Did You Serve in the Military?

Veterans Day is November 11th, and I was wondering if our members would tell about their military service or that of your relatives.

My dad served as a radio repairman in the Navy just after WW2.

I served in Army from '74-77. I was in the 25th MP Co, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, HI.

My son served in the Marine Corps from 2005-2009. He was in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, based in 29 Palms, CA. He did deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Seth

 

My Grandads did time in the army during WWII, my Dad was in from 60-1985, I was in the army 1982-88 and my eldest son was in the air force 1998-2002

 

Is your dad a Viet Nam vet? What did you do in the Army?

 

My grandad (on my dads side) was a tank commander in the Army in WW2, and a Drill Sergeant before that. He rode his sherman ashore after the normandy invasion while the sea was still red with blood. He got shot off the top of his tank by a german sniper, blown out of his tank by a grenade, and eventually got sent home after he got rifle-butted in the face, by a german in a trench, so bad he needed extensive surgery to repair his teeth and gums. Those are the only stories he would tell until he was diagnosed with alzheimers.

When he came back from the war, he spent several months perfectly leveling the property around his home, not talking to anyone. His coping method worked for the most part, as when I knew him he was loud, witty, energetic and loving in a very 'ball-busting' way. And it was the most pleasant yard I've ever mowed- perfectly flat, level and smooth, to this day.

However, he also frequently whipped all 8 of his children with a belt, sometimes because they deserved it (according to my dad) and sometimes not. He cheated on my grandmother, and was as likely to yell hatefully when angered as he was to laugh joyfully when not. My dad and his brothers and sisters more than once described him as a tyrant. Though they also would point out that they never went hungry or neglected.

He became demented with alzheimers roundabouts 2000 or so. He would wake up in the night fighting 'germans' (my grandmother) and would wonder off during the day to nearby construction sites and start ordering people around (he was a foreman in his professional life). He also started telling more of his experiences in the war, though it was impossible to tell if they actually happened. He once spoke fondly of sharing dinner with General Patton in his command tent. One time at Christmas dinner with all his children and grandchildren, he stood up with tears in his eyes and said "I don't know who any of you people are, but I'm damn glad your here!"

After causing a minor accident while wandering into traffic (after defeating some security features designed to keep him inside), it was determined that he needed to go to a home. He died there about a year later, unconscious and on a feeding tube. My dad told me, after visiting him several times there, that if he ever becomes such a burden, to instead take him camping and leave him far out in the woods with some food and a tent, because he didn't want to go out like his dad did.

My grandpa on my moms side also served in WW2. He was a clerk in the Air Force, stationed in southeast Asia. His stories of the war mostly involved hunting tigers, fishing and playing volleyball.

The closest he got to combat was when he had been transferred to another base and had to travel near contested territory to get there. One night they had to sleep outside in an area that was patrolled by the Gurkha. They were told to sleep on their back with their dogtags accessible. While laying awake that night in the pitch black and silence, my grandpa felt fingers lightly feeling around on his chest. He didn't move or make a sound, as he'd been instructed. When the fingers felt his dogtags, they were gone. If he had not had his dogtags, the Gurkha kneeling silently over him would have slit his throat with one of their famous curved blades. He heard and saw nothing at all.

He was medically discharged and sent home after he broke his leg playing volleyball or hunting tigers (I can't remember which).

After that, he went to work as a janitor at Lilly Pharmaceuticals, and retired as the Director of Human Resources. He taught me to hunt and fish, gave me my first gun, and everywhere (literally) that I went with him, somebody there knew him fondly. I would wager my house that he'd never made a single enemy in his life, given his demeanor. He gave sermons at church and played 18 holes of golf every week until he went into the hospital with a cold at 88yo, where he died peacefully in his sleep a few days later.

 

Yes my old man is a Nam vet. My first MOS was anti armor missile systems(tow missile) tech and my second MOS was generator mech, operator and electrician. I also had two uncles in Nam.

 

My dad served, I served, my wife served, and my son served.

 

Active Duty AF since 2007.

 

That's a lot of service in your family!

 

What do you do in the AF? Are you going to stay in for a full career?

 

I’m a pilot. Started in the F-15C and then went to the Strike Eagle. I plan on it since I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else. I’ll worry about that midlife crisis when I get to it.

 

Currently in.

Originally enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2007 as an intel analyst. Our unit was slashed in 2010 due to potential budget cuts. Some got to stay- full timers, others were re-assigned (NCO's mostly), rest were discharged (including myself). Was able to re-enlist as 11B, infantry, the following year. Was much easier to re-enlist than everyone said it would be. Since I had been out less than a year, I didn't need to redo basic. Just needed to go through Infantry School which was awesome.

Left the "weekend warrior" Guard for AGR (full time Guard).

Decided to put my degree to use and went to OCS and here we are.

 

Awesome!

A good friend of mine was a pilot in the AF, and now he flies for United Airlines.

 

I don't really think it's unusual. In the post-draft era, military service seems to run in families. Most families now don't have any relatives who've ever served and mostly don't know anyone who's ever served.

 

A lot of people I know have done that. I just don’t think I’d enjoy that switch. What did he fly in the AF?

 

Heavy jets.

 

I can see where the switch might seem awfully boring after what you've been doing, lol. What happens if you promote up? Can you promote too high to keep flying?

 

I joined the Navy six months out of high school. I was sworn in the day Reagan took office.

I served on two submarine rescue ships (USS Pigeon and USS Ortolan; watch the movie Gray Lady Down), a guided missile destroyer (USS Chandler), a guided missile cruiser (USS Princeton) and four minesweepers (USS Pluck, USS Constant, USS Adroit; in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and USS Sentry.

During Desert Storm I drove a "RHIB" (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) with a team of six EOD personnel (I was not EOD) to conduct mine neutralization, often in parts of the Gulf we weren't supposed to be. I also was responsible for operating and maintaining our high frequency, low range Sonar.

During my tenure aboard Princeton we conducted drug ops off the coast of Central and South America. I was the Navy team leader for one of our boarding parties (we had a Coast Guard detachment on board who took the lead due to the law enforcement nature of our operations).

At the end of my career I was an instructor at FLEASWTRACEN in San Diego for three years, and was also a cop during that time. My NEC's (essentially the same thing as an Army MOS) were in the areas of mine warfare and advanced acoustic analysis, in which I was a master analyst.

I retired in January of 2001 after 20 years and 11 days of active duty service...

 

I got cousins that were in Air Force, Marines and Army but none cared to be a squid...

 

My brother was in the Navy from 1983 to 1989. My Grandfather was in the Army during WWII. I have a cousin who served in the Air Force. My Dad and my Uncle were both Navy, and another Uncle retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel...

 

USAF 75-79
my avatar is my squadron badge from my last permanent station, 507th TACCS @ Shaw AFB S.C.
My father served in the navy during Korea but spent almost all that time at Norfolk. I discovered that 9 months after he got out I was born.
One uncle fought throughout Italy and Germany, silver star for taking out a German machine gun nest that had the rest of his platoon pinned down. He was wounded 2 or 3 times.
One uncle manned a Sherman, don't know anything else.
Another fought the Japanese and there were a few others. Still have one WW II uncle living.

 

I had two WW II uncles go into a "home". My cousin would tell me her father complained they wouldn't feed him. Both died about a year after going there. Seems they are designed to make sure you don't waste away slowly.

 

My grand dad served in France in WWI, my dad in the Pacific during WWII, myself in Vietnam and Laos. I made the Army a career retiring from active duty in 1986. Then spent the next 26 years working for the army as a Department of the Army civilian. I have a grandson who served with the 1st ID in Afghanistan. Out of all of that, I'm the only one who made the army a career.

 

We have full birds that still fly but it’s rare. Usually there’s a trade off. I have taken a path that will keep me flying more often but I sacrificed the opportunity to go beyond O-5, which I didn’t really care about. I wouldn’t say I have a 0% chance of making O-6 because they’re so desperate to keep people, but it’s like a 0.69% chance. Mostly because I have swerved some specific leadership opportunities that set people up for that.

 

Mom and dad served in the Army during WWII. I served in the AF during and after Vietnam, and daughter served in the Marines around Afghanistan time.

 

Retiring at O-5 is considered a great and respected career as an officer. My Commander is retiring at O-3 because there are two promote-able slots with 8 Captains. He could stay O-3 and command another unit (Basic Training unit)- instead he's just getting out.