2:55 | Carlene Knoll-Arambula recalls a valuable teamwork lesson learned during Navy bootcamp. Provided by Bob Stevens, the Veterans' Forum.
Henry Rice was having second thoughts. He had gone back in the Army, but they put him at Fort Polk, which was a miserable place to be. He pulled some strings and got better assignments, jobs with a lot of travel. Then it was a tour in Europe on a general's staff. That plum position eventually took him to Washington DC, which sounded great at first.
Getting out of New York was not easy on the day of 9/11. The phone lines were unreliable and there was no way to get a car out of town. Luckily, he had family in Connecticut and was able to find his way out of the nightmare occurring in New York City. Months later, he'd receive a mysterious phone call. (Part 4 of 4)
The role for Delta Force in the Grenada operation involved a night assault. They prepped and waited on the runway. And they waited and they waited. Finally, after the State Department was finished messing everything up, they moved out in daylight and their helicopters were badly shot up. Don Feeney's craft had the least damage and they landed to assist the team members who were shot down.
While he and the rest of his unit were in China, one of the most significant missions they had was to safely escort the US Ambassador from there to Okinawa, Japan after the Chinese Communists breached the city limits. From there he goes on to talk about the naval base in the Philippines, Subic Bay, and the few stories he has from there. One of these was having the honor of meeting Douglas MacArthur.
He fought in WWII and Korea and rose to full colonel until getting out in 1975. Jack Wold had even asked to go to Vietnam but that didn't happen. He has some pointed observations on how war used to be fought and how it is being fought now.
The Berlin Wall was not the same everywhere. Bill Greinke had to keep tabs on the condition of the wall and any changes made. He describes different sections, from the fancy to the sloppy.
Squad leader Olin Rossman pays tribute to the men in his squad, who fought well in Mogadishu. There was also the medic, who showed incredible courage while treating wounded men under fire. (Caution: strong language)
Paul Berry was looking for the French Foreign Legion. It was pitch dark and his destination was a post on the Saudi side of the border with Iraq. He was leading a convoy of ambulances when, suddenly, they were confronted by a lot of men waving AK-47's. (Caution: strong language)
Clarence Dodd had to get a security clearance while he was working in the headquarters at Fort Polk. A buddy of his told him the Army was looking for volunteers to witness an atomic test up in Nevada. They both thought that was pretty cool and got on the list. As he crouched in the trench waiting for the blast, he began to have second thoughts.
After a career as a paratrooper, a Ranger, a Green Beret and a member of the elite Delta Force, Don Feeney retired from the service and started his own consulting company. Their specialty was training security personnel but they developed another service, recovering children who had been wrongly taken by a foreign parent.
After getting back on flight status, Knisely also worked under General Schwarzkopf during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield. He gives his reflections about the Vietnam War as a whole and what he wants people to take away from it.
During the period of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield, Kirby was stationed yet again. This time, she was working in Portsmouth, Virginia. She talks about how her children are now in the military themselves, and gives her thoughts about the ending of the Vietnam War.
Being stationed in Germany was a great assignment for Dionne Archibald because she always had a love of travel and that gave her a chance to see Europe. After she returned to the States, she was promoted to master chief and returned to recruiting as an equal opportunity specialist.
When George Theis returned from occupation duty, he got married and began seeking a career in civilian aviation. The tough job market drove him back into the newly renamed Air Force. He had a good run as a flight engineer and worked on the conversion to computerized controls.
As a Navy pilot, Wes Ruth had a number of assignments related to photo-reconnaissance during the Cold War, including the research and development of Navy technology. He also studied the progress of our Allies in that crucial area. He then took command of a patrol squadron. His last stop before retiring was in Naval Intelligence.
For Geoff Farrell, who fought in Desert Storm with the armored cavalry, it was obvious. It was technology and training that ensured victory. We had a lot of it and the Iraqis had very little. Our weapons had a longer range and, when a sandstorm came up in the middle of a battle, we had GPS and thermal imaging.
Not long after the firing started, most of Manuel Noriega's soldiers shed their uniforms and blended into the populace. Maybe that guy wasn't worth dying for. While Dan Allyn's unit was searching for holdouts, they found a warehouse filled with new toys that were slated for the families of his henchmen. Why don't we play Robin Hood? Part 2 of 2.
For Angela Beltz, the chemical alarms were the scariest thing. Every time it sounded, they had to don full protective gear. But when it was quiet, at night, the stars in the desert seemed close enough to touch. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/)
After thirty years of service, Dionne Archibald left the Navy, but her passion to help people continued. Her non-profit organization Active Veterans With Answers acts as a bridge between veterans and the VA, to make sure they have access to all their benefits.
Gail Taylor Black decided to stick it out for a 25 year Army career. Now a contractor for the National Guard, she feels like she is giving back to the military that did so much for her. She fondly remembers the sergeant who helped her get through the readjustment to civilian life.
Milton Kassel was engaged and the wedding was set upon his return from Atlantic exercises. While on watch, he received a message that his ship would be delayed, making him late to his own wedding. He was pretty upset when the ship's doctor said to him, "I can't let them do this to you."
Brooks Tucker's Marine battalion did not continue north into Iraq. It was tasked with security in a Kuwait City suburb. As they took stock of their new surroundings, the air was heavy with smoke from oil well fires set by the fleeing Iraqis.
Thermal imaging had been around for a while and Geoff Farrell was very familiar with it. GPS, however, was new and expensive, and no one was familiar with it. Both were integral to the swift victory in Desert Storm. Before his deployment he declined a dose of an experimental drug that was supposed to protect against chemical weapons and he wonders if that drug contributed to Gulf War Syndrome.
While treating Iraqi prisoners during Desert Storm, medic Paul Berry had a couple of experiences that really disturbed him. One was having to peel the skin from a badly burned soldier. The other was when a group of children were brought in. They had been hit by a cluster bomb. (Caution: strong language)
The tension between East and West in Cold War Berlin was a very palpable thing. Gary Howard served as an MP there and he had a constant worry that things could blow up quickly.
After commanding a company in the 1st Ranger Battalion, Dan Allyn moved to Ranger Regiment headquarters to serve as the assistant S3. During that time, Desert Shield and Desert Storm happened. At first, there was little Ranger participation because it was, chiefly, an armor battle. As the threat from Scud missiles increased, they were dispatched to help eliminate the threat.
The invasion of Kuwait was a heavily mechanized operation, so infantry commander David Barno watched that from afar. In the 90's, the Army was focused on various peacekeeping operations. Was that going to be their new focus? On September 11, 2001, it became clear what the new mission would be.
In his Air Force career, he got to fly some incredible aircraft, the most advanced of their time. It wasn't a period of low stress, though, as the threat of nuclear war was looming. Rick Goddard describes Operation Looking Glass and the measures taken to train for the event of a nuclear attack.
He loved the Army and he loved America, but over a twenty year career, Joseph Hudson experienced a lot of odd slights and disappointments that could only be explained by racism. Still, he holds his love for country true.
George Theis could fly a lot of different planes but he did have favorites. He got to fly jet aircraft as well, before he retired, a long way from the glider he piloted into Germany.
