Military

ARMY

Class of 1964

Johnny Beauregard - I spent over 20 years in the Military and retired in 1984. I joined the National guard in Huntsville in 1960 and went to basic training at Fort Jackson SC in Nov of 60 and finished jump school at Fort Benning GA in 1961. I was released from active duty in May of 61 and stayed in the Guard till March of 65. I joined the regular Army in March of 65 and was sent to fort Bragg, NC where I attended Special Forces school for 8 months specializing in engineering and demolitions. I was pulled off orders to Germany and sent to Vietnam in November of 65. I arrived in Vietnam on Dec 7th 1965 and spent one year there. I was wounded twice by shrapnel and refused a purple heart both times because I was young and dumb. I stayed there for a year and went back to Fort Bragg, NC in Dec of 66. I stayed there of 2 years and then was transferred to Hawaii for 4 years and then back to Redstone for 18 months and then to Korea for one year. I came home from Korea in Dec of 74 and left Huntsville on the 26th of Dec with my 2 children and came to Alaska. When I arrived here it was like 55 below zero and I decided to make it my permanent home which I did. I left here in 1978 and went back to Fort Bragg, NC once more and retired from there in 84 and moved back to Alaska in 85 and have been here since.

Skip Cook - I entered the Army in January 1969 and went to Basic and AIT at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. I attended OCS at Ft. Belvoir, Va.- commissioned 5 Dec 69 as a 2Lt. in the Ordnance Corp. Stationed at Redstone Arsenal in the Surface-To-Air/Development project manager’s office until leaving the service in December 1971. SAM-D later became the Patriot missile system

Dwight Kephart - Joined US Army Reserve in November 1965. Served the whole 6 year hitch.

Neil Neumann - I joined the US Army Reserve in November 1965. Neither of us went to basic training right away since the basic camps were full of "regular" army enlistees and draftees. We did a summer camp for two weeks at Ft. McClellan, AL, in the summer of '66. I was honorably discharged on November 4, 1966.

Brian Pfeiffer - I entered the Army in January 1969 and went to Basic and AIT at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. I attended OCS at Ft. Belvoir, Va.- commissioned 5 Dec 69 as a 2Lt. in the Ordnance Corp. Stationed at Redstone Arsenal in the Surface-To-Air/Development project manager’s office until leaving the service in December 1971. SAM-D later became the Patriot missile system.

Larry M. Seaver - I joined the Army in April 1965 and went to Vietnam in April of 1966. I served with the 5/27 Artillery, as a radio operator (FO). We were attached to the 101 Airborne.

Bob Walker - Flew helicopters in Vietnam. Was shot down three times in one day. Earned the Purple Heart.

Collins "C.E." Wynn - I enlisted in the National Guard in early 1964 as a private soldier and spent every day of the next 29 years and 30 days in some form of military service. My training as an Enlisted Man was as a fixed wing Air Crewman but I had little time to use those skills because I went to Officer Candidate School immediately after that training. I was commissioned as an Officer when I was 19 years old. At one time or the other I was an Infantry Officer, a Signal Officer, an Engineer Officer, and an Armor Officer. I retired from the Army's Special Forces in April of 1993 as a federal Lieutenant Colonel. After that Governor James appointed me a state Colonel and assigned me as the State Operations Officer for the Alabama State Defense Force where I served for two years. Like every other veteran I covered a lot of ground during my career. I spent all of my overseas service in Southern Europe and Northern Africa and (an odd tidbit of information) crossed the Atlantic on deployments or re-deployments 92 times in ten years. In fact, I was working a deployment at a Special Forces staging base near Camp Darby, Italy the same morning Tommy Towery was bombing the Libyans. There are a few of things of which I am particularly proud. Some are: being an Airborne soldier; being in the Special Forces; being an Army Jumpmaster; and, being a skydiver. I was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal twice along with many other lesser service commendations. I hold two foreign awards - the Parachutist Badge of both the Republic of Italy and the Republic of Portugal. Probably the most unusual thing I can claim is that I once made 15 parachute jumps in 2 hours and 45 minutes from start to finish. Since retiring from the Army I spent two years in Los Angeles where I worked at Northrup/Grumman Aircraft and was involved in the manufacturing of the USAFs F/A-18 and B2 aircraft. Since 1996 I have been a contract Agent with the Department of Justice specializing in counter-terrorism operations.

Class of 1965

Ed Donnelly - Was commissioned out of Auburn ROTC the summer of 1971. I did my officers basic and advanced courses at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and was assigned to an engineering project office at Redstone Arsenal for the next 18 months....tough duty!!! My active duty period (2 years) was during the Vietnam demobilization and I opted to leave the Army in 1973. I went to work in South Carolina and have been there ever since.

Dennis Hollingsworth - US Army 1966-1969, Germany

Mike Vaughn - I completed the two year Army ROTC program while in law school. The two-year progam involved attending two six-week summer camps (one at Ft. Knox, KY and the other at Ft. Bragg, NC) and doing the last two years of the normal ROTC classroom work. When we were commissioned in 1972 Vietnam was winding down and they did not need most so we were put on active duty for six months and then placed in the Individual Ready Reserve. I completed the Armor Officer Basic Course at Ft. Knox, KY and then was assigned to the Weapons Department as an instructor for the balance of my brief tour. I later learned about the Roundout Program in which a few Guard and Reserve units were assigned to fill a slot in the TO&E of a regular Army unit and would deploy with that unit if it ever deployed. As a result, the units got the best equipment and training, including training with the parent units each summer. I joined the 3/117 Mech Infantry BN of the Tennessee Army National Guard, which was part of the Third Armored Division at Ft. Hood, TX. The Air National Guard flew us to training each year at Ft. Hood. Later we were transferred to the 4th Mech. Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, CO and flew there for AT. When the Roundout program was phased out, we became an Armored Cavalary Squadron. I was a captain when I got out and had served as a Rifle Platoon Leader, Executive Officer of a Rifle Company, HQ Company Commander and S3 of the BN. I have been out of the unit for many years now, but my old unit has served proudly and well in Iraq where it sustained a number of casualties.

Class of 1966

Mike Griffith - U.S. Army, active duty January 1968 - August 1970

Overseas Service: Republic of Viet Nam, January 1969 - August 1970: 3 Overseas Bars

I did receive the Vietnam Service Medal, and additionally:

The Vietnam Campaign Medal

The Army Accommodation Medal

The Army Accommodation Medal, First Oak Leaf Cluster

The Bronze Star

Jan Hunt - I entered the US Army in August of 1967 and was assigned to A Battery 3/13th Artillery "The Clan", 25th Infantry Division, Republic of Vietnam 1968-69, Two Purple Hearts with Oakleaf cluster, Two Army Commendation Medals, Vietnam Service Medal with Silver Star, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palm leaf, and 6 other US Army medals for merit, service and training. In the Alabama National Guard NCO Academy as Drill Instructor. Retired from US Army Reserve in 1993 as First Sergeant HHC 926th Engineers.

NAVY

Class of 1965

Bob Alverson (1967-1971) - I served 4 years active duty in the Navy. 1967 - School, Norfolk Virginia. 1967 - 1969 - Naval Communications Station San Miguel, Republic of the Philippines. Received a Navy Unit Commendation for direct support to our troops in and around Vietnam. 1969 - 1971 - Fleet Weather Center, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Received a second Navy Unit Commendation for work done in the recovery for four Apollo missions, including Apollo 11 and 13. Left the Navy as a Radioman 2nd Class (RM2).

Rod Vandiver - I never really considered myself a veteran since I didn't go to battle, although I served in the Navy from July 66 to July 70. But I am so proud of the fact that I served. My father was in WW2 and the Korean War. The fact that I served got me some points when I took the test for the San Diego Police Dept and maybe that is why I made it.

Class of 1966

Mark Bentley (1968-1971) US Navy Hospital Corpsman Assigned US Naval Hospital Guam. Worked with air evac patients form Nam in dirty orthopedics

Lewis Brewer

Charlie Hancock - I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman and served with grunts of the First Marine Division as an infantry medic in Vietnam. I was shot at and missed. I realize now all these years later that The Lord made me bulletproof and invisible to the enemy. Still not sure why. I'm very honored to have served with such brave men. I never fired a round while in VN. When shooting started, I had other priorities; wounded to bandage and medevac. I'm Chaplain this year of my Marine Corps League Detachment and active in Toys 4 Tots. My service was Mar, 1968 thru Dec, 1971. I got a 90 day early out to return to college. (They were as glad to see me go as I was to leave.) Nearly 3 of my 4 yrs were attached to Marine units. I was never in the Real Navy. I was however attached to the Real Marine Corps. I hold the Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnam Service, National Defense and good conduct ribbon. I think I'm eligible for the VN Campaign ribbon too but it's not on my DD 214. At this point in my life, I don't care.

Brian Towery - Please add me to the Vietnam Service list: US Navy

AIR FORCE

Class of 1964

Jim Betterton - I served in the U.S.Air Force Security Service during the Vietnam years, from April, 1966 through July, 1973. I was a Staff Sergeant when I completed my service. I served at Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, Texas. I served at Headquarters, USAF Security Service, San Antonio, Texas. I served in Southeast Asia at Korat Royal Thai Air Base in Thailand, at Udorn RTAB in Thailand, at Ramasun Station in Thailand (not far from Vientiene, Laos), and at numerous places and remote sites throughout Europe (England, West Germany, Italy, and Greece).

Spencer Thompson - Air Force from Jan.65 to Oct 68, stationed in San Antonia, Texas. Montgomery, Alabama. Amarillo, Texas and Denver, Colorado.

Diane Tidwell

Tommy Towery (1968-1988) I earned a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF through the Air Force ROTC program at Memphis State University and went on active duty in 1968. I moved to Mather AFB in Sacramento, California and graduated from Navigator Training first and then Electronic Warfare School and was assigned as an Electronic Warfare Office (EWO) in B-52D at Carswell AFB in Ft. Worth, TX. In 1972 I was sent to Guam and Thailand to support the bombing in Vietnam. I was grounded for kidney stones for most of the action and worked in 8th AF Bomber Operations as a mission planner, but did get to fly a few bombing missions. I continued in B-52 aircraft, pulling nuclear alert until 1978. I was then assigned to RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft at Offutt AFB, in Omaha, NE. That assisgnment sent me on temporary duty to Okinawa, Japan; Eielson AFB, Alaska; Athens, Greece; and RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and I was gone approximatey 120 days a year. We also flew reconnaissance flights in the Carribean and over South America, and one special assignment to Cario, Egypt. I moved to England and lived there from 1983 to 1987 where I worked in Electronic Intelligence. During that time I flew on the Lybia bombing raid out of England in 1986. I went back to Omaha, NE in 1987 and retired from there in 1988 with 20 years service. In those years I logged over 5,000 flying hours including 2,000 hours in B-52s and over 3,000 hours in RC-135s. I attained the rank of Major and earned two Meritorious Service Medals, eight Air Medals, two Air Force Commendation Medals and several other awards including the Expeditionary Forces Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the South Vietnam Cross of Gallentry with Palm.

Class of 1965

Dennis Faber (1966-1978) - Enlisted in 1966 and was a link trainer instructor at Sheppard AFB, TX during the Vietnam War training student pilots. After he completed his bachelor's degree in math and history, he was accepted into Officer Training School in 1973. He then went to Mather AFB, CA for navigator training. In 1975, he was stationed at Clark AB, Phillipines in C-130s and was there until June, 1978. He had attained the rank of Captain and had just begun his assignment as an instructor navigator at Little Rock AFB, AR when he and 7 other crewmen were killed during a training mission on Sept. 8, 1978. He is buried at Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington, TX.

MARINES

Class of 1964

Rick Simmons (LHS: 1959 – 1963) - Captain, USMCR. Active: 1968 - 1974 (Naval Air Training Command and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC). Reserve: 1979 - 1981 (MAG-41, NAS DALLAS). Naval Flight Officer: Bombardier/Navigator, A6A Intruder. I was never deployed to Viet Nam but did serve actively during that era.

Class of 1965

Mike Kuettner - Vietnam '68-'69

Jim Myrick - I served in the USMC from 6/66- 6/68. I was in RVN with Kilo Co. 3rd. Bn. 1st. Marines from 2/67- 3/68.

Mike Cortright - USMC

Class of 1966

Roger Pentecost - Enlisted in Marine Corps while a senior at Lee on delayed program.

Vietnam 67-68

Army Reserves 75-80

Alabama National Guard 81-96 Retired

Eddie Jones - Class of ’66, Cpl. USMC 1966-1970, Vietnam 69-70, Viet Cross, 3 Air Medals