.”

“I had a great time in the USAF, and still communicate with several of

my former buddies. The highlight of my career was having an

emergency landing on the island of Iwo Jima. The LORAN Station guys

took us to Mt. Suribachi– what a thrill that was. The US has since

turned over Iwo Jima back to Japan.”

John Miller

Chuck Matthews in Boot Camp

Original Sad Sack cartoon by Sergeant George Baker, published in the Stars and Stripes


1954–1962: Cold war

Lion Tom Cardinal


Lackland AFB, TX; Shepard AFB, TX; Larson AFB, WA; Castle AFB, CA;

McCoy AFB, FL; Warner Robbins AFB, GA; Amarillo AFB, TX; Bitburg

AFB, Germany; McDill AFB, FL; Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, Vietnam;

Grand Forks AFB, ND; and Marysville, CA where Tom was a recruiter and

retired in 1975

Tom did one tour in Vietnam, 1969-1970

Retired as a Master Sergeant; work performed include Automatic pilot and

Navigation Systems on F-84, B-52, B-47, C-124, C-130, F-102, F-4, F-5 & F-

106; On flight status on B-52, B-47, 2-124 & C-130 as inflight trouble shooter;

Auto Pilot & Nav System Instructor at Amarillo AFB from 1963-1964 on F-

105 & F-4; Air Force Recruiter in Marysville from 1971 to 1975.

Tom was at Loring AFB, ME on B-52’s during the Cuban Crisis. “They were

flying over the polar ice cap towards Russia on Operation Chrome Dome.” He

was also at Wheelus AFB, Libya “when Gaddafi took over the country from

King Idris in 1966-1967 when U.S. Forces and civilians had to be evacuated.”

Finally, Tom was sent to Evereux AFB, France “to repair aircraft when De

Gaulle left NATO.”

Tom Cardinal in basic training

at a San Antonia base

Dan Burt

Lion Dan Burt

US Navy; 1956-1957

Served on the USS Uhlmann Destroyer with the Seventh Fleet in the Taiwan Straits during

the 1958 crisis

Dan still has a letter addressed to the crew of the destroyer from Admiral Ramsey stating

“your outstanding aggressive leadership has resulted in performance marked by alertness

smartness superb seamanship and complete reliability. All times your performance upheld and

added to the high standards of our destroyer Navy.

Lion Jerry Jackson

US Army; 1955-1957

Boot camp at Fort Ord, CA; Chicago; Fort Carson, CO; Germany; discharged at Fort

Chaffee, AR

“My rank was SP2 (T), which I THINK translated to buck sergeant in a line outfit.”

“My M.O.S. as a clerk-typist landed me at 5th Army headquarters at 51st and Hyde Park in

Chicago beside Lake Michigan, where I typed up re-enlistment orders. It was a plush

assignment, but my hankering was to be re-assigned to Germany, so the warrant officer

who was my boss in Chicago, thanks to a fellow warrant officer who was a friend of his in

the 8th Infantry Division at Fort Carson outside Colorado Springs, oversaw the switcheroo

and I spent three or so months there before assuming my “dream assignment” at 8th

Infantry’s headquarters in Goppingen, a delightful town located in Southern Germany’s

Stuttgart region. Living arrangements there were attractive, too, as our duty station

featured lodging at a WWII Luftwaffe air base, so instead of a long row of bunks in a

barracks I instead had two G.I. roommates … and the living was easy. A close soldier

friend of mine at the time was Henry Stark, whose family home in wartime Germany was

Ulm – on the banks of the Danube. Henry (actually Horst Ludwig Stark) got a post-war

sponsorship to the States and joined the U.S. Army, and it was a short drive from

Goppingen to his former home – a walk-up that still had a hole in its roof from wartime

bombing. Visits to his growing-up home often included feasting on sauerbraten, which his

mom prepared masterfully. Henry also had a school-time acquaintance with Manfred

Rommel, the only son of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who post-war served as Stuttgart’s

mayor from 1974 to 1996. And in 1957 Henry drove me to the field marshal’s grave site

capped by a simple headstone.”

Jerry Jackson on leave in

Lubbock, TX

Lion Jim Ware

US Naval Air; 1954-1957

Naval training school: FAWTULANT Det. B; NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, VA

Jim worked as a sheet metal and hydraulic mechanic at Oceana

Although Jim wasn’t involved directly in the Korean War, technically he was

designated a veteran of the war.

Lion Gary Wilson

US Air Force, 1956-1960

Training at San Antonio; Offutt AFB,NB, B-47 Squadron; 3 months in England

Weapons mechanic on the B-47

Jim Ware


Lion Paul Chastain

US Navy; 1958-1961

Great Lakes Naval Training; North Island Naval Station, San Diego.

Machinist Mate

“I joined the Navy when I was 17 years old. After Boot Camp, I was sent

to Great Lakes for an ‘A’ School. When I graduated, I was sent to North

Island Naval Station in San Diego. I was assigned to Boats & Docks as a

Machinist Mate. I was assigned to be a crew member on a Crash Boat.

Our duties included responding to San Diego Bay to prepare for the

arrival of a group of huge seaplanes stationed there. The P5M aircraft

were sub chasers. We would clear the downtown bay of civilian boats

and light the sea landing area. Our boats were equipped with fire fighting

and medical equipment. During this time, I broke my leg and spent some

time in the hospital. When discharged from the hospital, I returned to

North Island and was assigned to the main fire station where I worked

the alarm office. While there, I learned all about fire fighting and

decided that it would be my occupation when I was discharged.”

“I was not involved in anything exciting, but I learned a lot including

becoming a man.”

Lion Bill Parker

ROTC program at New Mexico A&M (State); US Air Force, 1958-1962

Kirkland AFB, NM; Johnston Island, Pacific

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant after ROTC; served in the Air Force Systems

Command as aerospace systems engineer involved in high altitude nuclear testing

The following was written by Lion Jerry Jackson in his profile of Bill.

He went on to enroll at New Mexico A&M (now New Mexico State) in Las Cruces,

where he earned a degree in chemical engineering. After graduating he received his

commission as an Air Force 2nd lieutenant through the college’s ROTC program,

and in that branch of service was involved in the early 1960s in high-altitude nuclear

testing. (How high? “Only” 300 kilometers!) This duty, related to the scientific

testing of nuclear payload detonations to determine radiation amounts, was

performed while he was stationed at Johnston Island in the Pacific while on TDY

from Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque.

Lion Jimmy Duke

US Navy; 1958-1960 two years active duty

Stationed at San Diego, CA; Kingsville, TX, and New Iberia, LA

Petty Officer Third Class; Aircraft maintenance– hydraulics and sheet metal

mechanic S2-F radar/sonar aircraft

“At age 15, I got a job at the local airport flight school washing airplanes,

cleaning hangars, etc. They allowed me to attend written and flight training at

reduced rates. I had my private and commercial flight license shortly after my

18th birthday. Navy required a 6 year commitment to go to Naval flight training.

So I opted to be an aircraft mechanic.”

Lion Gene Erickson

US Army; 1957-1959

Basic Training at Fort Carson, CO; transferred to Fort Wayne, Detroit, MI (not

to be confused with Fort Wayne, IN); and later to Camp Zama, Japan

Spec 4; with Medics and performed lab work

In Detroit, Gene worked in the headquarters dispensary. “Our quarters there

were in an old building that had most of the cockroaches from the state of

Michigan.” Gene was classified as a scientific and professional personnel and

the specific job was to be a mathematics statistic assistant. In Japan “I was

informed that there was no such job in Japan, but possibly in Korea. That was

when I mentioned that I also had a major in chemistry. Boy did I luck out,

because the largest Army lab in the Far East was at the hospital complex at

Camp Zama.” The rest of his career he worked in the clinical lab performing

chemistry tests…”it was a wonderful place to work.”

Regarding his journey to Japan: on the troop transport “My bed was a lower

hammock with about 3 or 4 above me... I was with a group of civil engineers

on their journey to Korea, and we played bridge most of the way to keep us

occupied. On the 11 day cruise home, I took a few books with me for reading

material.”

Gene Erickson receiving his Spec 4 rank

Paul Chastain

Bill Parker


Lion Bob Williams

US Marines Reserve; 1960-1966

Summer camp at Quantico, VA; Basic Training at Camp Pendleton, CA

When asked if Bob had a photograph of himself in uniform, immediately,

Bob searched his wallet and produced the ID card at right. You never know

when someone will ask if you’re a veteran, and need to prove it.

At Basic Training, Bob was in with younger men who were given a choice

by the judge to serve in prison or the Marines. Most of them ended up in

Vietnam, but Bob stayed in California, too old to go over to Vietnam.

Lion Lee Nidess

US Navy; 1959-1963

Navy radar operator (this was at the beginning of radar computerization)

Served on the USS Oriskany Aircraft Carrier

The following was written by Lion Jerry Jackson in his profile of Lee.

Lee worked as a Navy radar operator from 1959 to 1963, and was on the

ground floor (or maybe ocean floor) of the radar computerization when the

instrumentation set-up in that realm evolved from “room size” to

”workable size”. And one day while he was poring over the apparatus on

the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier off San Diego, someone tapped him on

the shoulder and asked: “Where are we?” The questioner? None other

than President John F. Kennedy! What that amounted to was “my one

claim to fame,” according to Lee. And that brief touch on the shoulder

prompted him to confess: “I didn’t want to wash my shirt after that!” I

can’t say that I fault him for that long-ago reaction.

Bob Williams

Lion Chris Orth

US Air Force, 1961

San Antonio, TX

Later in 1965, Chris worked as a civilian in the

Iowa Army Ammunition Plant.

President Kennedy on the USS Oriskany

Lion Joe Funke

Army National Guard, 1953– 1955; US Air Force, 1961-1963

(National Guard) Fort Knox, KY; Camp McCoy, WS; (US Air Force)

Montgomery, AL

Air Force– commissioned as a First Lieutenant, discharged as a Captain

While Joe was still in high school, he joined the Army National Guard in

Kingman, Kansas. This was a tank outfit. He continued his commitment while

a student at Wichita University (Wichita State University now.) Summer

periods were spent at Fort Knox, twice, and Camp McCoy.

After graduating from University of Missouri in Kansas City in the dental

school, Joe enlisted in the Air Force, where his service was essentially a

professional internship. With his wife, Carolyn, they moved to Maxwell AFB

in Montgomery, Alabama. This was during the Civil Rights Movement.

Nearby in Birmingham, riots and protests were happening. George Wallace

was Governor. For someone who grew up in a small Kansas town, this was a

culture shock. Joe remembers going to church sometimes and seeing the

charred remains of cross burnings. One time he went to a train station and by

mistake went through the ‘colored’ door. The attendant at the counter ignored

him even though he was wearing his uniform. Then Joe left through the door

and entered another door four feet away and approached the same counter. The

attendant jumped to help Joe immediately.

This was also the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Joe had the opportunity to

tour a bomb proof building where one entire floor was devoted to a few early

IBM computers. They were connected to monitors that tracked aircraft in the

southeast sector of our country.

Joe was unable to find an old photo, so he posed with his blue summer uniform

at right. This reminded Joe of another story. He was given a $300 allowance

for a uniform. This was during the hot and humid days of August and Carolyn

was pregnant with their first child. Joe dutifully decided to help her by

spending $220 of the allowance on a window A/C unit. He never did buy a

‘winter’ uniform. Joe Funke with his blue summer

uniform displaying the captain’s bars


Lion Dick Beers

US Army; Enlisted 1962-1965

Served in the US Army Security Agency. Trained at Fort Devens, MA; Fort

George Mead, MD, Germany

Dick was assigned to a “top secret NSA operation in Bad Aibling, Germany.”

Dick Beers at Basic Training

Lion Ron Barbour

US Air Force; 4 years, 1961-1964

Airman First Class; Administration

Lackland AFB, TX; Pilot training base in Greenville, MS; Offutt AFB, Omaha, NB

Ron mentioned that he was at Offutt AFB when it was locked down for several days

in 1962 due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Ron Barbour

Lion Joe Maresh

US Army; Active 1962-1965; Inactive Reserve 1965-1968

Induction at San Antonio, TX; Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO; Army

Language School/Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, CA; TDY at

NSA, Fort Meade, MD; Army Base Herzogenaurach, Mount Schneeberg & Mount

Hohenbogen, Germany; Honorably Discharged at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY;

due to Joe’s Military Occupation Specialty, he was subject to recall until age 35 in

1976

E-5 Rank upon discharge; Army Security Agency; Czechoslovakian Voice

Interceptor/Translator

“About half-way through Basic, I was called to the Company Commander’s office.

He wanted to know who I knew because I had received my Top Secret Security-

Crypto Clearance in record time. Told him I came from a small town.” At the

Army Language School, Joe completed the 12 month course two months early

because he grew up with the language.

At the Presidio, Joe learned “how to operate radio receivers, using a typewriter mill

and reporting procedures from my next duty stations back to NSA. One day while

in the basement of NSA, we got word that President Kennedy was shot and killed.”

In Germany, Joe was stationed on the “highest mountain in Northeast Bavaria.

There I operated radios intercepting and taping Czech Military radio traffic,

translating the traffic using the mills, and transmitting the translations to NSA.”

While there, he met another hometown boy, very unlikely since their town only

had a population of about 1,000. “From Schneeberg, I was on TDY to Mt.

Hohenbogen. There we worked out of trucks and vans with generators for electric

power. We were able to sleep and eat at a local village.” Joe added that much of

the ‘intelligence’ gathered was the best restaurants and brothels in Czechoslovakia.

“While stationed at the Presidio of Monterey, I met my wife-to-be Marie. When I

got out of the Army, I went back to Monterey and married her.” They celebrated

their 54th anniversary in October of this year.

Joe Maresh

Lion Bob Hester

US Army, 1961-1964

Basic Training at Fort Polk, LA; Fort Meade, MD, 1 1/2 years; Dallas in Reserves for 1

year

E3 in Headquarters Co.; 2 MOS– Typist (Bob could type 80 words per minute); Map

Specialist


1963-1975: Vietnam war

Lion Mike First

US Navy; Active duty 1964-1967

Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) & Communications Officer School, Newport, RI; USS

Arcadia (AD-23), Newport, RI; Staff, Commander Service Squadron 8 (Cameroun 8), Norfolk,

VA

LTJG Officer; Communications Officer

“Of the approximately 20 officers onboard, 5 were young officers like me and 15 were career

old salts, mostly Limited Duty Officers (former enlisted men) and Warrant Officers who had

all served in WWII. They had lots of tales to swap around the wardroom to keep us young

guys entertained. With them on board, it was still ‘Old Navy’.”

“Five or six of us on the staff routinely gave underway inspections of the various ships in the

Squadron. We’d fly to the port where the ship was and stay for two days. Some of the ships

had classified missions and civilians occupied some spaces that were off-limits to the crew.

On one inspection, I found Top Secret documents and cryptographic materials weren’t

properly secured by the Communications Officer and his record keeping was terrible. The

inspection party returned the second day and I had my written report for the Captain. We

learned the ship’s Communications Officer had gone ashore the night before and committed

suicide.”

Lion Bob Cape

US Navy; 1963

Great Lakes training facility

An Honorable Medical Discharge was issued when Bob was tested and showed signs of being a

diabetic. The Navy determined that the “recruiter had used somebody else’s blood to get me into

the Navy.”

Lion Lynn Boutwell

US Air Force; Enlisted 1963-1967

Police Training; Stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Upper Michigan

Guarded B52s and KC135 tankers

When asked by a recruiter where he wanted to be and the type of work, Lynn replied “England,

France or Germany...in engineering or construction.” “I ended up in Upper Michigan outside of

Marquette at 35 degrees below zero in the winter...I wound up in the Air Police (not the Space

Force)….another close call.”

Lion Bob Peters

US Navy; Beginning in 1964, 2 years active, 6 years in

reserves

Ship– USS Bennington, Aircraft Carrier, two tours of Viet

Nam, 1964 & 1965

3rd Class Petty Officer; Intelligence work

Bob Peters in his ‘Whites’

Lynn Boutwell

Mike First

Lion Rhuno Nelson


Forbes AFB, Kansas; Dominican Republic; Evreux AFB, France; Mildenhall AFB,

England; Wheelus AFB, Tripoli, Libya; Incirlik AFB, Adana, Turkey; Howard AFB,

Panama City, Panama; Tachikawa AFB, Japan

Aircraft mechanic, Crew Chief, performing aircraft maintenance on B-47 and C-130

aircraft, Flight Engineer C-130 aircraft, Air Force Liaison for the Arizona Civil Air

Patrol (CAP), working with the CAP on Search and Rescue Missions

Rhuno has literally been all over the world on Air Force missions. For six months he

served in the Dominican Republic Crisis in 1965. He was in France in 1966 “when

French President Charles de Gaulle informed the United States that we leave and take

our nuclear weapons with us,” and then served in England to support NATO in 1967.

He was involved in transporting troops in 1967 to Detroit during the riots. “Troop

airplanes landed every 10 minutes for 24 hours.” He had over 9,000 hours on a C-130

aircraft on missions all over the world. In Japan he was involved in determining if the

C-130 A Model could have the fuel endurance to fly from Adak, AK to Japan. “We had

to shut down two engines and drift down in altitude, restart the engines, climb back up

in altitude, and repeat the procedure so we could make our destination in Japan.” Rhuno Nelson

Lion John Lysak

US Army, 1964-1966

Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Thailand; 4 month TDY

in Vietnam

Military Police


Lion Bill Schwabe

US Navy; Active 1964-1979, Reserves 1979–1992

Charleston, SC; Monterey, CA; Pentagon; Saigon; Pentagon, Washington D.C.; San

Diego, CA; Pearl Harbor, HI; Reserves in Guam; Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean; Newport,

RI; one tour 1970– 1971, Served on the USS Thomaston (LSD 28)

Captain: Surface Line Officer

In 1968, I was assigned to the Strategic Analysis Support Group (SASG) of Johns

Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Silver Spring, Maryland. Or so I

thought. In actuality, I worked in the Pentagon on the staff of the Chief of Naval

Operations, Admiral Thomas Moorer, who later became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

Staff. Why? Congress, not wanting Washington, DC, to be seen as an armed camp,

decided to limit the number of military personnel that could be assigned to the area,

most of whom had to be in civilian clothing most of the time. The Navy got around this by assigning some military personnel to

non-military organizations outside DC, such as Hopkins’ APL, while actually working in the Pentagon.

My office (#5E531 which was destroyed in the terrorist attack) was a Top Secret vault that contained copies of the actual

strategic nuclear war plans of the United States. Our job was to test those plans by running and analyzing computerized war

games matching the actual U.S. plans against intelligence-based simulated Soviet plans. Initially, the main part of my job was to

maintain a target data base of some 10,000 IBM cards that had to be verified manually against printouts prepared by the Joint

Strategic Target Planning Staff in Omaha, Nebraska, and the “Red Planning Group” in the basement of the Pentagon. That

manual verification process involved one officer reading aloud from the printout to another reading from the IBM cards. That

verification process was mind-deadening. After a while I wrote a computer program automating it, giving me time for much

more interesting work—and earning me my first Navy Commendation Medal.

At the Pentagon it was interesting to sit in on briefings of the Chief of Naval Operations by his Deputy for Operations on the

war in Vietnam. Moorer was often presented with options by his staff, and I was much impressed by his sound judgment.

Among other things, he reviewed all recommendations for award of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Most of those awarded

the Medal of Honor in Vietnam had died throwing themselves on enemy grenades in order to save their buddies. One day, ADM

Moorer became so frustrated that we were seemingly awarding the Medal of Honor only to men who chose to die for the sake of

others, rather than live by killing the enemy. He blurted out that even Audie Murphy couldn’t be awarded the medal in Vietnam.

I read and reviewed many policy papers daily. One was a draft proposal to be presented at a forthcoming NATO meeting,

calling for development of a NATO option for a “demonstrative” nuclear attack, intended to demonstrate serious resolve to

escalate warfare, should the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact be winning a conventional war in Europe. Though I was still a junior

officer (an O-3 Lieutenant), I thought it was a dumb idea, more likely to be met by Soviet nuclear escalation, rather than the

intended backing off. At home I typed a memorandum to the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (OJCS) arguing against the

proposal for a demonstrative nuclear strike plan. The gist of my argument was asking how the United States would react to a

hypothetical Soviet “demonstrative” nuclear strike against an “unimportant” target, such as Birmingham, Alabama. My

contention was that a Soviet demonstration of resolve would not prompt America to “cool it” but, rather, would stiffen our

resolve—just as a similar NATO demonstration would stiffen Soviet resolve. On Monday, I gave my memo to our yeoman to

type up and mark with the appropriate classification. The OJCS recipients never commented on my memo—though they did ask

my boss who the hell had written this thing—but they did decide not to submit their proposal at the NATO meeting.

I left the Pentagon in 1970 to go to Vietnam. But I wasn’t supposed to go to Vietnam. Why not? Because people like me,

who had detailed knowledge of strategic nuclear planning and war plans were technically prohibited from being ordered to

Vietnam, lest they become enemy prisoners of war and forced to spill highly classified beans.

First, NavPers issued orders for me to report for duty as an operations research analyst on the staff of the Commander Naval

Forces Vietnam. My Pentagon boss responded by telling NavPers they couldn’t do that because I had a Top Secret SIOP-ESI

(Strategic Integrated Operational Plan-Especially Sensitive Information) clearance. NavPers countered with a suggestion that I

probably hadn’t really done much work at that level. My boss responded, no, I really had extensive, detailed knowledge of the

strategic war plans. NavPers responded with COMNAVFORVIETNAM’s need to fill the billet with one of the Navy’s four

officers meeting their qualifications, and I was the only one available. And so I was going to Vietnam.

In 1975, I was on an amphibious ship deployed to the Western Pacific to await the expected fall of Saigon to the

Communists. In the spring, the North Vietnamese moved south toward Da Nang. Thousands of Vietnamese fled, with many

boarding merchant ships headed south. We were off Phu Quoc Island, in the South China Sea, and saw two such merchant

vessels with Vietnamese packed wall-to-wall on deck. The authorities on Phu Quoc refused to let the refugees land. Some of the

young men jumped overboard and attempted to swim ashore. Some were shot by Vietnamese soldiers or sailors. We gave some

of our MREs and bottled drinking water over to the merchant ships via our amphibious landing craft. One refugee baby died,

being crushed by people rushing to get food and water.

The Navy had a plan for using amphibious landing craft to evacuate people from Saigon when the NVA (North Vietnamese

Army) or VC (Viet Cong) attacked. It would mean embarking on a dangerous journey up the Saigon River, possibly coming

under attack from the river banks or from river craft. I was told to prepare to command the largest of the landing craft, an LCM,

the only one with radar. The Marines loaned me a Marine green utility uniform, boots, and a sidearm. We mounted two machine

guns on the LCM and prepared the smaller landing craft.

Unexpectedly, it was something I wanted to do, not for heroics, but because I felt we owed those South Vietnamese who had

sided with the United States and now we had abandoned them. I knew that most people want just to get on with their lives, not

taking sides in war, but that as war continued it became harder and harder to avoid taking sides. Had President Johnson not sent

U.S. combat troops into Vietnam in 1965, the Communists would soon have won the war—before thousands of Vietnamese had

been drawn into the struggle. Thus, we delayed the almost-inevitable outcome, with many more endangered or dying.

I considered it—and still consider it—a blessing that once in my life there was something I knew I was willing to give my

life for. Fortunately, I didn’t have to. It was a dumb plan and likely to fail. The Air Force plan to evacuate people by helicopter

was chosen instead. We boarded about a thousand people, including many Vietnamese civilians who had worked for

Americans, the UN delegation, CIA people, and Korean contractors.

I witnessed an attractive young Vietnamese woman running from a helicopter that had just landed on our flight deck,

wearing a tee shirt bearing the words “Faded Glory.” The other sight was a burly American sailor carrying a baby across the

flight deck, clearly happy to be helping the child and its mother. America’s Faded Glory on the one hand, and America’s Not

Yet Faded Glory on the other. I was standing at the rail that evening, looking out at the sea and thinking, “This is as good as it

gets—and it’s not good enough.”

Bill Schwabe in Vietnam, 1970


Lion Bill Dunn

US Air Force; Enlisted 1967-1971

Chanute AFB, IL; Norton AFB, CA; Osan AFB, South Korea (1 tour 1969-1970)

Sergeant (E-4): Aircraft refueling

Lion Jim Townsend

US Army Reserve and National Guard; 1965-1971

Basic Training at Fort Ord, CA; Camp Roberts, CA; Fort Gordon, GA, MP School; Summer

camp at Camp Roberts, CA; Summer camp at Fort Lewis, WA

Specialist 4, Military Police

Jim Townsend

Lion Bob Welch

US Air Army; 1967-1993

Served two tours of Vietnam; Engineer OCS in 1968 following first tour of duty in Nam;

Intelligence Officer Training at Fort Holabird, MD; Presidio, CA; second tour of duty in

Nam. Other places Bob was stationed at include Fort MacArthur, CA; Fort Meade, MD;

Fort Leavenworth, KS; Fort Riley, Kansas; and numerous other US forts; Thailand; and

Germany

The following profile of Lion Bob Welch was written in July, 2013 by Lion Jerry Jackson.

He initially intended to serve only one enlistment in the Army, but was “frequently

encouraged to attend Officer Candidate School” and subsequently “attended Engineer OCS

in 1968 following my first tour in Vietnam. After OCS, I completed Intelligence Officer

training at Ft. Holabird, Md., and was assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco for a little

over a year before going back to Vietnam for a second tour.”

It was during his time at the Presidio that he met and married his wife, Cindy, and they’ve

now been married for 43 years. They have two sons. Chris, the older, is an Air Force officer

who is married and has three sons, whereas younger brother Mike has yet to marry “but

keeps screening potential applicants.” Both are living on the East Coast – Chris and family

in Florida and Mike in Virginia.

During his 26 years in the Army, “we lived overseas in Thailand and Germany and

numerous forts in the U.S., including Presidio of Monterey, Ft. MacArthur, Ft. Meade, Ft.

Leavenworth and Ft. Riley, among others.”

Bill Dunn

Lion Gene Moreno

US Army; 1966-1969

Officers Candidate School; Fort Hood, TX; Inchon and Kunsan, Korea

First Lieutenant; assigned to the Quartermaster Corp.

“My first assignment was as a staff officer in a petroleum support battalion in the 1st

Armored Division at Ft. Hood. My last assignment was to the Eighth U.S. Army Depot

Command at Inchon and Kunsan, Korea. At Kunsan, I was in charge of a small petroleum

depot responsible for offloading jet fuel from oceangoing tankers and delivering the fuel

to two airbases via pipeline and rail. At Inchon, a much larger petroleum depot, I served

as the personnel officer until I completed my tour of duty.”

Lion Norm Delucchi

US Navy Reserve, 1966; Active Duty, 1968-1977, Reserves, until 1990

USS Rehoboth (AGS-50); Quonset Point, RI; USS New Orleans (LPH-11)

Commissioned as a Supply Corps Officer

“Going into supply was part of a test of having Industrial/Systems

Engineers as part of the Supply Corps. Mainly because higher ups started

realizing that logistic management required computer knowledge beyond

the financial world.” In between time on the ships he served as a data

processing officer.

“The most interesting time was aboard Rehoboth. She was a converted

WWII AVP to do mostly survey work for SOSUS array planning – though

our highly sensitive antennae were able to pick-up signals of various

countries’ transmissions. The ship was sent to areas not normally visited

by our Navy. In July, 1969 (2 days after the first moon landing) we were

the first ship (since WWII) to have a port visit to Zamboanga, Mindanao,

Philippines. The town’s main square is named for General Pershing

(Moro Rebellion (1899-1913) and they loved Marines who freed the

civilians from a Japanese prison in WWII. We were welcomed with open

arms by the residents. This city has a large Islam population, upon arrival

in the port we were met with a number of dhow boats – we could have

been off the coast of Africa. Lot of work for supply – had to take the

hospital corpsman to shop for meat in the local (open air) markets –

neither of us knew what we were doing. No one got sick.” Norm Delucchi: “kissing Neptune’s Baby in the

crossing the Equator Ceremony”

Gene Moreno


Lion Steve Hodges

US Naval Reserve; 1967-1968 1 year active, 5 years in Reserve

Stationed at Los Alamitos, CA; Memphis, TN; Jacksonville, FL;

Imperial Beach, CA; Fallon, NV

Petty Officer Second Class; Helicopter Squadron Aviation

Electrician’s Mate and Air Crewman

“I enlisted my senior year in high school and my parents had to

sign for me. While attending a school in NAS JAX, my reserve

squadron was activated due to the TET offensive. However, upon

completion of Aviation Electrician’s mate school, I was transferred

to Helicopter Squadron HS771 stationed in Los Alamitos, CA.”

“An interesting story, we were scheduled to fly to ensure our pilots

reached their quota of flight hours, so it was only my third flight

and we ended up flying up to Lake Arrowhead, CA where they

landed in a parking lot and our pilots had us stay with the aircraft

while they went in to meet a couple of friends for a drink. When

they came out, they couldn’t get the copter to start, the battery was

dead. They ended up calling AAA to come out and give us a jump.

They swore us to secrecy…and ended up buying us a case of

beer.”

“Another flight was ‘patrolling’ Blacks Beach, San Diego, which

was a nude beach.”

Lion John Schmitt

US Air Force; Enlisted 1967; active duty to 1972; Reserves, 1972-1974. John served 5 1/3

years active duty and 1 year in the reserves

OTS at Lackland AFB, TX; North Syracuse, NY; Clark AB, Philippines; Lubang Philippine

Air Station and Keesler AFB, MS. Tour of duty– Temporary Duty 1970 at Ban Me Thuot,

Vietnam

Captain; Weapons Controller– at a radar scope, direct fighter aircraft to intercept enemy

aircraft

John stated that he “rode the weapons operator position in a fighter running practice

intercepts.”

Steve Hodges in bottom row, far right.

Lion Kim Zimmerman

US Army; Enlisted 1967 and discharged 1972

Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO; Advanced individual training at Fort Sill, OK; after graduation Kim entered

the OCS program to become a Field Artillery Officer; sent to Fort Bliss, TX for Redeye training. Extension of his

enlistment gave Kim a choice of where to serve. His choice was Germany where he was stationed at Baumholder, home of

the 8th Infantry Division and the 5/83 Field Artillery Headquarters

Kim worked with 105 towed howitzers and the M109 self-propelled 155 howitzer in OCS; Redeye training involved a

shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missile for defending forward positions by ground troops. In Germany, “My duties as a

battery officer were to support the infantry commanders as a forward observer (FO) for the artillery, planning unit

movements with known artillery targets, and defensive fires. In the battery, I was the Fire Direction Officer, responsible

for the battery putting artillery where the FO or infantry commander requested it. I was also the Redeye officer, and the

NRAS officer. NRAS is responsible for the preparation and securing the nuclear round that the 155 howitzer was able to

fire.”

“In 1972, with the war in Vietnam winding down, I was given the choice of going to Vietnam, or getting out. I got out...

Lots of guys were going to Vietnam right out of AIT. The mood of the country was very anti-war, and by the summer of

1968, the military was the last place any of us wanted to be. Few understood why we were in Vietnam. I grew up in a

military family. My dad and uncles all fought in WWll, My brother was a Capt. in the Army running supplies and

munitions up Hwy 1 in Vietnam. This was literally in my blood to serve. What I found was an Army, dysfunctional in all

the usual ways. but too drugged out, with lousy moral and racial problems. The 'Ring Knockers', West Point Officers, were

in it for the long run, but we OCS guys were usually top of the duty list. I spent a lot of my time out in the German forest,

supporting Infantry or Tank Commanders as an FO. I really enjoyed the German people, Ghasthous, and Octoberfest.

Majoring in history in college, I was able to get out on a pass to visit the various sites that Europe offered. I'm glad that I

served. I reflect on that time, when my brother and I visit the Wall in D.C., and Arlington to see the people I knew, who

didn't get to live their life out, for a war and a time that everyone wants to forget.”

John Schmitt

Lion Michael Peters

US Army, 1967-1970

Fort Benning, GA; Fort Bragg, NC; Vietnam, 1969-1970

1st Lieutenant

Lion Ray Lee

US Naval Reserve, 1967; Active Duty, 1968– 1970; discharge in 1973

Washington Navy Yard

“I was assigned to NAVCOSSACT (Naval Command System Support Activity) at the Washington Navy Yard,

located next to the Anacostia River. Our mission was to provide computer support (using existing technology

available through IBM 7090 and 360 computers) to elements of the 6th Fleet. I then attended weekly reserve meetings

and 2 weeks of active duty until receiving an honorable discharge in 1973.”


Lion Tony Hollins

US Army; 1968-1971

Basic training at Fort Benning, GA; AIT at Fort Gordon, GA; 1st tour of Vietnam, 1968; Fort Campbell, KY; 2nd tour of Vietnam, 1970

Sergeant

I was drafted in April 1968, this was three months after the Tet Offensive, and reported to the induction station for the Los

Angeles area, after passing my physical I along with the other inductees were sitting in the auditorium waiting to see what was

going to happen next. A Marine Gunnery Sergeant came into the auditorium and announced, ‘if you want to stay in sunny

Southern California come with me!’ Having talked with other high school classmates joining the Marines was not an option.

During the 60’s Fort Ord, CA, was one of the Army’s west coast basic training facility, the other being Fort Lewis, WA. Fort

Ord was always having outbreaks of spinal meningitis, so I thought we would be going to Fort Lewis and they would fly us up

there, so as we were boarding the buses for LAX. My father asked this young Sergeant where were we going? He said Fort

Benning, Georgia. My father looked at me and said, ‘you’re no longer in California.’

This was the mid 60’s and the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, when we arrived at whatever airport it was and it being

in the middle of the night, we soon began to learn what the term, ‘hurry up and wait’ really meant. We took batteries of tests to

determine what jobs we were suited other than being a basic infantry man. I tested high and was given the option to be

discharged and re-enlist and chose what I wanted to do, which I did. I choose to be Communications Center Specialist, my

military occupational skill aka MOS. So instead of a 2-year commitment I had a three-year commitment. So, after basic training

my advance individual training otherwise known as AIT was going to be at Fort Gordon, Georgia, just outside of Augusta, GA.

While there I told my parents to get in the mind set of that I was going to Vietnam when I graduated and if I got orders for

someplace other that was a good thing. But as fate would have it, I had orders for Vietnam.

October 1968, I landed in Vietnam and was assigned to HDQ Company, 9th Support Battalion, 198th Light Infantry, Americal

Division, Chu Lai. Anyone who’s been in the Army can tell you, you were trained to do one job and you end up doing

something entirely different. While assigned to this unit I learned how to climb telephone poles, repair commo lines, build

bunkers, and operate a switchboard, but never did I use the equipment I was trained to use. In the summer of 1969, the Americal

Division was deactivated, and its colors were returned stateside. Now I was assigned to another unit the 16 th CAG, Combat

Aviation Group, I was with this unit until October, 1969 when I rotated home. But prior to rotating home I was told to report to

group commander’s office. There I met the commander who told me he was going to conduct an exit interview. I’m going what

the heck is an exit interview? He told me he had reviewed my personnel file and felt I would make an excellent NCO, non-

commissioned officer, but I was rotating home in two days and did not want to keep me in the country any longer than I need to

be. So, he wrote a recommendation for me to be promoted to Sergeant upon my assignment to a stateside unit. He also told me

never under any circumstances do I give the original document to anyone, always show the original and give them a copy.

Well, I rotated home and when I got to the processing unit, I filled out a ‘dream sheet’ listing all the bases on the West Coast and

even Arizona that I would like to be assigned to. It’s called a dream sheet for a reason; cause you’re dreaming if you think it’s

gonna happen. I was assigned to an airborne unit, a rigger company, they are the ones who pack the chutes for airborne

personnel, in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Again, working outside my MOS doing tasks not related to my MOS. While assigned to

this unit, people were being promoted to E-5 over me who had less time and grade on their E-4 and time in service. After asking

several times why I was being overlooked I made the decision to go to the base IG, Inspector General, and filed a discrimination

complaint against the CO, commanding officer. When I returned to the company area the CO and First Sergeant were waiting

for me, the CO told me I would not have my stripes long enough to enjoy them. I respectively told him, that if he wanted my

stripes he could come back to Nam and take them.

I did get promoted and normally when someone promotes there’s a little pomp and ceremony where you receive your new rank;

this was not the case for me. My platoon Sergeant, SFC Jessie Owens gave me my stripes and told me the best for me to do was

to get the hell out of the company as the CO said he was to make sure he sent me to the stockade. Mind you when you went into

the military you knew you had to receive an Honorable Discharge to carry on in life. August, 1970 I was reassigned to Vietnam

assigned to 507th Transportation Battalion in Can Tho. I finally was working in my MOS and supervising a Communications

Section. I was discharged in April 1971. One of the things I learned, and I carried it on to this day. No matter what branch of

service, we all wore green and we all bled red.

This photo is of the security detail I was assigned to, now known as a QRF, quick response force. Look at the window on

driver’s side, left of the steering wheel and you’ll see a bullet hole. One night we had to go out on the perimeter of the sub sector

we were assigned to for what reason I don’t remember. I was driving when we took fire from outside the perimeter and that hole

appeared. I turned off the ignition and put the jeep into a ditch. We never knew where it came from. I’m still in contact with him

some 50 years later- the guy standing behind the steering wheel.

Tony Hollins


Lion Harry Gooding

US Navy, 1969-1972 Active Duty; 1972-1991 Active Reserve

ROTC at University of Oklahoma; USS Newport News (CA-148); served one 6

month tour in Vietnam (May, 1972– October, 1972)

First commissioned as an Ensign in August, 1969; Weapons Division Officer; Air

Defense Officer; Fleet Officer of the Deck, Command Duty Officer, Surface

Warfare Officer; LTJG, 1970; Full Lt, 1971; during Harry’s time in the reserve, he

held two Commanding Officer and two Executive Officer positions; retired as a

Captain in 1991

“My entire active duty time (August, 1969– October, 1972) was spent aboard the

Newport News. The Newport News at the time was the flagship for the US 2nd

Fleet and the last remaining heavy cruiser. I started out as weapons division officer

and eventually was promoted to be the Air Defense Officer in charge of the ship’s 6

twin 5” 38 and two 3” 50 caliber gun mounts.”

“During the time aboard the Newport News, I qualified as a Fleet Officer of the

Deck, Command Duty Officer and as a Surface Warfare Officer. In addition, I was

promoted to LTJG in 1970, and then spot promoted to full LT in 1971. I served one

6 month tour in Vietnam and participated in numerous combat operations in support

of US and South Vietnam forces both in South and North Vietnam. My ship was

ultimately awarded many commendations for its service in Vietnam. I was

personally awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Battle Ribbon for my part

in those operations.”

“I was blessed to serve with many fine and brave Officers and Sailors.”

Bob Dressler

Lion Tom DeChant

US Air Force ROTC, 2 year SDSU AFROTC program; US Air Force, drafted 1968-

1970

Basic Training at Fort Ord, CA; Panmunjom, Korea

Spec 4 MP; Chauffeur & body guard

Tom served as a body guard for a Swiss delegation chief of station in United Nations

Command, in an area considered a combat zone. Tom was “deployed to South Korea

as an artilleryman after AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma” (he

had a brother already serving in Viet Nam).

Lion Buz Williams

California Army National Guard; 1970-1976

Boot Camp at Fort Jackson, SC; Military Police School at Fort Gordon,

GA; five summer camps at Fort Irwin, CA

E4; Military Police

“My National Guard unit was never activated for civil disturbance, natural

disaster or foreign war during my six years of service.”

Lion Steve Byers

US Navy; Enlisted 1971-1978

Served at Pensacola, FL; DaNang, Vietnam; and the Pl

Lieutenant; Pilot

Lion Bob Dressler

US Army; 1969-1971

Basic Training and AIT at Fort Leonard Wood, MO;

Headquarters Company at Fort Wainwright, AK; discharged

at Fort Eustis, VA

Specialist E-5; in Alaska Bob worked as an Administrative

Assistant in Headquarters Company Supply Room. In

Virginia he worked in personnel

Bob spent 18 months (two winters and one summer) in

Alaska. “Fortunately, I was discharged four months early and

was able to go to college using the GI bill.”

Lion Mark Leathers

US Army Reserve; 1970-1976, 3 months active

Basic Training at Fort Campbell. KY; summer camps

spent at many places across the country

Harry Gooding


Lion Phil Weliky

US Army; 1972-1973

Basic Training at Fort Ord, CA; AIT at Fort

Campbell, KY; Fort Benning, GA

Air Mobile/ Air Assault; Paratrooper with the

101st Airborne Division, aka “Screaming

Eagles”

During Phil’s tenth jump, his parachutes

became entangled and he narrowly escaped

with a concussion and leg fractures. During

his stay at Walter Reed Hospital, doctors

discovered he had vision problems.

Lion Richard Quintero

US Navy; 1972-1975

Entire service was spent on the USS Ticonderoga Aircraft Carrier; 6

months were spent as a carrier group in the South China Sea

Duty: ‘Unwraps’

Richard had the unique experience of being on the ship when the

Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 crew were recovered after their trip to the

moon. He was also on board when the Skylab 2 astronauts were

recovered in June, 1973.

Phil Weliky in the ‘Screaming Eagles’

Lion Al Sargeant

US Navy; 1973-2004; entered ROTC as midshipman in 1973, 7

years active, 19 years in Reserves

Qualified subs on USS Guardfish SSN 612; North Pole Arctic run

USS Tautog SSN639; Nuclear Deterrent Patrol USS Casimir Pulaski

SSBN 633. Three Western Pacific Deployments

Captain

Al Sargeant

Isaac Acosta

Lion Isaac Acosta

US Army; 1971-1991

Basic Training at Fort Polk, LA; AIT at Fort Eustis, VA; Kitzingen,

Germany; Fort Hood, TX; Garlstedt, North Germany; Kitzingen, Germany;

Fort Knox, KY; Fort Hood, TX

Helicopter crew chief mechanic; ground maintenance of Bradley Fighting

vehicles and Tow launching Track vehicles

Isaac listed his Army experience by assignment as follows:

Basic at Fort Polk, LA, June-mid Sept., ‘71

Basic Unit D 4/1

Advance Individual Training at Fort Eustis, VA (Oct. 1971- Jan. 1972)

Military Occupational Specialty 67U Helicopter Crew Chief Mechanic

1st Assignment: 3rd INF Div Harvey Barracks (Jan.– Mar. 1972)

“Due to many helicopter accidents in Germany, I changed my MOS

from aviation to ground maintenance 63T series and I could be

assigned anywhere as needed by the Dept of the Army.”

2nd Assignment: 1/76 Field Artillery 3rd INF Div Larson Barracks,

Kitzingen, Germany, Mar. 1972– May 1974

3rd Assignment: 2/66Armor Battalion, Fort Hood, TX (“the unit was

moved north to Garlstedt, Germany, May 1974– June, 1980)

4th Assignment: 1/15 INF 3rd INF Div Harvey Barracks, Kitzingen,

Germany, June 1980– April 1984

5th Assignment: Military Instructor School on maintenance and armory

of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Tow launching Track Vehicles at

Schedule Hall, Fort Knox, KY, April 1982– May 1984

6th Assignment: 2/15 INF 3rd INF Div, May 1984– May 1988

7th Assignment: 2/1 Cav 2nd Armor Div (2nd Armor Div was deactivated

and 4th INF Div took over)

8th Assignment: 1/7 Cav 1st Cavalry Div Fort Hood, TX was activated

for Middle East War, Oct. 1990– Oct. 1991

Retired November, 1991


1976–1989: Post Vietnam

Lion Rich Carlson

US Air Force; Active Duty 1980-1987

Stationed at Williams AFB, AZ (presently Mesa Gateway Airport) ‘80-81: Norton

AFB, CA, ‘81-85; Altus AFB, OK, ‘85-87; and have flown all over the world to many

locations. During operations in Grenada, his squadron participated, although Rich was

in school at Oklahoma at the time

Captain; C-14-18 transport pilot (worldwide)

“On one trip we hauled a couple pallets of paper towels, paper plates, etc. into a small

base in South Korea. Several people ran out to the airplane to thank us profusely for

bringing that stuff to them. They had been out of plates and towels for about a week

and were REALLY excited to get restocked.”

The photograph at right shows Rich standing on the front seat ladder of a T-38 Talon

training aircraft. This was taken in ‘81 at the end of training. The pose is referred to as

a ‘hero’ shot.

Rich Carlson in his ‘hero’ pose

1990-1991: gulf war: Liberation of Kuwait

Lion Bob Carlisi

US Navy; Univ. of San Diego NROTC, 1983-1987; USS Arthur W. Radford

DD968, 1987-1990; Dam Neck, Va. Naval Training Center 1990-1991

Exercise Deep Blue with Canadian Forces off Nova Scotia; Avondale

Shipyard, New Orleans, LA; REFIT Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Operation

Desert Storm (US liberated Kuwait) while stationed stateside

Lieutenant JG, Gunnery Officer/ First Lt./ public relations

“While in the Navy, I had an excellent trip riding a Lear jet one way from

New Orleans to Norfolk, VA, with two Admirals. Judy and I were first

married and the times we could visit each other were few and far between, but

it was good when our XO (second in command of the ship) became a Virginia

resident with a house, wife and family there. Then the trips home were more

plentiful.”

“One of my favorite memories is when we were in a storm in the North

Atlantic and because I was an officer, I was allowed above decks, even in the

storm (they were probably hoping one of the junior officers would go

missing). But the view from the deck at night in a storm was awe inspiring. So

violent and so much a vision of littleness of our existence in comparison to the

overwhelming power of the great ocean.” Dr. Bob Carlisi with his wife, Judy

Lion Jake Passer

US Army, 1976-2008

Served in Europe and the United States

Conclusion

2001-present: War on Terrorism

On a personal note: this is the most challenging LP project this

editor has undertaken. Receiving the emails and discussing the

information provided by veterans was enjoyable and reading their

accounts has been fascinating. Not being a veteran myself, this was

also a learning experience. The military loves their acronyms that

are a puzzle for some of us. I trust nobody was putting one over on

this editor.

My father served during WWII in Patton’s Third Army. In

training, his lack of shooting skills with the rifle was evident.

Missing the target, as he did at times, prompted the raising of a red

flag, which was known as ‘Maggie’s Drawers.’ Fortunately the

Army chose to use my father’s other skills to the best of their

advantage. I hope this effort to collect all the information from

veterans didn’t result in a ‘Maggie’s Drawers.’

There was one bit of information we didn’t pursue since it

could be more personal. Knowing how close military brothers

were; nicknames, which were often given to each other.

Although this would have been interesting, a lengthy

explanation would have been required.

I apologize for being a pest in my quest to gather

information. Lion Jerry Jackson has been a tremendous help

by providing several of the writings, providing valuable

advice and proofing the vast amount of information.

A serious attempt was made to identify every veteran in our

club. If anyone was overlooked, I certainly apologize and an

addendum will be issued with their information.

Now as the company mail clerk would say at the end of his

duties distributing letters to the troops, “That’s all she wrote.”

Lion Ken Gantz, Co-editor of the Lion Prints

Documents

Prescott Noon Lions Club LION PRINTS...Lion Jack McLain US Navy, V-12; 1943-1946 The following account was written by Lion Jerry Jackson from an interview with Jack. V-12? The term