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- Notes:
- Joseph Filko was born in 1921 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His military career would span 20 years and three separate wars. The financial climate of the Great Depression drove him to enlist in the Marines in 1939 at age 17. He wound up at Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia where the sight of the USS Washington inspired him to join on for sea duty. In 1942 his aircraft carrier was attacked by kamikaze at Guadalcanal. Initially Joseph left the military in 1945 after WWII ended, however working for the State Police offered little pay and so he re-enlisted in 1948. In Korea he was stationed at the 38th parallel and lasted for 14 months. As if that weren't enough he was also sent to Vietnam in 1961. After a period of some time he was sent with a special unit to Okinawa. Finally he was discharged for the last time in 1962. Joseph was decorated with a variety of 16 medals and ribbons for his career. Later in life he worked for the US Post Office for 20 years before retiring.
- Date Created:
- 2015-03-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Lawrence Merritt was born in Oak Park, Illinois, although when he enlisted, Merritt's family lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After attending Purdue University and completing the university's ROTC program, Merritt received a commission in the Army Corps of Engineers and went to Fort Belvoir, Virginia for his training. From Fort Belvoir, Merritt initially received an assignment to Fort Carson, Colorado but soon received assignment to MACV. Once he deployed to Vietnam, Merritt worked as an engineering advisor in a province populated largely by Montagnards. Merritt stayed in the same province his entire tour and returned to the United States once his tour was complete.
- Date Created:
- 2009-11-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ben Peters was born in 1941. He grew up on a farm in Holmes County, Florida and enlisted in the Navy in 1958. He served for four years on the carrier USS Bennington. After leaving the Navy, he enlisted in the Army in 1962. He served with the 82nd Airborne Division, then at the Infantry School in Fort Benning, Georgia, then as a helicopter mechanic with the 101st Airborne Division. In mid-1966 he was sent to Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and served as a helicopter mechanic for the 166th Transportation Detachment at Bien Hoa Air Base. After six months he returned to the United States to go into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. After completing Officer Candidate School he was sent to West Germany to serve with the 1st Battalion 36th Infantry Regiment 3rd Armored Division for two years. Returning to the U.S. in 1969, he trained to be an adviser to Vietnamese force, but when he redeployed to Vietnam in January 1970 he was sent to the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division as their public relations officer and worked with civilians in the area around Camp Evans. During the siege of Firebase Ripcord in July, he went to the base to take over the battalion's B Company, and was in charge of security as the base was evacuated on July 23. He continued to command B Company until he left Vietnam in December 1970. After the Vietnam War he served at Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Rucker, Alabama as a flight operations officer, in Athens, Greece as noncommissioned officer in charge of a nuclear weapons storage site, and then at Cairns Army Airfield, Alabama as a flight operations chief until he left the Army in 1975.
- Date Created:
- 2014-09-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Joe Brinn was born in 1950 in Virginia and eventually moved with his family to Michigan, where he grew up. He got married at age 16 and dropped out of high school, and a year later decided to join the military. He received basic training at Ft. Knox, and then Ft. Rucker to train as a Helicopter Crew Chief. He landed in Pleiku, Vietnam, in 1968 and was assigned to the 77th Air Cavalry which was attached to the 4th Infantry Division and worked as a crew chief. His unit did "hunt/kill" missions and he did maintenance on the aircraft as well. During his time in Vietnam, he flew many combat missions, notably over Dak To, but he was never wounded; although there were many close calls. Mr. Brinn was awarded a Bronze Star after for repelling down from a helicopter to recover a lost aircraft, which he found out crashed; and even though there were no survivors he secured the bodies. After Vietnam, he continued his military career, eventually becoming a warrant officer and helicopter pilot, and retired after twenty years.
- Date Created:
- 2010-06-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ron Howell, born in Flint, Michigan in 1948 He enlisted in the Marine Corps and served from 1967 to 1969. Trained at San Diego as a radio operator, he was sent to Vietnam in June, 1968 and assigned to a headquarters unit in Da Nang. He later requested duty in the field, and became a radio operator with the 3rd Shore Party near the DMZ, and went out with different combat units to call in helicopter support.
- Date Created:
- 2012-09-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kim Tuck was born in 1946 in Battle Creek, Michigan. After graduating from Michigan State University, he enlisted in the Air Force and completed officer training as a munitions officer. Following training, he served as a munitions officer at several bases around the country and the world, including a year's tour at bases in Thailand from 1972 to 1973.
- Date Created:
- 2009-08-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bob Wallace was born in Plattsburgh, New York and studied at a Jr. College in the state as well as University of Michigan. Mr. Wallace spent two years in Nigeria through the Peace Corps before finishing his degree. He got drafted in April of 1968. He received basic training and AIT at Ft. Dix, and then went to OCS at Ft. Benning, Georgia and Ft. Polk, Louisiana. He also went to Jungle School in Panama. He was assigned to Charlie Company as 1st platoon leader, 2/506 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Throughout his time in Vietnam, Mr. Wallace collected things such as branches from trees and it made the situation enjoyable. He did not experience many bad fire fights; they sometimes went 2-3 weeks without being shot at. Mr. Wallace's company went to Firebase Ripcord for a month and helped build its defenses. He had a rear job after 7-8 months in the field in which he communicated with every battalion and company regarding supplies.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ron Kloet was born on August 8th, 1936 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school and briefly attending Davenport University, Kloet enlisted in the Air Force in 1955. After completing his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Kloet transferred to nearby Kelly Air Force Base for "radio intercept traffic analyst" training. Once he completed the training at Kelly, Kloet deployed to Shiroi Air Force Base in Japan. Because advancement in his branch was difficult, once his two-year deployment was complete, Kloet chose to get out of the Air Force and enrolled at Michigan State University to study for a Russian degree. After completing his Bachelor's Degree, Kloet briefly thought about continuing for a Master's Degree but instead decided to take a job working for the CIA. However, the job was not what Kloet had expected, so he eventually re-enlisted in the Army and after leaving the CIA and receiving additional training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Kloet deployed to Germany. Kloet moved around several units in Germany, eventually ending up as the de facto leader of a detachment in a town outside of Frankfurt. However, that was not the work Kloet expected to do, so he put in a transfer request to Vietnam and after training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, deployed to Vietnam. Once in Vietnam, Kloet stayed in Saigon working as part of the intelligence services, creating reports about enemy infiltration rates and troop strengths. After his tour, Kloet returned to Fort Bragg in March 1968, missing the Tet Offensive before deploying for a second tour as an intelligence advisor at a province capital. (see parts 2 and 3 for rest of career)
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Goedert was born on January 23, 1926 in Oak Park, Illinois. He became an ordained Dominican Priest in 1951 and served in New Orleans from 1952-1960. In 1960 he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served as a Catholic Chaplain. Father Goedert served in the Air Force until 1988, when he retired at the age of 65.
- Date Created:
- 2013-04-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Avery Loucks served in the US Navy between 1962 and 1966, and remained in the Reserves until 1993. He served with an aerial reconnaissance unit based in the Caribbean while on active duty, and was called up during Desert Storm in 1991.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
