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Service Reflections of SGT Harry C. Craft, U.S. Army (1977-1981)

Service Reflections of SGT Harry C. Craft, U.S. Army (1977-1981)

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I had 5 uncles who fought in WWII, and between them, there were 6 Purple Hearts, 1 Silver Star, and 3 Bronze Stars. I used to hear them tell me stories about commanding tanks as a tank commander during the war, and I became very interested in the Army after that. I also had an 18-year-old cousin who joined the Marines in 1969; I saw him in his uniform and knew I had to join the military. He was only 18 when he was killed in Vietnam. He was only there for four months. So, my family has shed their share of blood for this country, and I knew I was obligated, whether I wanted to or not. I could not let my family down. So, 10 days after I got my high school diploma, I reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for Basic Combat Training! After training, I was sent to Fort Hood, Texas. I served with the 13th Coscom and the 1st Cavalry Division while there. I also served at Heilbronn, West Germany, and Miesau, West Germany, as well as Fort Pickett, Virginia. I loved the Army and wished I had stayed, but I chose to later join the U.S. Coast Guard, where I retired as a CWO2. But I loved my military career and got to see things I would have never seen and did things I would never have gotten to do.

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Service Reflections of Sgt Edmund Poole-Andersson, U.S. Marine Corps (1954-1961)

Service Reflections of Sgt Edmund Poole-Andersson, U.S. Marine Corps (1954-1961)

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I grew up an adopted child in a dysfunctional family and was compelled to leave home at age 16. I managed to finish high school while paying for room and board earned from working two part-time jobs. In 1953, at age 17, I joined the Army National Guard (Combat Engineers, Charlestown, MA) to earn extra money and its drill team for the same reason, getting my first taste of military service. I was Captain of my high school hockey team, earned league All-Star honors, but had a passing but unimpressive academic record. Playing at the college level required remediation in prep school, which was unaffordable. So, I decided to test myself in the Marine Corps, a better option than the projected path that lay ahead. That decision changed my life!

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Service Reflections of MSgt David Manchester, U.S. Air Force (1966-1986)

Service Reflections of MSgt David Manchester, U.S. Air Force (1966-1986)

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Just before I graduated from high school, at 17 years old, I was home. It was just Mom and me, and she said to me, “I think you need to call the ‘recruiter’ and enlist in the Air Force. Since my Dad served in the Army Air Forces during WWII, there was no other choice but to join the Air Force. Mom knew that the best thing for me was to get away from home, and we could not afford college tuition, so this was the logical step.

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Service Reflections of Sgt Dan Raymond, U.S. Marine Corps (1982-1988)

Service Reflections of Sgt Dan Raymond, U.S. Marine Corps (1982-1988)

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I grew up in Santa Ana, CA (1970s) near MCAS El Toro and watched the Blue Angels every year, and I always admired the Marines. A strange thing happened around 1971, when my dad was a taxi driver picking up Marines from El Toro who were directly returning from Vietnam. This is something that’s terrible. However, it sheds light on what was going on with our veterans returning from war at this time.

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Service Reflections of SMSgt Dale L. Durnell, U.S. Air Force (1964-1991)

Service Reflections of SMSgt Dale L. Durnell, U.S. Air Force (1964-1991)

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I graduated from high school when I was 17, and when I started Junior College, I was still 17. Just before my 18th birthday, dad asked what I was going to do in the spring, and I told him I sure wasn’t going back to college and that I was going to apply for a job with one of the many aerospace companies in the area (Rocketdyne, Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge, Lockheed, et al). Dad then said that no one was going to hire an 18-year-old, with the draft hanging over his head (there was no lottery in late 1963, and I’d never even heard of Vietnam), and I had no college deferment. He said I ought to just enlist, get my military service out of the way, and learn a skill.

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Service Reflections of CDR Allen Allegretto, U.S. Navy (1982-2021)

Service Reflections of CDR Allen Allegretto, U.S. Navy (1982-2021)

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I was proud that my father served in the Army during the Korean War, and my grandfather and several uncles served in the Navy. While attending Penn State University, I learned about an opportunity to join the Navy Nuclear Power Officer Candidate Program (NUPOC). I loved technology, so the idea of serving on a nuclear-powered submarine and learning about all of the technology on board fascinated me. I was excited to join the NUPOC program and was only required to maintain good grades and graduate with an engineering degree. I enjoyed the monthly E5 pay.

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Service Reflections of LtCol James J. Davies, U.S. Navy (1965-1996)

Service Reflections of LtCol James J. Davies, U.S. Navy (1965-1996)

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I don’t know what drew me to the Navy, but I’ve always had a powerful sense of patriotism and wanted to serve my country in some way. The Vietnam War was heating up during my junior year of high school, and I wanted to quit school so that I could do my part, but my father wouldn’t let me. On June 22, 1965, the day I turned 17 1/2, he did allow me to join the Naval Reserves. I attended drills every Tuesday night and on some weekends until I graduated and reported for active duty on June 22, 1966, at Naval Station, Long Beach, CA.

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Service Reflections of MSgt George Fillgrove, U.S. Air Force (1977-1994)

Service Reflections of MSgt George Fillgrove, U.S. Air Force (1977-1994)

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My father, whose World War II military service was limited to the Army’s Enlisted Reserve Corps, and my grandfather, a World War I veteran, were major influences. In my family, service to your country was something that was expected of you. Someone on either side of my family had served in just about every major conflict our country has fought. For me, it was just something that I felt called to do — an important goal in my list of life experiences. Besides, I’m from the same hometown as Col. Francis “Gabby” Gabreski. I lived near his brother, went to school with his nieces and nephews, and remember vividly the day he flew over our house. I was hooked forever.

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Service Reflections of RM2 Tim Roach, U.S. Coast Guard (1962-1966)

Service Reflections of RM2 Tim Roach, U.S. Coast Guard (1962-1966)

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I would give most of the credit for my decision to join the Coast Guard to my uncle. He was in the Coast Guard during WWII and often talked about his experiences while patrolling the beaches on horseback along the New Jersey shores. I was in high school during my senior year in Corpus Christi, Texas, in the fall of 1961. My high school counselor informed me that I would not be able to graduate because I had failed to earn credits in algebra during my ninth-grade year. To put it mildly, I was never a fan of school.

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Service Reflections of RM2 Donald Moores, U.S. Coast Guard (1961-1965)

Service Reflections of RM2 Donald Moores, U.S. Coast Guard (1961-1965)

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I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, and had never heard of the Coast Guard. I had a job, but I had no plans or ambitions. Spent non-work hours with a good buddy who happened to have a friend who was a Coastie. My buddy had an ambition: he wanted to join the USCG and become a radioman (he was a ham radio operator). The Vietnam War was in full swing, plus the Cuban involvement, and guys were getting drafted regularly. So he talked me into joining with him, and the rest is history.

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Service Reflections of SGT Julie Bryson Muster, U.S. Army (1972-1998)

Service Reflections of SGT Julie Bryson Muster, U.S. Army (1972-1998)

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Facing a dead-end life with limited opportunities and wanting to break free from my circumstances, I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1987 with a clear vision: to go to college and become someone meaningful. Growing up in challenging conditions from ages 5-12 in group and foster homes in Ohio, with abusive, alcoholic, and addicted parents, I experienced firsthand what it meant to have few options and little encouragement. The Army represented my pathway to transformation – not just a career, but a chance to build the foundation for higher education and personal growth. Military service offered structure, purpose, and the GI Bill benefits that would make college possible. I was determined to use my service as a stepping stone to earn my master’s degree in criminal justice and ultimately create a life of meaning, helping others along the way. The Army wasn’t just an escape from a difficult past; it was my deliberate choice to forge a better future and prove that circumstances don’t define destiny.

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