PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflections represents LTC Richard Swier’s legacy of his military service from 1967 to 1990. 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 Army.
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.
Whether you were in the service for several years or as a career, please describe the direction or path you took. What was your reason for leaving?
My 23 years of active duty service in the U.S. Army took me down many paths.
I began my career as a U.S. Army Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery in 1967.
My first assignment was with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I graduated from the Airborne School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and upon returning to Fort Campbell, deployed with the 101st Airborne Division to Vietnam. The airlift was called “Eagle Thrust.” Eagle Thrust was the largest airlift ever undertaken, and it sent a combat unit into a combat zone. We flew from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to Saigon, Vietnam, in C-141 aircraft.
I was assigned first to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry (Airborne) as their Forward Observer. I later served with D Company, known as the Delta Raiders, in the A Shau Valley with the mission to kill, capture, and drive the NVA out of Vietnam into Cambodia.
I was there for Tet of 1968, the invasion of South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army and their terrorist allies, the Viet Cong.
I can say unequivocally that we won all the battles on the ground but lost the war on the streets of Washington, D.C., and the halls of Congress.
Upon returning from Vietnam, I attended Field Artillery Officers Basic Course at Fort Sill and was assigned to Germany with the 1st Infantry Division (FWD). In Germany, I was in command of a nuclear-capable field artillery battery. I was there when the terrorist group Black September attacked the Olympic Village in Munich, slaughtering 11 Israeli athletes and killing one German police officer.
I returned to Fort Riley, Kansas, and served on the 1st Infantry Division staff. I was involved in 5 Reforger Exercises while assigned to the 1st Infantry Division.
I had two tours at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The first tour was with the Airborne, Electronics, and Special Warfare Board as a member of the joint U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army C5 A test team. We tested the new C5 A aircraft for the ability to do heavy drops and accommodate parachute jumps.
My second tour at Fort Bragg was as the Adjutant of the 7th Special Forces Group. I was responsible for the health and welfare of our Special Forces soldiers and their families.
I then attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to learn Greek and was then assigned to Greece to Command a nuclear-capable Field Artillery Detachment in Drama, Greece.
Upon my return to the United States, I attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
Upon graduation, I was assigned to the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Monroe, Virginia. I was first the Chief of Executive Services for the four-star Commander. I was responsible for all protocol issues, receiving all foreign visitors to TRADOC and giving the command briefing to numerous visiting general officers, including generals from England to Israel. I was later assigned to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Doctrine, where I was responsible for the U.S. Army’s Anti-Terrorism and Terrorism Counter Action doctrine.
My final assignment was as the Deputy Inspector General for the U.S. Army Pacific Command, Fort Shafter, Hawaii.
I retired from the U.S. Army in 1990.
If you participated in any military operations, including combat, humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, please describe those which made a lasting impact on you and, if life-changing, in what way?
I served in combat with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry (Airborne) as their Forward Observer. I later served with D Company, known as the Delta Raiders, in the A Shau Valley with the mission to kill, capture, and drive the NVA out of Vietnam into Cambodia.
I was there for Tet of 1968, the invasion of South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army and their terrorist allies, the Viet Cong.
Did you encounter any situation during your military service when you believed there was a possibility you might not survive? If so, please describe what happened and what was the outcome.
I have what I call many” “Come to Jesu” moments while in the Army.
Every time I stepped off of a perfectly good aircraft in flight to make a military parachute jump, it was a come-to-Jesus moment.
While in Vietnam, I had multiple moments when we encountered the enemy. When that bullet whizzes past your head and hits and kills the man standing next to you is a come to Jesus moment.
I distinctly remember when my A Company Infantry Commander and I were standing next to one another, and an RPG flew between us and landed in the rice paddy behind us. Luckily, it dug itself into the rice paddy and then exploded, keeping us from being hit with shrapnel.
I also remember when, on one Reforger Exercise in Germany during a snowstorm, the vehicle I was in began sliding sideways down a steep hill. Luckily, my driver righted the vehicle before it could turn over.
Of all your duty stations or assignments, which one do you have fondest memories of and why? Which was your least favorite?
Of course, my fondest memories are those of when I served with my fellow airborne soldiers in Vietnam.
Another fond memory is meeting my wife in Honolulu, Hawaii, for R&R from Vietnam. My wife and I went to dinner at a restaurant owned by Don Ho. We both ordered steak dinners with a baked potato. When my wife’s dinner was served to her, the baked potato was not cooked. The Matre De and chef came to our table, and the chef picked up my wife’s unbaked potato and began slamming it on the table. It was a big joke as they knew that I was there on R&R and wanted us to have a fun and memorable time there. We then went into the bar area and heard Don Ho sing his famous “Tiny Bubble” song. Oh, what a memory that week was.
My least favorite memories are of losing one of our soldiers, be it in war or during peacetime. The loss of a brother in arms is something one can never forget.
From your entire military service, describe any memories you still reflect back on to this day.
Today, I don’t look back on my military service; instead, I continue to keep the oath I took to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
I do this through my writing, first as a blogger, then a journalist, and now as the publisher of the DrRichSwier.com online magazine.
Never give up. Never surrender!
What professional achievements are you most proud of from your military career?
In 1994, I was the Founder and CEO of Sarasota Online, a high-technology company that was sold to Comcast Cable in 1996.
In 1997, I helped start Backsoft Corporation, an enterprise software development company whose clients included Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Hyundai Electronics, Volkswagen, Moen, and Goodyear. Backsoft was sold in 2001.
I twice chaired the Sarasota Better Business Council and sat on the Board of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. I also served on the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County from 2000 to 2009. He served from 2006 to 2011 on the Sponsorship Advisory Committee of the Sarasota County School Board.
I also served for ten years as President of the Sarasota County Veterans Commission, was an honorary member of the BRAVE Fund, and was Chairman of the Sarasota National Cemetery Advisory Committee for seven years.
I was the State Editor for RedCounty.com, former radio talk show host of the Dr. Rich Show, and former editor of Watchdog Wire Florida, an internationally read website dedicated to exposing government fraud, waste, and abuse at the city, county, school board, and state levels in Florida.
Additionally, I hold a Doctorate of Education from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, a Master’s Degree in Management Information Systems from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Today, I am the Publisher of DrRichSwier.com, an online e-magazine dedicated to contesting the uncontested absurdities we see every day, from the schoolhouse to the White House.
I am a “conservative with a conscience.” I believe that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is not virtue.”
Of all the medals, awards, formal presentations and qualification badges you received, or other memorabilia, which one is the most meaningful to you and why?
I was awarded the Legion of Merit for my years of service. Additionally, I was awarded two Bronze Stars with “V” for Heroism in ground combat, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry while serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam.
My most meaningful award remains the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry because it reminds me of the wonderful and courageous people of Vietnam who fought alongside us, shoulder to shoulder, during Tet of 1968.
Which individual(s) from your time in the military stand out as having the most positive impact on you and why?
Perhaps the most influential individual from my time in the Army was the First Sergeant of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Airborne Infantry.
Before deploying to Vietnam, I went to meet the A Company Commander. When I walked into the orderly room, the First Sergeant greeted me.
The First Sergeant, who had seen combat before, told me that whatever we do when we get to Vietnam is point. He said that when you point, the enemy knows you are a leader and will try to kill you.
During the first firefight I was in, I saw the First Sergeant point, and he was shot in the elbow.
I walked over to him while the medics were bandaging his wound and said to him, “First Sergeant, don’t ever point.”
List the names of old friends you served with, at which locations, and recount what you remember most about them. Indicate those you are already in touch with and those you would like to make contact with.
My best and longest friends are those with whom I served in Vietnam. My Battery Commander, Ken Crabtree, my fellow Forward Observer, Mike Watson, the Commander of the Delta Raiders, Cleo Hogan, and my fellow Forward Observer, Jim Taylor, are all fellow airborne troopers and Vietnam War veterans.
Can you recount a particular incident from your service, which may or may not have been funny at the time, but still makes you laugh?
I remember that on our first in-country patrol in Vietnam, we came across a hole in the ground. My company commander and I discussed it and concluded that it was an air hole to tunnels under our feet where some Viet Cong may be hiding.
We decided to drop grenades down the hole to flush out the Viet Cong.
When the grenades exploded, shit went flying everywhere. It was a field latrine.
Covered in Viet Cong shit, we all had a great laugh, then we went to a stream nearby and washed our clothes and ourselves.
What profession did you follow after your military service and what are you doing now? if you are currently serving, what is your present occupational specialty?
After my military service, I first became an entrepreneur by co-founding, with our son Rich, Jr., SarasotaOnline.com. We were the 6th city site on the internet right after Paris, France.
Later, I began a career as a citizen journalist reporting on current events and issues impacting my community, state, and our nation. Our son Rich Jr., in 1998, created a blog for me on a new website called Google. He showed me how to blog about issues that I “was passionate about.”
I am a “conservative with a conscience.” I truly believe that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
My idol is former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was a true conservative who wrote this in his book “The Conscience of a Conservative”:
“I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, that have failed their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is’‘needed” before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituent’s “interests,” I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty and that in that cause, I am doing the very best I can.”
I am dedicated to contesting the uncontested absurdities.
Ayn Rand wrote,
“The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow. They come to be accepted by degrees, by dint of constant pressure on one side and constant retreat on the other until one day when they are suddenly declared to be the country’s official ideology.”
What military associations are you a member of, if any? What specific benefits do you derive from your memberships?
I am a member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Military Officers Association.
In what ways has serving in the military influenced the way you have approached your life and your career? What do you miss most about your time in the service?
My military service and the oath that I took to protect and defend our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, drive me each and every day.
That oath before God does not expire until I do.
Based on your own experiences, what advice would you give to those who have recently joined the Army?
My advice is that today is the worst time to join our U.S. military.
Perhaps my advice is best reflected at a House Defense Oversight Committee hearing on January 11th, 2024, by Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), who spoke about the adverse effects of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the U.S. military.
Rep. Higgins lambasted against imposing DEI in our military, stating,
“We don’t care about anything other than the deadly effectiveness of our Army. It requires discrimination because developing deadly skills in a force of men requires us to recognize the distinction, to discriminate between those who can become lethal weapons and those who cannot. Nobody cares about the color of your skin, your cultural background, your ethnicity, or who your mama or your daddy is. Because your ass now belongs to the Army, and we’re going to make a soldier out of you, or we’re going to remove you from this unit, and you go do something else. No problem. The world needs insurance salesmen and everybody else. But if you want to be a soldier, we’re going to carve you into what it is to be a soldier.”
We need warfighters, not wimps!
In what ways has togetherweserved.com helped you remember your military service and the friends you served with?
I thank TogetherWeServed.com for providing us veterans with a platform to reflect and write about our experiences.
God bless you all!
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I loved your writings of vn.
you would make a real newspaper
reporter…
Good job and God Bless!!
Sgt Roger Lee Shifflett
4/77 ARA B Company
Never forget those we had to leave behind…