A VETERAN'S TESTIMONY!

JULY 8, 1959 - First two of nearly 60,000 U.S. Military Casualties of Viet Nam!

Major Dale R. Buis and Master Sergeant Chester M. Ovnand became the first Americans killed in the American Phase of the Vietnam War, when guerrillas struck a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) command in Bien Hoa twenty miles northeast of Saigon.  Military advisors had been assisting the Vietnamese since November 1, 1955.  Nearly twenty years and 60,000 American deaths later, the United States signed a "peace treaty" on January 27, 1973 with the North Vietnamese Viet Cong, and abandoned its effort to stop "the Communist dominoes" from falling in Southeast Asia.  The "peace treaty," basically a surrender, allowed for a "peaceful withdrawal" of American Troops, and yet, 507 Americans died from 1973 - 1975, the year the last name was added to "The Wall" Monument!  That name is U.S.A.F. Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer, who was killed in action on May 15, 1975. 

My "twenty-year" career in the United States Navy!

At the age of sixteen, my father drove me to the U. S. Navy Recruiting Office in Columbus, Ohio.  Although I did not have a choice, it was perhaps the best thing he could have done for his son!  I had my physical, and took the four mental/aptitude tests on which I surprisingly scored an exact average of 60 points (apparently that was good for a high school dropout)!  I later discovered I was obsessive - compulsive and the structure helped by stay out of jail or the grave! 

By the age of eighteen, I was an Draftsman Illustrator Third Class (strange field for a color-blind sailor), and in love with my wife of fifty-eight years and counting.  That was the same year my God-mother told me that I had been baptized as a Roman Catholic, and after taking Catechism classes, was confirmed in the church.  That turned out to be fortunate because my wife-to-be was also a Catholic.  We were married following Judy's graduation, and eighteen months later, had our first daughter.  Then, two years later, we had our second girl.  Within five years, I had left the Catholic Church over an argument with a priest, had entered and college, declared myself an atheist, and on January 31st, 1971, "got saved" (recognized Jesus as my Lord and Savior).  By this time, I was stationed with the Blue Angels, my last assignment before finishing my career with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon.

The Lord used the Navy to provide me with stability, with an education (Master's Degree in Theology), medical benefits for my family, and a pension that keeps us from starving on Social Security.  God has been so good to us, Now, I am longing to see Him so that I can, not only quit sinning, but so that I can thank Him to His face for all He has done for me and those He entrusted to my far less than perfect care!  

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY TO ALL THOSE WHO SIGNED "THE BLANK CHECK" TO UNCLE SAM, PAYABLE UP TO AND INCLUDING OUR LIVES.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE "JAR HEADS" WHO GUARDED US "PROTECTORS OF THE SEAS!"