Current Residence: Springfield
Family: Wife, Sharon; children, Chris, Jon and Michelle; nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Career After the Military: International Harvester (Navistar) for 39 years
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Hobbies: Lionel trains, Ohio State football
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Did you join the military or were you drafted? Drafted
Dates of Service: June 21, 1967, to Jan. 23, 1969,
Deployments/Bases: Vietnam from Nov. 14, 1967 to Jan. 23, 1969, 1st Division, 1st MP Co., Dian-Lai Khe-Quan Loy.
Total time that you served? 19 months served total, 14 months served in Vietnam.
What did you do in the service? Military police (convoy duty, road patrol, POW guard, gate guard and general's security).
READ MORE: Springfield sailor killed in Pearl Harbor now home 75 years later
What did you gain from serving in the military? A sense of pride, discipline and commitment for the men serving with you.
What do you remember most about your service? The Tet Offensive of early 1968. You never knew where Charlie was coming from or when or how. Not a lot of rest.
What would you like readers to know about your military experience? It made me realize all of the opportunities and freedom we have are due to the men that served before and after me in the military. My time of service gave me a perspective of life that could have never been imagined if I hadn't served in the military.
Hometown Veterans is a weekly feature profiling Clark and Champaign County veterans compiled with the assistance of local Vietnam veteran Randy Ark. To nominate a veteran, e-mail samantha.sommer@coxinc.com or randyark48@gmail.com or call 937-328-0363. Any veteran of any military branch, years of service and age is eligible to be profiled.
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