2:55 | Carlene Knoll-Arambula recalls a valuable teamwork lesson learned during Navy bootcamp. Provided by Bob Stevens, the Veterans' Forum.
Enrique Munoz first saw action in Somalia. He did raids, escorted grain supplies and provided communications for air support. He understands how the Black Hawk Down incident could have occurred because he drove the streets of Mogadishu.
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.
When Freddy McFarren assumed command of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade, he told his staff the entire brigade would never be deployed. It turns out that he was wrong, thanks to a Middle East despot named Saddam Hussein.
His father was from Mexico and found a new life here so Enrique Munoz joined the Marines to give back to the country that gave his family a good new home. He became a scout observer and his first assignment was with the 1st Marine Division as part of the artillery Fire Support Element.
Not long before he left Saudi Arabia after Desert Storm, Paul Berry created a lot of trouble for himself when he did something he thought was no big deal. He called his mama.
When Dionne Archibald went to the Military Sea Lift Command, she was lucky to get a brand new ship. The job was fueling and supplying ships at sea and it was during this time that she got to make a contribution to the Desert Storm operation.
People skills and networking allowed LC Johnson to rise in the Air Force and they also enabled him to succeed in the field of education after he retired. From guidance counselor to superintendent, it was a mirror of his military career.
After World War II, Kenny Bell wound up an Army lifer. He became known as a fixer, a sergeant who could come into a dysfunctional unit and straighten it out. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)
For Walt Richardson, it was all about the core values of America. As one of the first black airmen to integrate the Air Force, he calls on his unique perspective to explain why America is so much greater than other nations that are so much older.
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.
After a shore duty stint as an instructor, Bob McClaren was sent to serve on the USS Flying Fish. During a drill simulating a shutdown of the nuclear reactor, a scram, he suffered an embarrassing fall right at the feet of the commander. Master Chief! You OK? Should I stop the drill?
It was in Khafji, a Saudi town on the Kuwait border, where Iraq made it's strongest attempt to enter Saudi territory. Brooks Tucker's Marine unit was in the desert nearby, backing up the Saudi National Guard. He was in a deep foxhole when aircraft screamed by low overhead and then there was an explosion. Iraqi planes here?
Returning Marine Norman Kling had his eye on college when he got home from the Pacific. He entered the electrical engineering program at Washington University in his home town of St. Louis. He had a soft spot for the Corps in his heart or maybe it was his head. Either way, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve.
Senior Electrician Bob McClaren received some test equipment that was all wrong. It was incompatible with what was installed on the ship. He was making rounds with his skipper and a visiting admiral when the admiral asked him how do you like that electrical stuff I sent you?
For Bob Ratonyi, living in communist Hungary meant only one inevitable outcome, moral decay. When you have to lie, cheat and steal, just to have a decent life, it begins to affect your soul. Still, there were true believers in the utopian fantasy.
Education is something that Paul Berry eagerly embraced in the Army. It got him cushy jobs and kept him out of dirty ones. Especially valuable was the esoteric science known as typing. He also absorbed all the medical knowledge and skills that he could.
The Secret Service had removed Senator Dole, but Mike Vining and his team were left in Quincy, IL to deal with the remaining bomb threats which ended tragically. (Part 2 of 2)
The student led march to the parliament building had been exhilarating for Bob Ratonyi and he got up the next morning to go to his classes but there were no streetcars running. Then he saw two dead Russian soldiers in their vehicle. The peaceful march had turned into the bloody Hungarian Uprising. Part 2 of 4.
After the Challenger tragedy, NASA mission specialist Bob Stewart returned to the Army where they made him a general. He worked at the Strategic Defense Command, a legacy of Ronald Reagan's SDI program. At some point the Army wanted him in Washington DC, at which point he promoted himself to ski bum.
With so many joint operations with other countries, Keith Nightingale believes it is more important than ever to be cognizant of their culture and mindset. This was not done in Vietnam and it contributed to the failure of that venture. As he looks back on his career, he salutes some of the leaders who helped him along the way.
He knew the draft would get him as soon as he graduated college, so Charlie Hooper joined the Navy Reserve and went active. He was assigned to a radar picket ship, which patrolled the West coast in a Cold War defensive operation.
He considered it the finest education available. Geoff Farrell went to West Point, where he soaked up all the history and knowledge available there. He was assigned to Europe, where he patrolled the German border as Soviet Communism was dying. There was a brief period of jubilation when the wall came down, then they heard about Saddam Hussein.
Gary Howard was just hanging around after high school learning carpentry when a friend suggested he enlist. He asked a recruiter if he could be a carpenter in the Army. Sure, but there's a six month wait to begin. I want to go now, though. Another recruiter leaned in and said, you look like a cop.
Air Force wives are tough. Bob Wolfe was over the ocean looking for Soviet ships when his wife checked herself into the hospital to deliver their first child. She joined him briefly at his next post in Columbia, but she stayed at home while he was in Ethiopia on a mapping mission. While there, he had an odd encounter with some local tribesmen.
It was her first time on an airplane, and when she got to basic training, Angela Beltz was the youngest one there at seventeen. She was also small of stature, which made the drill instructor wonder if she had what it takes. She did. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/)
It was an odd life aboard a submarine. Carter Tucker describes the unique challenges and dangers faced by the crew on an old diesel ship. You could even be done in by your own batteries.
When he got to the pool part of the Recon tryout, Shawn Patrick was the only prospect left. He refused to give in, stayed in the water and kept fighting and was rewarded with a slot at Amphibious Reconnaissance School. It was tough but he made it through and joined the Recon Marines.
Working as a Marine staff officer at Quantico, Curtis James was in attendance at some pretty high level meetings. During one of these, he was the lunch guest of the most powerful man in the world.
It wasn't glamorous at Fort Leonard Wood, but Joseph Hudson was there doing his best, working in supply. He re-enlisted a second time while he was there, going to a cavalry unit at Fort Meade, where he learned about that unique vehicle, the Duck.
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)
