Army Vietnam Lake in the Hills, IL Flight date: 06/15/22
By Carla Khan, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer
Looking back on his early life, Lt. Colonel (Ret. U.S. Army) Stephen (“Pete”) Pedersen mused that the big surprise at his birth had been that he was a boy and not a girl. He found that out many years later. When stationed in Germany, he visited Wiesbaden where he was born, the second of three sons. Elisabeth, the lady who had taken care of him, showed him his old room, still decorated in pink flowered wallpaper. He also found out that his dad’s comment had been, “Oh, no, not another boy!” It’s an understatement to say that Pete grew up in a military family: his father was in the USAF, his oldest brother, Carl, retired as a Colonel and his younger brother, Mark, left the Army as a Captain after 10 years of service. Since there was a 10 years difference between each boy, Pete had plenty of family examples and stories from which to decide in what branch he wanted to serve; he narrowed it down to the Army. As an 18-year-old, in November 1966, he enlisted at St. Petersburg, FL. He was prepared for Basic Training. However, at the reception intake, the new recruits first had to take a battery of tests and Pete’s results indicated that he was officer material. When Basic Training and AIT were completed, Pete went on to Office Candidate School (OCS) at Ft. Sill, OK. Where regular Basic Training had been a breeze, OCS was a very tough combination of physical and mental challenges. When asked why Artillery OCS? Pete replied “As an 18 year old, he had heard a buddy talk about how much fun artillery was.” It was this casual remark that impacted the future of his military career path. November of 1967 found Pete as a rather inexperienced 2nd Lieutenant at Ft. Sill’s 3rd/25th TAB. He said that he is still thankful to the sergeants who helped him by explaining where to go and what to do. “They were absolutely great guys,” he said. 1968 was the year Pete was sent to Vietnam where, in his words, “… we had been told that we’d be able to recognize the enemy by their black pajamas but everyone was wearing black pajamas.” The weather was very hot and sticky and the newly issued uniforms didn’t make it any better. He was sent from the Replacement Depot to the 23rd Artillery Group as a chronograph team chief. The chronograph was a 3’ cubic box containing the electronics that assisted the howitzer gunners in determining the direction and speed of their munition. An aerial observer in a helicopter then called in the accuracy of the shot at the stationary target. Each day, they calibrated the batteries; each battery had 4 – 6 howitzers. Pete did this for 30 days before he was sent to Dau Tieng which was part of the so-called Iron Triangle where he experienced heavy enemy fire. A unique example was the Black Virgin Mountain where Pete said, “We had the top and the bottom, and the enemy was dug inside in the middle using many tunnels.” As a forward observer he would go out with the 5th Marines walking through the jungle. These were 3-day trips. Pete, now a 1st Lieutenant, was the artillery advisor who then could tell the soldiers where to fire and what size howitzers to use, depending on the distance where contact had been established. Was their so-called fire-support base effective? Pete was affirmative. He said that was so because “we had a big circle with 6 howitzers, we had much bigger weapons with fixed mortars while the enemy used hand-held tubes as their armament. However, in Dau Tieng, our troops were also physically pinned down by enemy mortar fire for a period of almost 4 months while we lived in bunkers.” When asked about the two Purple Heart medals he’d received, Pete modestly brushed it off with “Those were only minor wounds, nothing in comparison to those kids who came out of Iraq or Afghanistan with limbs missing.”
In the end of 1969, Pete was rotated out and left Vietnam to attend 30 days of Ballistic Missile School. About 75% of his fellow classmates had also just served in Vietnam. Many stories were exchanged and longtime friendships were formed. This training prepared him for a transfer to Hanau, a small city just north of Frankfurt, Germany. An old WWII “Kazerne” provided adequate living quarters while Pete, now with the rank of Captain Battery Commander, was with the 6th Battalion, 40th Artillery and conducted annual training and equipment maintenance during the Cold War. The second year in Hanau he was a Battalion S-1, taking care of the promotions, legal questions, and moving in-and-out, of 500 men. He enjoyed this assignment immensely. “It was the best job in my life, I was in charge of men and their toys and was assisted in this by absolutely marvelous NCOs.” But then, suddenly in May 1972, almost overnight, Pete was told that along with another 9,600 officers he had been declared redundant, he’d get a REFRAD, (Release From Active Duty) and was free to go home. This was easier said than done for someone who had dedicated his life to military service and had planned to make a career out of it. However, in life, plans change and Pete, who was only 24 years old, decided to make the best of it by going back to school. Since he had enjoyed his duties as an S-1 so much, he decided to pursue a degree in Business/Finance and earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1975 after only 33 months in school. He’d have liked to join the Reserves but as he had the rank of Captain, was unable to do so. Instead, Pete accepted a job offer to join a private company that specialized in lab equipment in their sales department. Soon, he was promoted and moved to Boston where he met Debbie, who eventually later became his wife. Another promotion to VP prompted a move to Annapolis and, once married, Pete and Debbie moved to Chicago where they started their family. Eventually, Pete went into the Reserves, this time as an E5, a Senior Record Spec in Arlington Heights, IL. For an entire year, he re-applied every week for his Commission and, sure enough, in August he still had the rank of enlisted man with an Active Combat patch. In September, rather unexpectedly, he stood in front of his men as their Captain. He had completed a “Double Mustang,” i.e., the change from being enlisted to commissioned officer. In this capacity, Pete joined the Army Reserve’s 305th Psychological Operations Battalion, and the 85th Division in Ft. Sheridan, IL where he conducted computer simulations of field battle. Suddenly, in 2005, Pete was called to active service to support the Global War on Terrorism. He ended his civilian career and went to Ft. Shelby, MS, and Ft. McCoy, WI. Recalling his own lack of background training before being sent into combat, he developed a course instructing incoming soldiers on what to expect when you are being shot at and that, for instance, soiling one’s pants is a completely normal physical reaction. No need to say that the course gained immense popularity particularly because it was taught by someone who had seen active combat himself. In 2008, Pete retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, ending his long and dedicated service to his country. Pete and his wife, Debbie, have three children and 6 grandchildren. Pete made a special mention that throughout all those years, Debbie had been the perfect military spouse! They live in the Chicago suburbs, and are enjoying their retirement while Pete is still active in the VFW and U.S. Field Artillery Association. Pete, thank you for your many years of service. Enjoy your well-deserved day of honor on Honor Flight Chicago’s 102nd flight! Welcome Home!