Dustin DixonI would like to know who in our family served in the military. So far, I am aware (vaguely) of Uncle Warren Thacker's service, plus a little from Uncle Don and more about my cousin Rich Thacker's service in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
Hopefully, Uncle Warren himself or one of his boys will provide details of his service.
I don't believe that our grandfather George ever served in the military. Nor did my dad.
Uncle Don emailed me to say that he served in the US Army from October 1956 to October 1958 and spent the two yrs at Ft Leonard Wood, Mo. I'm not sure if the draft was in effect because of the Korean War. He was drafted after finishing college at GMI. It's interesting that he was drafted despite being trained to serve as a manager by General Motors, one of the largest defense contractors of the time. After active duty, he had to spend two years on active reserve and two years on inactive reserve. That reminded me of a picture of Uncle Don in uniform that was on the desk in the living room of our grandparents home. I hope he'll tell us more about his assignments.
Rich's service is outlined in Shirley's letter (posted as Who Is This Kind Man?).
Dustin Dixon, Bruce's son, also served in the military and gave me some details of his service:
As far as military service, mine is a lot more recent than the history you are probably looking for. I served on active duty with the U.S. Army from 1995 to 1998 in Fort Sill, OK and Fort Hood, TX. I was assigned as a Forward Observer in a field artillery unit attached to an infantry company in the 2/8 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Fortunately, we were never deployed to combat. One near miss, but the other division went to Iraq and I was able to stay and enjoy another hot summer in Texas (instead of Iraq). I was considered an inactive reserve until 2003 when I (finally) received my honorable discharge. Just in time, eh? The only interesting story I can think of is that my mother wouldn't sign the papers to let me enlist when I was 17 (I enlisted early to obtain some guarantees from the military, and then actually went to training after graduation), so I went with the recruiter and did the enlistment on my 18th birthday.
Have other family members served in the military?
Please supply details by emailing me or leaving a comment on the blog.
Turning 18 just as the Vietnam War ended, I did not face the draft. At the latter stages of the war, a "lottery system" was introduced to bring more fairness to the draft process (previously deferments were granted... for being in college for example... in higher numbers to boys who tended to come from wealthier families). To my knowledge, women have never been drafted. My best friend Randy Yust, just 8 months older than me, drew a decent number, and was not drafted. My cohort was not assigned numbers and the draft was replaced at the end of the Vietnam War with the all-volunteer military. In our Florida home town of Okeechobee, military service was a significant career path for many of the kids. Both boys and girls joined the service, particularly if they were not going to college.
Hopefully, Uncle Warren himself or one of his boys will provide details of his service.
I don't believe that our grandfather George ever served in the military. Nor did my dad.
Uncle Don emailed me to say that he served in the US Army from October 1956 to October 1958 and spent the two yrs at Ft Leonard Wood, Mo. I'm not sure if the draft was in effect because of the Korean War. He was drafted after finishing college at GMI. It's interesting that he was drafted despite being trained to serve as a manager by General Motors, one of the largest defense contractors of the time. After active duty, he had to spend two years on active reserve and two years on inactive reserve. That reminded me of a picture of Uncle Don in uniform that was on the desk in the living room of our grandparents home. I hope he'll tell us more about his assignments.
Rich's service is outlined in Shirley's letter (posted as Who Is This Kind Man?).
Dustin Dixon, Bruce's son, also served in the military and gave me some details of his service:
As far as military service, mine is a lot more recent than the history you are probably looking for. I served on active duty with the U.S. Army from 1995 to 1998 in Fort Sill, OK and Fort Hood, TX. I was assigned as a Forward Observer in a field artillery unit attached to an infantry company in the 2/8 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Fortunately, we were never deployed to combat. One near miss, but the other division went to Iraq and I was able to stay and enjoy another hot summer in Texas (instead of Iraq). I was considered an inactive reserve until 2003 when I (finally) received my honorable discharge. Just in time, eh? The only interesting story I can think of is that my mother wouldn't sign the papers to let me enlist when I was 17 (I enlisted early to obtain some guarantees from the military, and then actually went to training after graduation), so I went with the recruiter and did the enlistment on my 18th birthday.
Have other family members served in the military?
Please supply details by emailing me or leaving a comment on the blog.
Turning 18 just as the Vietnam War ended, I did not face the draft. At the latter stages of the war, a "lottery system" was introduced to bring more fairness to the draft process (previously deferments were granted... for being in college for example... in higher numbers to boys who tended to come from wealthier families). To my knowledge, women have never been drafted. My best friend Randy Yust, just 8 months older than me, drew a decent number, and was not drafted. My cohort was not assigned numbers and the draft was replaced at the end of the Vietnam War with the all-volunteer military. In our Florida home town of Okeechobee, military service was a significant career path for many of the kids. Both boys and girls joined the service, particularly if they were not going to college.
1 comment:
Lee, My lottery number for 1970 was 210. Those whose numbers were 195 or lower were drafted that year. A close call since the war was really hot at that time.
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