I joined the Navy in 1968 and was able to get the choice of what I wanted to do in the military. During World War II, my father was in the Navy, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. From my hometown of Odessa, Texas, you had to drive at least a hundred miles in any direction to find a river or lake.
Many things. Growing up my father owned the local movie theater where we lived. The top movies in that time were war movies, so I grew up with movies like: “The Fighting Lady” and other such. Audie Murphy was a personal friend of dads as well. Another personal friend of dads was in the Merchant Marine during WWII and his stories were exciting to me when I was a teenager. I also had relatives that served in the Navy during Korea. I guess it was really the relatives that served in the Navy that really made up my mind. Dad got out of the Army as a 1stSgt and he would have liked to see me go into the Army but said he would back me whatever branch I decided on. He went with me to see all the different branches The Navy was the only one who didn’t PROMISE me the moon. They told me it was up to me and my abilities. Dad and I both liked that.
Pictured: L to R, Richard the Merchant Marine, Me, and Dad.
As I approached my 18th birthday, I had always been interested in enlisting in the Marine Corps. I probably read every book and saw every movie about the Marine Corps growing up. I knew I would be a Marine at some point in my life. You could have called me a Marine wanna-be. I don’t believe there was ever a single major influence that I can remember.
Boot Camp had no surprises for me. I anticipated rough treatment, verbal badgering, and the best basic military training in the world. I just kept my mouth shut and did what I was told as quickly as possible. I wasn’t disappointed.
Like so many young men in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, I found myself with a 1A classification in the draft. When the first draft lottery was drawn, my birthday came up number 23. Growing up on Coastal Maryland, I had always been around the water, although had not spent that much time on boats, enough to know that I would rather rock and roll than sleep in a tent. My Dad knew a couple of people, as did I who had gone into the Coast Guard and really enjoyed their duty. Hoping to find myself on small boats possibly in Ocean City, Maryland or Chincoteague, Virginia, I went into the recruiter’s office. I was immediately informed that there was a long wait to get into the Coast Guard, so being between semesters at college, I went to enroll for the spring semester. A couple of days later, my mother called to let me know that someone had backed out and decided not to go into the Coast Guard and that I could go in the next week.
After one semester in our local “community college” (Edison Junior College), my grades were below the minimum to avoid the draft. Shortly after that, I received a draft notice. Having had relatives in the military, I was resigned to the fact I would have to serve, and I wanted to select a “specialty” that would help me after I had served my country. There was nothing in the Army I wanted to pursue, and I visited my Air Force Recruiter for his input.
After graduating from Charles D. Owen High School while living in Black Mountain, NC, 1968, my family moved to Danville, VA. I attended Danville Community College for a year and a half, but my heart wasn’t into more school at the time. I was a better draft avoider than a student. Quitting school several times, my 2S (student) deferment was changed to 1A (ready for immediate induction) and I was called for a physical.
I was unsure what I wanted to do, and how to start my adult life. Going to college was a long-term path. Working low-paying jobs that didn’t require experience was not satisfying. Without a commitment to school, I faced being drafted.
My older brother, Sgt Frank J. Zeman III, had completed five years of Air Force service and elected discharge in June 1970. My twin brother, SMSgt Ronald F. Zeman, USAF Ret., and I were in the first group for the new (December 1969) draft lottery and our draft number was 161. Without a deferment, I would have been drafted with numbers 195 and below were called.
I was an Army brat for 17 years (Dad was career army, West Point graduate). I had two years of Army ROTC in college. I went to the Oakland (CA) recruiting station fully intending on enlisting in Army or Marines. However, I saw the sandwich board sign at the end of the hall advertising the Coast Guard. Went in talked with the recruiter and realized the CG was a natural fit for my interest in having a career in law enforcement or firefighting. Signed up on delayed enlistment in 1975 and have been involved in law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency management since then.
I grew up in a family with a rich military history. My great great grandfather fought in the Civil War but never came home and is presumed dead. My grandfather Anderson was a soldier in WWI and served in France. Five uncles on both sides of the family served in WWII, three in the Army, 1 in the Navy and 1 in the Marine Corps. Two of these uncles made careers in the Air Force that continued from WWII through the Vietnam War. My father served three years in the Army from 1936 into 1939 and then again from 1944 into 1946.
As a youngster, I relished all the war stories and was old enough to keep up with all the news about the Korean War. My friends and I were always playing with toy soldiers and fighting our own wars. At an early age, I started with Cub Scouts then Boy Scouts and loved wearing the uniforms and going to all the Scout Camps. Later I joined the Cadet Division of the Civil Air Patrol keeping a fascination with things military. Perhaps it was a foregone conclusion that I would be in the military, but what branch?
One of the adult members of the Civil Air Patrol was a Texas Highway Patrolman and I became very interested in pursuing law enforcement. By this time I was becoming a senior in high school but you had to be 21 years old to apply to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The military draft was in effect at this time and I determined that the US Army had an excellent Military Police Corps. My plan was then to join the Army after school and spend three years in the Military Police to prepare me for civilian law enforcement and not have to worry about being drafted later to interfere with my goal.
I grew up listening to my dad’s war stories of WW II, fighting in the Pacific against the Japanese. My Dad was, and is my HERO. I wanted to be just like him. Wanting to do my part in the service of this great country. I grew up playing war games with my brothers and cousins in our back yard. Being a military man and of course the dress blues of the USMC that I saw one day in High School. DUTY, HONOR AND GOD, I belonged to JROTC unit in high school. We thought that it was our duty to stop the spread of communism in the world. The dress blues and the challenge of being the best fighting unit in the armed services. I trained as a Marine Sniper. Although when I got in-country, grunts were in need and not snipers. I participated in operation Utah Mesa; lower A Shau Valley search and destroy missions. I ran into an NVA patrol. This was my first firefight. There were 2 NVA KIA’s and 1 wounded. We suffered 1 wounded Marine. This was just one of many patrols that I went on. The Operation continued into Laos. We cut off supplies of the Ho Chi Minh trail. Georgia Tar, Hekiemer Mountain operations.
I would go on patrols and pull convoy duty watching over the SeaBee repairing HWY 1, receiving small arms fire during this encounter! I was sitting atop a hill in the lower Khe Sahn area and looking up at the night sky. The stars made me feel lonely and scared. We had incoming daily from the DMZ rockets, motors, and artillery shelling. It was constant harassment from the NVA. Although not considered to be a major operation, the loss of life tells another story. Operation Utah Mesa came at cost of 145 Marines killed and some 300 wounded. Victory doesn’t come easy, when you are the one looking for the enemy. During the Fall Counter-Offensive we were Heloed into Thua Thein Province near the Loation border for search and destroy. The operation took about 3 weeks in December of 1969. Here we encountered light enemy fire, but we captured rice, a small arms stash and disrupted the enemies supply line. Semper Fi’ MY EXPERT BADGE and SNIPER Qualification AND MY Combat Action Ribbon for the fire fights I participated in, were a true test of your metal and the Viet Nam Cross of Gallantry Medal.
Then there was the death of LCpl Seiler, June 27,1969 and the death of two other Marines PFC Huriank and CPL Mc Masters. He, Seiler, was a short timer killed 2 week before rotating back to the states. We had been talking just moments before his death. How precious life really was to us. I spent another two and half years more in the Corps and I got out.
I went back to being a meat ciutter in the private sector and after 16 years, I went to work at DeCA. I became a meat cutter and then into Management for the Defense Commissary Agency at Lackland Air Force Base, and a tour in Holland at an Army Base. It provided me with the drive to succeed. I supervised 20 employees and ran a department that did $4 million in sales a year. Stay the course, be committed, use team work, be dedicated and go for gold!
My brother Stan. He had served in the Marines during the Tet and knew about what the Coast Guard was all about and recommend I test for them. Back in ’74, the Coast Guard had higher standards than any other branch. I tested in Louisville, KY and shipped out to boot camp the next day!
There were 7 recruits shipped off to Alameda, CA that day.
It was straightforward. My father, a WWII veteran who left the Army as a Captain, gave me sage advice. I was about to enter my freshman year in college in 18. There was still a draft. He told me to get into the ROTC program because it was better to serve as an officer than an enlisted soldier. I would not challenge his credibility about this and so on. Unusually for an 18-year-old, I listened to my father. And went on to serve for almost 30 years and retired as a Colonel. I sure wish he had lived to see that!
From high school, I had been leaning toward a military career. My high school ROTC instructor didn’t have any information on the Naval ROTC program, but he gave me a booklet about the Coast Guard Academy. I guess you could say that my Coast Guard recruiter was M/SGT Vincent Thomas, USA.
