Where did you serve and what did you do?

Served on the flightdeck/hangar deck crew aboard the USS Valley Forge, LPH-8. It was during the Tet Offensive 1967 – 68, off the coast of the DMZ. Primary duties were moving aircraft (helicopters), maintenance/cleaning, firefighting and backup stretcher duty, handling of dead and wounded Marines.

How are you Still Serving?

I’m a life member of the VFW and DAV along with membership in the American Legion. For the past 13 years I’ve published a monthly VFW Post 328 newsletter and maintain their electronic message board on a weekly basis. I collect and deliver aluminum pull tabs for Ronald McDonald House (18oo pounds so far), collect and deliver food stuffs for the local Food Pantry. Both of these items are generated at my Post. I also search obituaries and maintain a spreadsheet of deceased area veterans for our annual Memorial Day program. Lastly (I think) annually, I solicit funds for the Wisconsin DAV Transportation Program.

Why do you do it?

I kept a logbook, noting events of every day of the seven month-long cruise of 1967-68. On March 29, 1968, it was announced that we had handled 2,500 casualties since the first of the year. I’m just trying, in some small way, to do something in the memory of the wounded, dead and dying to whom we bore witness.