John Gates
John Gates likes to joke that he was “dumber than a rock” when he went in the Air Force in 1961.
An injury to his eye when he was kid hampered his vision and learning ability, he said.
“I didn’t mature until later in life. It was a miracle,” he said. “But it happened.”
Gates was one of several veterans at the Watonga Senior Center this week who shared their stories for Veterans Day.
For Gates, some scar tissue that was hampering his sight corrected itself, and he was able to regain a lot of his lost vision.
The Air Force wouldn’t let him be a pilot, but he said that was OK.
He was an aircraft missile technician and did one tour but made four trips to Vietnam.
He volunteered for service because of a rocky family life, but two weeks later he received his draft notice, he said.
He was just following his dreams.
As a sixth-grader, he made a resume and listed his desire to enter the Air Force.
It became a reality for Gates.
He served 20 years before retiring from the Air Force in 1981.
“A veteran to me is to serve my country so that everyone that can be free regardless of whether they accept my service as an act of freedom is up to them,” he said. “I served 20 years out of respect to my country and its people.”
He’s thankful because the military taught him a lot of skills and how to deal with life.
For example, during Vietnam, he learned valuable medical skills.
An elderly woman at the center recently fell, and Gates was able to tend to her and see that she was all right.
Gates has struggled with PTSD.
“I went through 9 months of PTSD training to overcome it, but I’m still bothered by it to this day,” he said.
Gates wouldn’t be alone in his struggles. Some studies show that up to 30 percent of Vietnam-era veterans suffered some kind of PTSD.
Gates said therapy has helped.
“Through therapy, if I can talk about it, it helps me,” he said. “I talk to other vets and people. It helped me to deal with my everyday activities and with other people.”
There is help available, Gates stressed. “We have a fantastic VA,” he added.
Gates said some parts of his military service was a stress, but he would recommend it to anyone.
“The majority of it, I became a better person, better educated person, and it taught me how to deal with life and people,” he said.
And about being “dumb as a rock?” We can put that to rest.
Gates used his time in service to go to night school and earn several degrees.
Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson was still in high school when he received his draft notice.
He joined the National Guard, which allowed him to finish his schooling, then joined the Marines.
One of the things Thompson remembers about his service was going to Japan.
Thompson experienced Japan about 10 years after the end of World War 2, and after the Korean was finished.
“Japan was just really a friendly country at that time. So was Okinawa,” he said.
One thing he noticed was that that Japan was lacking in ag technology.
“At that time, Japan was way behind us in farming equipment,” he said. “They were still using oxen.”
Thompson rates his time in Japan as enjoyable.
He is also proud to be a veteran.
“I’m kind of proud that I was able to serve,” he said, matter of factly.
Now days, he enjoys his time as a member of the American Legion.
He thinks it’s important to be in a service organization.
But, he said, “the virus is keeping everything on hold,” so his post hasn’t been able to do much in the community.
For instance, it usually hosts a big Veterans Day dinner.
“It was canceled this year because of the virus,” he said.
Thompson is enjoying his retirement after working for 31 years at the city’s Light and Water department.
Lewis Green
Lewis Green made a career out of the military, spanning more than 20 years.
Like many men in his time, he started in the National Guard before going active duty so he could finish high school.
For Green, that was in the Army as an aircraft helicopter maintenance.
“It was busy. We fixed them, just worked on them,” he said.
Green spend time in Korea and served three six-month tours in Vietnam.
Thankfully, Green says, he didn’t see much action.
“I was never in the infantry. Aircraft maintenance was back on the base,” he said.
Land-to-air fire damaged many helicopters in the war. For Green and his colleagues, repairing them was the job at hand.
Still, he hoped lady luck was on his side.
“We hope they missed,” he said, with a laugh.
Green Grew up in Watonga but retired from Fort Rucker, Alabama.
“I went to work down there in a fishing wholesale business for 10-12 years,” he said.
Eventually, he got the urge to move back to the Watonga area. He worked at a fish and tackle outfit, manufacturing fish bait, he said, and eventually retired for good in 1996.
Lewis said he enjoyed his service and is thankful for it.
“I’m thankful for being able to see the rest of the world, and the people who live in other nations, and how blessed and grateful we should be for our country,” he said.
Doug Parker
Doug Parker served in the Navy from 1960-64.
He spent most of his time in Hawaii, he said.
By the time he got to the island, it was pretty much different from the Peral Harbor Hawaii.
“I was going to say a lot different,” he said. “I got to Hawaii in 1961, and the feeling on the island was pretty good.”
Parker served as an airplane mechanic as part of the early warning barrier squadron.
“We had radar in the air 24 hours a day from Midway to Alaska,” he said.
Parker is proud of his service, like many veterans.
“I’m proud to be American. It doesn’t bother me a bit,” he said. “I was actually in the service during the early part of Vietnam.”
One thing he didn’t like?
“A lot of the boys weren’t treated right when they came home,” he said.
One thing he did like?
What the military taught him, especially the discipline and skills he learned on the job.
He was proud to serve and would recommend military service to today’s youth.
“I really would,” he said. “In fact, if I had my way, everyone would serve out of high school for at least two years.”
Joe Bryan
Joe Bryan spent 27 years in the service in the Navy.
Most of his time, he was a medical officer, or doctor.
He joined in 1984 and was active duty until about 1999, then reserves until 2011.
He grew up in Watonga and graduated in 1970.
He jokes that he was a little “old” when he was commissioned as an officer. “I was 33,” he said.
Bryan was able to travel the world during his time, doing very important work.
He talks about Pakistan, Africa, Central and South America fondly.
“I lived in Washington, D.C., but I traveled all over.”
After he finished his military career, Bryan worked for the Centers for Disease Control, in charge of emerging infections in central America.
He lived in Guatemala for six years, until they said “I had to go home.”
He and his wife moved back to Watonga, their “home base,” he said. “It’s worked out pretty well for us.”
Bryan values his time in the service.
“I think they fact that I was able to train so many people, to serve our country in the best way,” he said. “That heritage of training a cadre of medical officers who really are the best trained in the world in terms of tropical medicine (malaria, etc.). It became really important for the military to know about and prevent.”
He said all students now days should look into opportunities to serve, especially at the service academies like West Point or the Air Force Academy.
“I’m not sure they are aware of all of those opportunities,” he said.