Thomas Chambers: A Chief Who Has Seen More Than Just Engines
Doug Meffley2019-09-13T09:44:41-05:00After four years of active duty in the Navy beginning in 1963, Thomas Chambers went on to serve 29 more as a member of the Reserves.
Richard “Doc” Campbell: Silver Star and Purple Heart Corpsman
Doug Meffley2019-09-12T11:44:39-05:00On August 7, 1969, Corpsman Richard Campbell's medical training, and valor, rose to the occasion.
Terry Cable: A Life Powered By Diesel Engines
Doug Meffley2019-09-12T10:44:54-05:00Terry Cable's tour of duty in Vietnam included time aboard the USS Satyr, a vessel equipped to repair the boats that patrolled Vietnam’s rivers and canals.
Jim Zwit: The Driving Force
Doug Meffley2021-04-20T13:47:25-05:00Jim Zwit calls it the driving force of his life. His memories, and his respect for the memories of the eight fellow soldiers killed one evening in Vietnam are too important to be anything else but the impetus behind the major mission in his life.
Gary Nelson: Gunner’s Mate On An Icebreaker
Doug Meffley2019-08-02T21:27:11-05:00Three times Gary Nelson has traveled to Washington D.C. with Honor Flight Chicago, each time accompanying a World War II veteran on this journey of thanks. The next HFC flight on August 7th, 2019, will be Nelson’s fourth, but this time it will be different. This time, he’s the veteran being thanked.
Charles Luhan, Jr.: Combat Engineer Becomes Santa Claus
Doug Meffley2019-08-02T21:16:15-05:00At his company compound in Vietnam, Charles Luhan, Jr., would fly the City of Chicago flag (which has four blue stars) when he had the chance. When he did this, his company’s compound would receive unusually more rocket attacks than normal. The company commanding officer told Charles, “Can you take down that four-star flag, they think you’re a General.”
Barbara Lloyd: Military Service — Just What A Family Does
Doug Meffley2019-08-02T20:44:25-05:00Barbara Lloyd was born into a family with a history of serving our country. Impressed with her brother, Ken’s, travels in the Navy, Barbara became “crazy about the Navy” which planted the seed of her serving in the military.
Thomas Keith: Daily Fire Missions
Doug Meffley2019-08-02T20:30:00-05:00While growing up on the west side of Chicago and attending Austin High School, Tom never imagined he would spend his 21st birthday serving in the Army in Vietnam.
Sylvester Dziedzic: Going To The Dogs
Doug Meffley2019-08-02T15:19:38-05:00Growing up, Sylvester Dziedzic didn’t have a family dog. However, when he joined the Army in 1965, he developed a specialty as a Military Police (MP) Sentry Dog Handler and served in that role during the Vietnam War.
Ascher Daniel Yates: Photography, Korea and an Emmy
Doug Meffley2019-07-06T06:49:23-05:00On his Honor Flight application, Mr. Yates states he was an Army photographer in Korea, an understatement indeed.
Clyde Wilson: How Delivering Paychecks Earns The Silver Star
Doug Meffley2021-01-25T13:25:21-06:00“Welcome to Tan Son Nhut. We are under attack, everybody prepare for a crash landing.” Those were the first words Capt. Clyde Wilson and his fellow officers heard from their pilot as they arrived in Vietnam in 1968.
James Wightman: One of the Fortunate Ones
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T21:39:09-05:00Jim Wightman knows he is one of the lucky ones. He spent his entire Army deployment in Korea during a time when many troops were being shifted to Vietnam, allowing him to dig deep into much of the Korean culture.
Robert Vogeltanz: Rigging Parachutes — A Valued, Specialized Skill
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T21:25:38-05:00When Bob Vogeltanz volunteered for the Air Force three days shy of his 19th birthday, he did not know he would learn a highly specialized skill that would take him halfway across the world to Thailand during the height of the Vietnam War.
Donald Tollefsen: Floating Battalion
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T21:09:29-05:00Don Tollefsen went from being a garbage man working in Cicero, Illinois, to being part of a Floating Battalion in the South China Seas.
Terrence Schmidt: Memories of War and Recruiting
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T20:52:06-05:00Terry Schmidt had a long and successful Navy career, with many years of recruiting for the Navy Reserve, but the times he remembers the best are his two tours on a destroyer off Vietnam.
Robert Misevich: Combat Medic, A Prime Target
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T20:43:13-05:00Bob Misevich was awarded three Bronze Stars as an Army combat medic in Vietnam, where he served during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Joseph Martinek: Same Navy, Different Ships – Big Difference
Doug Meffley2019-08-02T20:49:25-05:00While following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who served in the Navy during WWI, Vietnam War veteran Joseph Martinek eventually found himself assigned to USS Enterprise (CVN-65): the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
Stewart Margolis: Join The Navy And See The World…Really!
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T15:35:54-05:00Joining the Navy seemed just the right thing to do for young Stewart Margolis from New York City. It turned into a career that spanned three different decades.
James Blue, Sr.: Once a Marine, Always a Marine
Doug Meffley2019-07-05T15:19:18-05:00Despite contracting a severe case of malaria that required hospitalization both during and after his service in Vietnam, James Blue, Sr., continued to serve as a reservist well into the first Gulf War.
John “Ace” Aister: You Appreciate Everything
Doug Meffley2019-07-02T16:41:52-05:00The morning he left for the Vietnam War, John Aister’s father drove him to the train station and left him with words of wisdom he never forgot: "Come back home" and "There will be a day when you appreciate water and bread.”