It all began in the spring of 1967.

When I graduated from high school in 1966, I was 18 years old and according to my Dad it was time to leave the nest and start my own life. I tried college at Arlington State College that fall year. I joined a fraternity (Alpha Phi Omega), it was a service fraternity. Right. It was the wrong thing to do at such a young age. Needless to say my first semester was a disaster. I had no idea for a degree program. And since I had little income and not much of a future, I decided I should investigate the military. Many young men did just that back in those days.

The war in Vietnam was starting to heat up and my draft number was looming. To be honest, I wanted more control over my future and decided it was better to enlist than to get drafted and face the sure danger of being a frontline target. I decided on the Navy, because that is the branch my Dad had served in during World War II. He was on an LST that was one of the first ships into Nagasaki Harbor after the Atomic Bomb fell. He never would talk about that war experience.

Looking for these O'Bannon DD 450 Shipmates - 1969

R. Venekamp, D. Gilbert, G. Savella, R. Emmett, J. DiMarco, J. Burgess, P. Miller, T. Bruck, T. Francoeur, J. Hall, R. Bergeron, and T. Dugan.  EMAIL

All Navy Veterans of the Vietnam War

I served on 4 ships between 1967-1975

USS O'bannon DD450 

USS Carpenter DD825 

USS Bausell DD845 

USS Halsey DLG23

I was homeported at Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Yokosuka Japan, and San Diego. I served four tours of duty in Vietnam and we were in the Gulf of Tonkin mainly for shore bombardment and plane guarding aircraft carriers. I was a Radarman (OS2) when I left the navy for civilian life. 

As this blog grows I plan on telling my stories of service. I would like very much if you would tell me your stories of adventure and service during the Vietnam war. Be sure to bookmark this page and forward it to your Vietnam Veteran buddies that might be interested in commenting about their service.

Any comment is OK.