Dennis (Denny) Keast: ‘I never thought I’d do what I did’

By Kathy Volpi, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Dennis was born in southern Minnesota and when he was four his family moved to Flint, MI.  Flint was an auto town back then, and a nice place to grow up. He went to Flint Tech High School  which was a small school that offered a better, safer education with the best teachers in town. You had to apply for admission, and they never had any problems like other schools did. They didn’t even need locks on the lockers.

Dennis’s mom was a homemaker and his father had joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. As a civilian, Dennis’s dad worked for General Motors and then the Flint Police Department. Dennis’s parents eventually became missionaries in Brazil, serving more than a decade along the Amazon River. 

Dennis knew he wanted to fly. A man who attended Dennis’s church had an airplane and would take Dennis flying with him quite often. In fact, in addition to fostering his love of flying, his friend was responsible for introducing him to his wife, Sharon. In 1963, Dennis was on his way to pilot training when he and his friend first attended Good Friday services. He saw Sharon at the piano and noticed she was “cute as a button.” The bulletin said “Mrs. B” was playing. After the service, his friend’s daughter asked Dennis to go on a double date with her and her friend. The friend she had in mind turned out to be the piano playing woman from the service. Dennis said he did not want to be fixed up with a married lady, but as it turned out, Sharon was substituting for “Mrs. B” the regular piano player. They went out on that date the next night and after three years of courtship, were married in 1966.

The Keast family’s service to the United States was extensive. In addition to his father serving in WWII, Dennis’s twin brother was a Marine helicopter pilot – serving in Vietnam ahead of Dennis. He was featured on the cover of Life Magazine in 1964.  

Right out of high school, Dennis intended to go into the U.S. Air Force Academy. The one spot available from his area went to a student selected by a Colonel. This student only stayed at the Academy for a day or two but took the spot.  Dennis then attended Mott Jr. College (yep, from Mott’s applesauce) a University of Michigan satellite site. After two years, he was headed to Officer Candidate School (OCS). Six months later – three as an underclassman and three as an upperclassman, Keast graduated in what was to be the second to last class ever to graduate from OCS. He graduated at the top of his class and could have gone anywhere he wanted. He decided to wait to go to pilot training school with his best friend. They both trained on the Cessna T-37 Tweet and the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star.   

In 1966, Dennis received his orders for Vietnam. He and Sharon had just moved into base housing and after only two days, he was on his way to Fort Benning to train on the C-7 Caribou. In Vietnam, the Caribou was used to re-supply fighting forces in-country because of its unique ability to fly in and out of camps on short, unimproved airstrips. The C-7 was critical in the supply of Special Forces units in South Vietnam. Dennis flew every day from sunrise to sunset, operating in the heat, humidity, dust, and mud from the low-lying Vietnamese Mekong Delta to the towering mountain regions of the Central Highlands. Dennis remembers the Caribou as a fun airplane – you could slow it down to 40 knots (45mph) and could land on 900 ft airstrips. You went in full and you left empty. It could also reverse in flight. He does remember being shot at once.

On one of his first trips to Phu Cat as part of the 472nd Tactical Airlift Squadron, Dennis was sent to a brand new airbase that was being built. He remembers it because the civilian builders of the base ate very well and they offered him steak and lobster, one of his first meals in Vietnam. He also had temporary duty assignments (TDY) at Pleiku and DaNang. The 472nd was the support of all special forces in South Vietnam. Dennis remembers that the forward outposts had only the best, including Budweiser beer and Crown Royale, which they’d sometimes shared with the air crews. As the Wing Tactical Operations Officer, Dennis was responsible for the scheduling of all tactical operations for the Wing and was accountable for the security of the 472nd TAS personnel and equipment.

He also knows that pilots were treated better than the enlisted men and that the Air Force “had it better” than the other branches. His quarters in Phu Cat were brand new, with only one guy and one air conditioner per room. The air conditioners performed so well that they decided to share them between two rooms and gave the extras to the Air Police. They also had one refrigerator per man and they gave the extras away. Dennis has many stories of the government overspending and pilots trying to share the wealth.

In DaNang, at Navy headquarters there was a Marine Club. On one flight back from forward bases they had gifts of alcohol from the Special Forces. They decided to take all of the bounty over to the Marine Club. There was a Marine two star general sitting in the club watching them bring in all this booze and stacking it on the bar. They told him they were delivering the Army liquor order and were owed $25K. The General says this is the Marine club. The pilots reply  “Well, we’re not going to haul all this back, so we’ll give you a 50% discount and since we’re going back to headquarters we’ll give you another 50% discount.” The Marine general comes over and says, excuse me gentlemen, did you steal that? And the pilots’ response: yes we did, but we stole it from that Navy, so that’s okay, isn’t it?

After Vietnam, Dennis was reassigned to Dover AFB again. He doesn’t elaborate on his decorations: Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Services Award and Meritorious Service Award with one device, as well as 12 other awards and decorations. He says only that they are from his time in Vietnam. He does remember, with pride, receiving the Good Conduct Medal while going to OCS – as officers didn’t usually receive it.

From 1969 Dennis served in the Air National Guard and he retired with the rank of Lt. Colonel. He flew all over the world during his military and civilian life. He has been to Ireland, Greece, Austria, Germany, England, Holland, Spain, and Italy. As a United Airlines pilot from 1969 to 2001, he and Sharon went on a safari in Africa, traveled to New Zealand and even visited his folks in Brazil when they were missionaries. 

Dennis says one of the things he’s enjoyed the most was working for the Air Force Academy. He  was Deputy Liaison Officer Commander, managing other Liaison officers, admissions counselors and evaluating 100-150 high school juniors for appointment to the Air Force Academy. He says interviewing these candidates, having them to the house, meeting their parents, and watching them progress through the system was very satisfying. Sharon agrees. She says these young men and women were like their own children.

Sharon talks about how proud she is of Dennis. She mentions his generosity and how he continues to help people all the time. His sense of humor shined through from the time he first saw her at church. Dennis volunteers at the Museum of Science and Industry; he is one of the remaining former pilots who provide tours of the United Airlines Boeing 727 on display. Sharon noted that life with Dennis has been a real adventure and the adventures are still happening!

Thank you, Dennis, for your dedication and service! Enjoy your special day of honor in Washington D.C.