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Service Reflections of CAPT LaVerne Arndt, U.S. Marine Corps (1963-1969)

Service Reflections of CAPT LaVerne Arndt, U.S. Marine Corps (1963-1969)

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Military draft at age 22 into the Army. Enlisted in the USMC after talking with the Navy and AF recruiters. Fast-talking USMC Gunny Sgt. Culp, who was my girlfriend’s brother-in-law.

I wanted to get toughened up as an individual man, and the Marines were my best choice.

The Marine training at Parris Island and later at Quantico provided me with confidence in my abilities. I was very successful at PI, winning almost every award a recruit could win, including the American Spirit of Honor Medal: Leatherneck award, PFC, and rifle expert out of boot camp. I extended a year at boot camp to get Sea Duty because I wanted to travel. After two years of Sea Duty, I was selected meritoriously for OCS. At Quantico, I also did very well and finished 19th out of a class of 541 Officers. I selected the 0302 Infantry Officer MOS.

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Service Reflections of LTC Richard Swier, U.S. Army (1967-1990)

Service Reflections of LTC Richard Swier, U.S. Army (1967-1990)

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My father, Joseph Swier, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WW II in the Pacific Theater, inspired me to join the United States Army.

My father was in the seminary to become a priest, but when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, he left the seminary to join the Army.

President John F. Kennedy, who served in the Pacific Theater, as did my father, also influenced me.

Both of these men and fellow veterans were and still are my heroes.

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Service Reflections of SP4 Patrick Newman, U.S. Army (1970-1973)

Service Reflections of SP4 Patrick Newman, U.S. Army (1970-1973)

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I came from an extremely abusive childhood; my mother constantly abused my siblings and me physically and psychologically. If I did not get my ass kicked 3-4 times per week for some minor infraction, that was a good week. I was constantly told that I would never amount to anything. Around my 13th birthday, my parents found an adult whom they felt would be a good role model and mentor for me. It turned out that this person was a pedophile, and he abused me until I was 16 years old. I tried to speak to my parents about this type of abuse, but they thought I was lying.
When I turned 16, I could no longer take abuse from my parents or our family friends. I obtained the handwritten birth certificate that my parents received from the hospital after I was born. This was not the “Official” birth certificate kept at the Clark County, Chicago hall of records office. With a friend’s help, I changed my DOB to reflect my age as 18. During that time, the need for volunteers to join the Military was incredible, and I am sure my recruiter looked the other way regarding the forgery.
I was now on my way to the induction center in downtown Los Angeles where I was sworn in as a member of the US Army.

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Service Reflections of CDR Theodore Scheeser, U.S. Coast Guard (1961-1986)

Service Reflections of CDR Theodore Scheeser, U.S. Coast Guard (1961-1986)

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I was raised in Akron, OH, not noted for its water boundaries. My family vacationed in Marblehead, OH, and I watched the Coasties at the nearby rescue station with awe. Since the Draft was ever-present and college was not in the future, I decided to join. When it came time to enlist, the recruiter was never there (a sub-station). I almost went into the Navy to get out of Akron.

But my mother, God rest her soul, made me keep trying. She didn’t want me to lose my dream.

Finally, I caught the recruiter, MM1 Reitler, and enlisted. But to confuse the recruiter, I sent my twin that afternoon to enlist. We went to the buddy program.

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Service Reflections of BM3 Jack White, U.S. Navy (1964-1970)

Service Reflections of BM3 Jack White, U.S. Navy (1964-1970)

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Several factors influenced my decision to join the Navy in 1964. First, in 1960, my senior year at Canoga Park High School, I received a congressional appointment — fundamentally, a football scholarship — to the U.S. Naval Academy with the provision that I enroll at Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills, California. Pierce was one of the community colleges designated by the Naval Academy and their football coach, Wayne Hardin, as having an athletic training program capable of transitioning appointees to a higher level of experience and expertise before our entrance to the Academy. Well, that worked out fine for a few months; I had passed the Navy physical and had a good football season, but then my best childhood friend and I decided to join the Tri Chi (XXX) fraternity at Pierce College. Then, fraternity life provided an entirely new and exciting social avenue to discover; however, my grades suffered due to the newly introduced fun factor in my life.

Consequently, I failed to maintain the required grade point average and thus lost my appointment to the Academy. I considered the loss inconsequential at the time, as I had the time of my young life. I felt bad for my parents, who were pretty proud of the appointment and never really got over it. As for me, I suppose I will continue to replay the pros and cons of that decision through the years.

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Service Reflections of SGT Rafael Irizarry-Laporte, U.S. Army (1966-1968)

Service Reflections of SGT Rafael Irizarry-Laporte, U.S. Army (1966-1968)

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As a kid, I always liked the military. As a young kid, I wanted to join the Navy. When I got to high school, we had Army JROTC, and my interest changed to Army or Marines. My dad, who was in the Army, convinced me that the Army was the way to go because it was bigger and promoted faster. He was a tanker and tried to steer me to armor. I wanted to be an airborne ranger, and my dad said whatever you do, ensure you get what you want in your contract. When I went to the recruiter, I scored very high on the ASVAB. The career counselor told me that he didn’t have airborne infantry available. He said the only thing with airborne was the 31C Radio Operator, probably because of the high GT. I believed him and felt good about getting guaranteed airborne. It first took me to the 82nd, and as soon as I got there, I started applying for a Ranger assignment because I got put in the Engineer Battalion, and it wasn’t what I wanted. After a year and a half, I got my wish and orders for Ranger Indoctrination and the 2nd Ranger Battalion.

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Service Reflections of CMSGT Bruce Hanke, U.S. Air Force (1967-2004)

Service Reflections of CMSGT Bruce Hanke, U.S. Air Force (1967-2004)

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Since my parents went through the Great Depression and only finished the 8th grade, there was never an incentive for me to go to college. I grew up a country boy with interests in Hot Rodding and playing fastpitch softball. I continued both during my service career. After High School, I assumed that I would get a job at the Kelly Springfield Tire Co, where my father was a bead room supervisor. The company would not hire me because I had not fulfilled my military draft obligation.

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Service Reflections of CAPT David Francis, U.S. Navy (1961-1994)

Service Reflections of CAPT David Francis, U.S. Navy (1961-1994)

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PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents CAPT David Francis's legacy of his military service from 1961 to 1994. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The following Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life. Start recording your own Military Memories HERE. Please describe who or what influenced your decision to join the Navy. Patriotism. Serve to win the Cold War. Submarine Service Elected in 1960, President John F. Kennedy inspired many of my generation to public service, including me. The Peace Corps, launched by the Kennedy Administration, allowed Americans to serve humanity overseas. Kennedy also...

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Service Reflections of YN1y Gary Haythorn, U.S. Coast Guard (1966-1970)

Service Reflections of YN1y Gary Haythorn, U.S. Coast Guard (1966-1970)

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I was 18, having just finished a semester of junior college, and just had no clue where I wanted to go in life. My girlfriend broke up with me, so I thought I would join the Marines. But my cousin, who was already a USMC Captain, aviator, and Vietnam veteran, talked to me. He said, “If you join the Marine Corps, I’ll kick your a@#.” Then he laughed and said, “Look, you’d be a fine Marine, but join the Coast Guard or Air Force. They treat their people better.” Having grown up in Florida, being around water and boats all my life, I went to the CG recruiting office in Orlando, FL, where SS1 Gravett signed me up.

PS That girl that broke up with me married me four years later. We’ve been married for over 40 years now. Blessed.

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Service Reflections of SSGT Jorge Hernandez, U.S. Air Force (1968-1972)

Service Reflections of SSGT Jorge Hernandez, U.S. Air Force (1968-1972)

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PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents SSGT Jorge Hernandez's legacy of his military service from 1968 to 1972. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The following Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life. Start recording your own Military Memories HERE. Please describe who or what influenced your decision to join the Air Force. Old Times Square Recruiting Station With a year left in high school, the local Draft Board strongly suggested that I join the Army. I went down to Times Square in New York City recruiting stations and talked to all recruiters. The Air Force recruiter was the most informative,...

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Service Reflections of EM2 Michael Lewis, U.S. Coast Guard (1967-1971)

Service Reflections of EM2 Michael Lewis, U.S. Coast Guard (1967-1971)

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As a young man in the 60’s after my HS graduation, I was employed in Canton, Ohio, in the summer of 1966.

Growing up during the Vietnam era, I knew that at the age of 18, I would most likely get drafted into the military. At that time, I felt that if I were going to serve our country, I would take it upon myself to choose the branch of service that appealed to my character. So the US Post Office was right across the street from my employment, and one lunch hour, I walked over to look at the branches represented by recruiters.

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