Cold War

Private First Class Sue (Van Meter) Hodge, U.S. Army Cold War Service in the Women’s Army Corps

Private Sue Hodge in her dress uniform in anticipation of President Kennedy's visit
PFC Sue (Van Meter) Hodge inspection ready for President Kennedy’s visit

I met Private First Class (PFC) Sue (Van Meter) Hodge after she read an article about when veterans are permitted to salute the American flag. Sue was ecstatic after learning that because she is a veteran, she can salute the flag she so willingly served as a member of the Women’s Army Corps, or WACs, over fifty years ago. Sue is immensely proud of her service and she should be—her service and the service of others like her in the WACs helped pave the way for the many women who serve with distinction in all branches of the U.S. military today. This is her story.

Sue was born in 1944 in Enid, Oklahoma, a small town about 115 miles west of Tulsa. Her father worked as a security guard in the oil and gas industry until he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. On doctor’s orders, he moved the family to Colorado to recuperate in the fresher climate. They returned to Olive, Oklahoma, when Sue was ten, and that became Sue’s family home. The town was small, with a store, a church, and 8 to 9 houses. Sue and her twin sister graduated from Olive High School, a consolidated school supporting all of the surrounding towns, in May of 1962. Her graduating class had a grand total of 18 seniors, and Sue won the American Legion Medal Award for her class.  

There was never a question about what Sue would do after she graduated—she wanted to join the military. All 5 of her older brothers served, with the oldest having fought and been seriously wounded in Europe during World War II. When her brothers came home on leave, they looked very handsome in their uniforms. They also told her about their travel and experiences in the Army and the Air Force, making her want to follow in their footsteps. She was also intensely patriotic and simply wanted to serve.

When Sue was in 9th grade, she told one of her brothers home on leave that she wished women could serve in the military. He said they could and described the WACS, the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (Navy)), and the WASPs (Women’s Air Force Service Pilots). From that moment on, Sue couldn’t wait to graduate and join the military.

Sue’s brother also told her he would pay her a quarter if she shined his military shoes for him so he would look good in uniform when he went out on the town. Sue said she didn’t know how, so he taught her. He also taught her how to shine his brass belt buckle and buttons, and he paid her for keeping everything clean. This only fueled Sue’s desire to serve.

PFC Van Meter at Fort Benning, Georgia
PFC Van Meter at Fort Benning, Georgia

Sue didn’t enlist immediately after graduation because it looked like her twin sister might be getting married by the end of the summer, so she waited. By the end of September, though, she was ready. It turns out enlisting in a small town like Olive wasn’t easy in 1962. In fact, the nearest recruiter was in Tulsa, about 40 miles away. The other option was to go to the post office and fill out a card expressing her interest in enlisting, which was the option she chose after she convinced her father that joining the military was the right thing for her to do.

On Tuesday, September 25, 1962, Sue’s father drove her to the Drumright, Oklahoma, post office about 6 miles from where she lived so she could fill out a card. When she informed the clerk about what she wanted, he told her it was her lucky day because there was an Air Force recruiter visiting that day and he’d be back shortly. When he returned, the recruiter said he would pick her up at her house the next day and drive her to Oklahoma City (about 90 miles away) to take her Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) and get her physical. Sue agreed—she was on her way to fulfilling her dream.

When Sue arrived at the Recruiting Office, she filled out the enlistment paperwork, passed her AFQT with flying colors, and took the vision and hearing tests. The recruiter said she scored so high on her AFQT that she could be an electrician. She thought that funny because the only electricity related question on the test asked what AC and DC meant. The results of the vision test were not as funny, though, as her vision in her right eye was impaired and, even though fully correctible, it was disqualifying for the Air Force.

The recruiter didn’t give up on Sue and offered to introduce her to the Navy recruiter. As Sue really didn’t care which service she joined, she agreed to talk with the Navy. She had to fill out the enlistment paperwork and take the same AFQT again, and then took another vision and hearing test. Again she was disqualified because of the vision in her right eye. Like the Air Force before, the Navy recruiter did not give up on Sue and offered to introduce her to the Army. Still determined to get into the military, Sue agreed.

Now with the Army recruiter, Sue again filled out the enlistment paperwork, took the AFQT, and repeated the vision and hearing tests. The Army recruiter commented that she “aced” her AFQT. Sue responded that she ought to have given that she’d taken it 3 times that day and nearly had it memorized. This time, though, the enlistment results were different because the Army was willing to waive Sue’s poor vision in her right eye since it was fully corrected. The recruiter drove her back to Olive and told her he would pick her up on Monday morning so she could finish her physical, sign her enlistment contract, and be sworn into the military.

Map showing location of Fort McClellan, Alabama.
Map showing the location of Fort McClellan, Alabama

The recruiter rang Sue’s doorbell precisely at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning, October 1st. For a moment, Sue had second thoughts because she hated getting up so early. But she went anyway and before long, she was officially enlisted in the Army and beginning a journey reminiscent of the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. After a series of short flights starting in Oklahoma City and ending in Birmingham, Alabama, she boarded a train to Anniston, Alabama, home of Fort McClellan and the Women’s Army Corps School. Someone in a jeep picked up her and another woman and took them to the base, where they finally arrived around 2:00 a.m., completely exhausted from having both traveled all day.

It turned out that Sue and her newfound friend from Missouri were the first two members of her training platoon to arrive. Platoon Sergeant Torrence came to see them in the morning and said they would hopefully have enough recruits to begin training soon. In the meantime, they were given mops and buckets and assigned cleaning duties every day until the training finally commenced.

Sue was amazed at all of the women in her platoon. Here she was, barely 18 and from a very small town, and soon she had older, more experienced women arriving from big cities like New York, Chicago, Boston, Miami, and Memphis. Sue and the other women filled out lots of paperwork, were issued their uniforms, and met with Sergeant Torrence for the first time as a unit.

Sue expected Sergeant Torrence to yell at them all the time and order them around, but it turned out to be just the opposite. Instead, Sergeant Torrence told the women that they were all sisters and that she would not tolerate profanity. She treated everyone with respect and referred to them as ladies. Sue really looked up to her.

Soon after everyone arrived, they were formed into 12-person squads. Sergeant Torrence picked a squad leader for each squad and an overall platoon leader, who was to be the sergeant’s right-hand man. Each week, new people would be rotated into the leadership positions. On the second week, Sergeant Torrence selected Sue to be the overall platoon leader. When it came time to rotate the following week, Sergeant Torrence announced that Sue, the youngest person in the platoon, would remain in her position for the rest of the training. She’d earned the respect of her fellow recruits and it made her feel proud.

About three weeks into October 1962, Sergeant Torrence summoned Sue and told her to assemble the platoon in thirty minutes. The recruits, now a little over two weeks into their training, sat on bleachers until the platoon sergeant arrived. Sergeant Torrence told them that the President had ordered all bases to go to Code Red and that this was not a drill—it was serious. Effective immediately, they were on lockdown. She told them that the United States had discovered missiles in Cuba and that the missiles could hit the base at any minute. Sue remembers thinking she wished she’d stayed home because she was now too close to Cuba. While she was thinking about the bad situation they were all in, Sergeant Torrence called out “Private Van Meter,” which was Sue’s maiden name. Sue said it so startled her that she almost hit the floor. The sergeant continued, “You watch everything I do, because if something happens to me, you’ve got to do it.”

Having been there not much more than two weeks, Sue had no idea how she would train the other women—she didn’t even know what to do herself. But the platoon sergeant’s announcement and delegation of authority illustrates the state of mind at the time as the United States and the Soviet Union postured on the brink of nuclear war. Mail delivery to the platoon stopped and the recruits were told they could not tell their families how serious the situation was. Tensions ran high until October 28, when the President announced Russia would pull its missiles out of Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended, but not before it impacted one recruit in Sue’s platoon personally. The recruit was 35 years old and originally from Cuba. She joined the Army to become a nurse. In the wake of the crisis in Cuba, she was informed that she could no longer be a nurse. Although she was very upset about the decision, she was determined to stay in the Army and serve out her commitment, which she did.

Image of Sue Hodge in uniform sitting on a bench.
PFC Van Meter before graduation in 1962

Sue’s platoon graduated on December 7, 1962—Pearl Harbor Day. Immediately after graduation, there was a commemoration for the event, which Sue found very moving. She graduated as a Private (E-2), making $65/month, and had the highest academic scores for her platoon. She was also in good physical shape when she arrived, so the physical training was not a problem for her either. All in all, with one exception, her training experience at Fort McClellan was a positive experience.

Unfortunately, the exception is significant. Not only was Fort McClellan the home of the WACs School, but it was also the home of the Army Chemical Center and School. At the time, Sue didn’t know it was there, but she does now because she was potentially exposed to chemical contamination. Although the Veterans Administration asserts there are no adverse health conditions associated with service at Fort McClellan, many servicemembers and their families disagree. Sue herself has noticed adverse effects that cannot be explained by her family history. Fort McClellan was shut down in 1999 based upon the recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Efforts to create a national registry of military persons potentially exposed to chemical contamination at Fort McClellan have so far proven unsuccessful.

After graduating from WAC School, Sue took 10 days leave at home and then had to report to Fort Benning, Georgia, right before Christmas in 1962. After barely making it in before her leave expired due a flight cancellation, Sue had little to do once she arrived because everyone else was on leave for the holidays. Eventually, she was assigned as a typist in the Adjutant General’s Corps, where she worked typing orders for graduates from Officer Candidate School, as well as for some non-commissioned officers (NCOs). She worked in a large bay area with lots of other Army and civilian workers processing paperwork. The room had windows near the ceiling and Sue remembers watching soldiers doing parachute training as they learned to jump from towers outside her building.

Most of the orders Sue typed were for new officers heading to Germany, Korea, and bases in the United States. After she’d been working 2-3 days, she typed orders for someone going to Vietnam. As she had not heard of it before, she asked her civilian boss where it was and what was going on there. He told her the soldiers being sent there were “advisors” and that he thought something might happen there in the not-to-distant future. After that, Sue typed up orders for someone to go to Vietnam about once each week. The numbers gradually increased until near the end of her assignment in 1964 when she was typing as many as 10-12 sets of orders to Vietnam in a day.

Photo of Private First Class Sue Hodge present day
Sue Hodge

In March or April of 1963, Sue heard President Kennedy might visit the base. Her unit put on their dress uniforms for the visit, but at the last minute, they heard the President had to send someone else in his place. Sue was disappointed and does not remember who the replacement speaker was—President Kennedy was who she wanted to see.

While Sue was at Fort Benning, she met and married a soldier, and towards the end of 1964, she became pregnant. She didn’t realize that the Army would discharge her if she became pregnant, so she was sad to learn she had to leave the job she loved. Wanting to keep the family together, her then-husband decided not to re-enlist and they all moved back to Olive, Oklahoma.

In the years following the Army, Sue raised her family and had an assortment of jobs, ranging from working in a meat packing factory, to cleaning for the Olive School District, to painting for an interior designer. In 1982, she married Chester Hodge, who passed away after 33 years of marriage in September 2015. She was subsequently reunited with her junior high school sweetheart, Edwin Clark, from Olive School after 60 years. Sue spent 2 years with Edwin, who had served in Vietnam, helping him work through PTSD and other Vietnam-related issues. After losing Edwin, Sue realized how badly the Vietnam War affected so many young men. Now she makes a special effort when she sees Vietnam veterans to shake their hands and thank them for their service. Some smile, some tear up, but all are appreciative.

Sue is proud to say that her oldest son, Randy, also served in the Army and that his first duty station was Fort Benning, just as it was hers. Randy’s daughter, Nicole Boudreaux, now serves in the Air Force and is the third generation of Sue’s family to serve. Sue’s grandson, Steven Hodge, is Senior Vice President of the Oklahoma Chapter of VFW Post 1719 in Chandler, Oklahoma. In total, Sue’s family has over 75 years of honorable service in the U.S. military. Finally, Sue is a Native American citizen, Creek Tribe, of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma. They take care of their veterans and are a very proud people.  

Voices to Veterans is proud to salute PFC Sue (Van Meter) Hodge for her dedicated and patriotic service in the Women’s Army Corps. Sue’s trailblazing service helped pave the way for women who now routinely serve in all branches of the U.S. military, and her willingness to share her story helps preserve the rich heritage of the Women’s Army Corps. Thank you for your service to our country!

Image of Women's Army Corps insignia with ancient warrior emblem.
Women’s Army Corps insignia

 

Tech Sergeant Susie Goebel, U.S. Air Force (Retired) – A Proud Family Tradition of Service

Tech Sergeant Susie Goebel at her retirement ceremony.
Tech Sergeant Susie Goebel at her retirement ceremony

Like many veterans, Technical Sergeant Susan “Susie” Goebel, U.S. Air Force (Retired), hesitated to talk to me about herself. She views her 15 years of service as nothing special or heroic. In fact, she’ll tell you she was just doing her job. To Susie, the family separations, the inspections in the middle of the night, and the drills in Saudi Arabia in full chemical protective gear barely warrant mentioning. To the rest of us, they sound like quite a sacrifice. Here is Susie’s story.

Susie’s dad was an oil man – he started out as a roughneck working on rigs, taking his family wherever there was work. On one such trip from Wyoming to Oklahoma, the family had to stop in Nebraska because Susie’s mom went into labor and Susie was born. The family eventually settled in Nowata, Oklahoma, about 50 miles north of Tulsa. It wasn’t permanent, though. Susie remembers living in Casper, Wyoming, around the 3rd and 4th grade and falling in love with the Rocky Mountains. They returned again to Tulsa where Susie graduated from high school in 1975.

After high school, Susie completed a couple of years of college, but it wasn’t what she was looking for. What she really wanted was to join the Air Force. Her father served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater during World War II, flying over China, Burma and India and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. It was only natural for Susie to want to follow in his footsteps.

Initially Susie’s dad didn’t want her to enlist, but he didn’t say anything about it to her directly. Instead, on her 22nd birthday, her mother took her out for a night on the town. After a few drinks, she told Susie that she and Susie’s father didn’t want Susie to enlist. Susie said it was too late for that and was on her way to boot camp 5 days later. From that point on, Susie’s mom and dad were incredibly proud of her, with her father not missing the opportunity to wear an Air Force t-shirt or hat recognizing Susie’s service. Out of the five children in the family, Susie was the only one to serve in the military.

Susie reported to boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base on January 29, 1980. The only part of basic training that shocked her was the physical training. She soon developed severe blisters from wearing combat boots and had to wear flip-flops for a week, which really embarrassed her. She made up for it a week or so before the end of boot camp when she was permitted to put on Airman First Class stripes, while everyone else was still an Airman Basic. Susie received the promotion because she had completed two years of college before she enlisted. It resulted in her receiving higher pay and being treated better when she reported to her first command.

After boot camp, Susie reported to supply technical school at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. Supply would be her field for the rest of her career in the Air Force. Denver also rekindled her love for the Rockies. Every morning, the very first thing she did was open the curtains and admire the mountains. Only after she had her fill would she start getting ready for work. Supply school at Lowry lasted approximately 6 weeks.

An Air Force OV-10A
An Air Force OV-10A

After supply school, Susie reported to her first duty station, the 601st Tactical Control Wing in Sembach, Germany. The Wing provided support for the        OV-10A, a twin-engine aircraft employed primarily to provide forward air control for U.S. and allied forces. Susie worked in a warehouse receiving, storing, and issuing everything the OV-10A squadrons needed to keep their planes flying.

During Susie’s tour in Sembach, her command routinely drilled and participated in exercises. In one such exercise, Susie had to wear full chemical protective gear with her gas mask at the ready, waiting for an alarm to sound. Unfortunately, she happened to be on the outside of the warehouse when the alarm sounded. Suddenly, the warehouse’s big bay doors closed and Susie was locked outside. She put on her gas mask and took shelter between a trash dumpster and a wall, watching planes do tactical maneuvers over the base. When the siren sounded again indicating the simulated attack had ended, Susie had to pound on the doors until someone let her back in the warehouse. The exercise seemed all too real.

Susie’s oldest son, Justin, was born in March, 1983. Shortly after Susie returned from maternity leave, the Wing sent her to a 5-week inspector school in Denver. Toward the end of the school, Susie’s husband brought Justin to Denver to see Susie and Justin didn’t recognize her – it took him a little while to get used to her again. Needless to say, family separations were hard. Susie’s second son, Nick, was also born in Germany in May, 1984.

After Sembach and now a Staff Sergeant, Susie reported to her second command, the 443rd Military Airlift Wing, in Altus, Oklahoma. She stayed there from 1984-1989. In 1989, she reported to 314th Military Airlift Command at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville, Arkansas.

Susie deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Susie deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

In 1994, while Susie was at Little Rock and now a Technical Sergeant, she received a call telling her that her next assignment would be Iceland or she would have to retire – she was given no other options. Reluctantly she chose to retire. However, one month later in August 1994, she deployed on very short notice to Saudi Arabia. When she got off the airplane in Dhahran, the temperature seemed like an instant 120 degrees. She went to her barracks in Khobar Towers to check in and then was put in charge of the Repairable Assets Control Center, or RACC, at King Abdulaziz Air Base. That meant she was in charge of the operation receiving parts needing repair and either delivering them to local workshops to be repaired or shipping them back to the United States for depot level work. Her team operated around the clock, working 12-hour shifts.

While Susie was in Dhahran, word circulated that Saddam Hussein might be making another move to cross into Kuwait (Iraq had been pushed out Kuwait by U.S. and allied forces during the Gulf War in 1990-91). Susie relays that although there was some fear of Iraq firing chemical weapons if a new conflict flared-up, leadership did not want service members to carry their chemical protective gear because they did not want to alarm the local population. Susie had her people stow their protective equipment in the vans they drove anyway. She didn’t want to have to write a letter home to some parent saying their child had died because they didn’t have their protective gear available.

Susie is active in the American Legion
Susie is active in the American Legion

On occasion, a bus would be available to take airmen from Dhahran to Bahrain, where drinking was permitted. The only caveat was, if anyone got sick on the ride home after drinking too much, they would be punished at an administrative hearing known as an Article 15 hearing. All of the airmen looked out for each other, and all carried plastic bags so in case anyone got sick, they could still keep the bus clean.

Toward the end of Susie’s 3-month assignment in Saudi Arabia, she was given another option for follow-on orders. Instead of Iceland, she was offered orders to South Korea, and she would have to report there directly from Saudi Arabia. Given that she was now retirement eligible, she opted to retire. She did not want to put her boys through another extended family separation.

Susie returned to Little Rock Air Force Base on November 28, 1994, and retired from the Air Force on January 31, 1995, after 15 years of distinguished service. She continued to work at Little Rock Air Force Base as a civilian, working with  C-130 flight simulators and assisting with other training responsibilities.

Susie is active in American Legion Post 71 in Cabot, Arkansas, where she currently serves as the Post Public Relations Officer. She had a very positive military experience, noting that everyone she worked with looked out for each other. She believes every young man and woman should spend 2 years in the military or similar service to learn more about our country and the Constitution, and to develop a sense of personal discipline.

Voices To Veterans salutes Technical Sergeant Susie Goebel, U.S. Air Force, for her years of dedicated service to our country. Not only did she make her mother and World War II veteran father proud, but she made us proud, as well. Thanks for your service!

Tech Sergeant Susie Goebel, U.S. Air Force
Tech Sergeant Susie Goebel, U.S. Air Force

 

Petty Officer Third Class Jim McCune, U.S. Navy Working Hard and Serving Others

Jim McCune standing by an F-14 on USS KITTY HAWK.
Jim McCune in front of an F-14 on USS KITTY HAWK

Have you ever heard the Navy’s old recruiting slogan, “Join the Navy and see the world?” That slogan certainly rang true for Petty Officer Third Class Jim McCune, U.S. Navy. But life had much more in store for Jim than the excitement of a world cruise on a powerful U.S. aircraft carrier—he and his young family would face incredible adversity. Instead of giving up, Jim and his wife, Tonya, relied on each other and got through it together, stronger for the experience. This is Jim’s story.

Jim was born in 1967 and raised in a small town in northwest Illinois, not far from the Iowa border. Jim’s dad was a steelworker who taught him the value of hard work, but when Jim was in high school, his parents divorced and Jim moved with his mother to Savanna, Illinois, right on the Mississippi River. Jim attended Savanna High School for his junior and senior years, and that’s where he met Tonya. He was so sure Tonya was the right woman for him that he proposed to her during his junior year.

Jim’s proposal made him start thinking about finding a job after graduation that would allow him to marry and support Tonya. He initially thought he would join the Army and become a heavy equipment operator, but when his older brother Tim heard about his plans, he told Jim he should go Navy instead. In fact, Jim’s two older brothers thought joining the Navy was such a good idea, they wanted to enlist with Jim.

To further their plan, Tim invited a Navy recruiter to their house – Charlie Nash from Tennessee. With a thick Tennessee accent he promised the three brothers, “I will take care of you and carry you into the service.” The McCune brothers were convinced and they signed the enlistment papers. But because Jim was still in high school and they all weren’t ready to go yet, they entered the Delayed Entry Program with a report for duty date in August 1986.

Jim graduated from high school in the spring of 1986 and married Tonya on June 14, giving him only two months with his new bride before he had to report to the Navy. One of his two older brothers joining the Navy with him, Randy, also got married before they departed. So, on August 12, 1986, Jim’s mother and the new brides took Jim, Tim and Randy to the Greyhound Bus terminal in Sterling, Illinois, and bid them farewell.

The bus was full of Navy enlistees and it took them directly to boot camp at the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, just north of Chicago. As soon as they arrived, the staff came on the bus yelling and had them form in a line outside. They marched as a group to their new barracks and their boot camp adventure officially started, beginning with trashcans rolling down the aisles to wake them up at 4:00 a.m.

Jim was in Company 290 – “Solid Gold”. The company bonded as a unit and had a lot of spirit, working together and developing cadences they could use when marching around base. When anyone’s mother, wife, or girlfriend sent goodies, they shared them with everyone in the company. They also helped each other get through the trials and tribulations of boot camp. When it came time for graduation, Jim’s mom and Tonya came to the ceremony. They got to spend the weekend together before the three brothers had to report to their first Navy school on Monday morning.

Jim and Tim’s enlistment contract guaranteed they would attend school to become Electronics Technicians, but Randy had no such guarantee. So, on Monday morning when Jim and Tim started Basic Electricity and Electronics School, Randy started a general school that corresponded with the name of his rank – Airman Apprentice. Two weeks into classes, Jim failed a hearing test and was told he could no longer be an Electronics Technician. He was given the option of getting out of the Navy since he would not be getting what his enlistment contract promised.

Rather than get out, Jim said he would stay in if he could catch up with Randy at Airman Apprentice School. The Navy said yes, so Jim joined Randy and spent every night studying to catch up for the two weeks of school he was already behind. Jim completed school with Randy and finished on time.

After Jim and the others completed Airman Apprentice School, they were marched to the personnel office to receive their orders. Each new sailor opened his package excitedly to see where he was going. Jim’s orders were for North Island in San Diego, California. This was a big deal for a 19-year-old who had never really been more than 25 miles away from his home growing up in Illinois.

USS KITTY HAWK
USS KITTY HAWK

After a week of leave with Tonya in Savanna, Jim flew to San Diego, arriving in uniform around midnight with everything he owned in a heavy green sea bag. A Navy Petty Officer saw Jim looking lost and helped him find the duty driver. The driver took Jim to Naval Air Station North Island, the homeport for Jim’s new ship, the USS KITTY HAWK. Not knowing that the duty driver would have taken him all the way to his ship, Jim got out of the car at the front gate and walked two miles to his ship carrying his sea bag. When he arrived on board, he checked in and went right to sleep.

When Jim woke up, he learned he’d be working on the flight deck, but he wouldn’t be starting out there. As a new junior sailor, he’d have to pay his dues by starting out cleaning the berthing compartments on the ship, which was a job everyone looked down upon. But he worked hard and started looking for the chance to move to the flight deck as soon as possible.

On January 3, 1987, KITTY HAWK got underway from San Diego for what Jim understood to be a leisurely cruise heading west around the world to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where the ship would go into dry dock for an extended overhaul. The cruise proved to be anything but leisurely, as KITTY HAWK spent almost 120 days conducting flight operations (launching and recovering the ship’s aircraft) in the Gulf of Oman during a period of increasing tensions in and around the Persian Gulf.

Map of Gulf of Oman
Gulf of Oman

During flight operations, Jim worked on the flight deck, which is recognized to be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. In fact, before he was even permitted to go onto the flight deck to begin training, he spent 4 days in the “crow’s nest” on the carrier’s bridge watching the intricate teamwork involved in launching and recovering aircraft at sea.

When Jim went onto the flight deck for the first time, he was “married” with an experienced sailor and had to hold onto the sailor’s belt to follow him wherever he went. Standing or walking in the wrong place could result in getting blown off the ship by jet blast, walking into a spinning propeller, or getting sucked into a jet engine intake, so there was no room for error. Jim remembers learning this lesson standing behind a jet blast deflector on the flight deck. He and his partner were watching a jet get ready to take off, and Jim didn’t notice his partner turn around. When the jet took off, he felt the searing heat on this face. It was a lesson all new flight deck personnel had to learn.

Jim worked on the aft (rear) of the flight deck, placing and removing chocks under aircraft wheels, chaining aircraft to the deck, attaching and removing tow bars, and helping to spot aircraft throughout the day. It was grueling work in the intense sun of the Gulf of Oman, and Jim became very tanned and fit. His workday routinely ran for 20-22 hours, so he learned to eat quickly and sleep standing up while leaning against a bulkhead (wall). Every night, though, before going to sleep, he wrote a letter to Tonya, and he cherished receiving the daily letters she sent him.

Jim in his rack writing a letter
Jim in his rack on USS KITTY HAWK writing a letter to Tonya

On March 31, 1987, after Jim finished work and was in his berthing spaces, he heard someone yelling. When he went to check it out, someone said there was a fire in the hangar bay, which is the large area below the flight deck where aircraft can be brought down by elevator for maintenance. Jim started to pass the word, but then heard the announcement over the ship’s speakers, “General Quarters, General Quarters,” telling the crew there was a fire. The fire was massive and Jim and other sailors quickly moved aircraft away from the flames to keep the fire from getting worse. The fire was eventually extinguished without injury or loss of life.

Two times on the flight deck Jim came close to being seriously injured. On one occasion, he was walking under an F-14 “Tomcat” jet fighter made famous in the Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun” when he sliced his head open on an instrument extending from the bottom of the plane. He was immediately taken to the ship’s hospital and stitched up, and was back on the flight deck in 45 minutes. On another occasion, jet blast pinned him against the landing gear of the plane he was working under. Had the plane moved, he could have been crushed. Others weren’t so lucky. One day he watched as the jet blast from a plane blew a Chief Petty Officer off the deck and into the water 64 feet below. “Man overboard” was quickly called and the Chief was recovered safely, but it was yet another reminder of the dangerous business they were engaged in.

Not everything aboard KITTY HAWK involved work. Unbelievably, Jim met two guys he knew from Savanna High School on board. He unknowingly sat down at dinner next to one and learned about the other who had been working only about 20 feet away from him on the flight deck and he didn’t even know it! He also got to watch as the ship put on air shows for foreign dignitaries, and enjoyed “steel beach picnics” where the crew could relax on deck and enjoy 2 beers, a luxury they earned after 45 continuous days at sea. Since Jim doesn’t drink, he pocketed some extra money by selling his two beers to his thirsty shipmates. He also became a crusty “shellback” on April 25, 1987, a name given to sailors after they cross the equator for the first time and participate in a mock ceremony to document the event.

A market in Mombasa, Kenya
A market in Mombasa, Kenya

Jim visited a number of exotic ports during KITTY HAWK’s cruise. He saw the Philippines twice; Karachi, Pakistan; and Mombasa, Kenya. He also sailed through the Suez Canal and stopped in Cannes, France, and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and sailed close to the Rock of Gibraltar before heading home across the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, after a brief stop in Norfolk, KITTY HAWK pulled into the Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, bringing an end to the six-month cruise.

Once back in the states, Jim took leave to see Tonya in Illinois. He remembers how beautiful she looked at the airport waiting for him, reminding him of the way he felt on his wedding day. She barely recognized him, though, given how fit and tanned he was. After Jim’s leave, Tonya moved with him to Philadelphia, taking an apartment in Delaware about thirty-minutes from the shipyard.

On June 13, 1989, Tonya gave birth to their daughter, Stephanie Jo. The baby had hydrocephalus, and she remained in neonatal intensive care for three months. Stephanie later began to experience severe seizures, so this was a very difficult time for the family. Then, about one year later when Tonya was six-months pregnant with their second child, someone at Jim’s part-time job at a warehouse accidentally ran into him with the raised forks of a forklift, pinning Jim against the forklift Jim was driving and nearly severing Jim’s left leg. Jim was hospitalized for months and in physical therapy for a year and a half. Sadly, Stephanie passed away about six months after Jim was injured.

Jim in a hospital bed
Jim in the hospital after the forklift accident

Jim was medically retired from the Navy in November 1991. He credits one of his Navy buddies, Bill Atkinson, with helping get him back on his feet by taking him fishing. This began Jim’s lifelong passion for fishing, which he has shared with countless youth in Illinois through fish derbies, high school fishing teams, and teaching underprivileged youth to fish. His work with kids fits well with his and Tonya’s other calling, which is serving as foster parents for children in their community. Over the last 20 years, they’ve fostered numerous children and adopted 4, making Jim and Tonya role models and real-life heroes for many families in their community.

Jim currently works as a physical education teacher at Leal Elementary School in Urbana, Illinois. Jim pursued his career in education after a warehouse supervisor refused to consider him for promotion because he didn’t have a college education. Both challenged and motivated, Jim used his Vocational Rehabilitation and GI Bill Benefits to get his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois after doing his initial college coursework at Parkland Community College. Tonya also continued her education and became a nurse.

As Jim looks back on his military service, he credits the Navy with teaching him to respect people from all different backgrounds and to better understand what life is like in other countries. Jim still talks about his Navy days with his Navy friends, and believes the Navy is a good option for young men and women to learn an occupation and get started in life.

Voices To Veterans is proud to salute Petty Officer Third Class Jim McCune, U.S. Navy, for his dedicated service in the Navy and for his and Tonya’s work with children in their community. We are thankful to both of you for all you have done and all you continue to do!

Jim and Tonya
Jim and Tonya

First Sergeant Mike Allen, U.S. Army (Retired)

Mike Allen Official PhotoSome people are called to serve our country in extraordinary ways, putting their life on the line for mission and comrade during time of war. Such is the case for First Sergeant Mike Allen, who served in the Army for 23 years, including during the Vietnam War. This is his story.

Mike was born in 1947 and raised in the small farming community of Tuscola, Illinois. He graduated from Tuscola High School in 1965 at the age of 17, but couldn’t find a job because he would be subject to the draft on his 18th birthday. Rather than wait for the draft, Mike decided to join the Army. His father, a Combat Engineer in Europe during World War II, advised Mike to think about it before making his decision. When Mike assured him he wanted to join, his father signed the necessary parental consent paperwork and Mike enlisted.

Mike reported to boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training in September 1965. He survived the drill sergeants screaming in his face, the early morning awakenings, and the rigorous physical training, and appreciated the camaraderie that developed among the recruits. As would be the case throughout his Army career, if a recruit lagged or needed help, Mike and the others pulled together to make sure their fellow recruit succeeded.

After 8 weeks of basic training, Mike reported to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for advanced infantry training (AIT). Just as at boot camp, drill sergeants dictated his every move, including improving his proficiency with the M-14 rifle. After concluding the 8-week AIT course, it was time for the new soldiers to find out their assignments. The First Sergeant put the new soldiers in formation and produced a scroll. He yelled out, “If I call your name, stand over at the right. You will not be going to Vietnam.” He then called out one name, which was a foreign sounding name. Because the individual was not yet a U.S. citizen, he would not be going to Vietnam. Everyone else, including Mike, would be.

Mike landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam in May of 1966, just as the Vietnam War was intensifying. He was issued orders to the 1st Cavalry Division. The unit had suffered heavy casualties in the first battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965. The battle, which pitted new airmobile U.S. Army helicopter assault forces against North Vietnamese regular soldiers for the first time, was subsequently made famous by the bestselling book We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young, by the U.S. battlefield commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, and reporter Joseph Galloway. In 2002, the book was released as a movie, We Were Soldiers, with Mel Gibson starring as Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore.

On May 8, 1966, Mike was sent to An Khe in jungle and rolling hills of South Vietnam’s Central Highlands. The nearest city to the operating base was Pleiku. He joined Alpha Company of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. His company’s mission was to conduct search and destroy missions, where they would go into the field to locate and kill the enemy.

Mike Allen in VietnamMike was assigned to be a radio operator, replacing a soldier who had been killed during the first battle of Ia Drang. His First Sergeant said, “Allen, you look like a healthy young man. You’ll be our radio operator.” Mike learned that the reason his strength was important was because he had to carry his regular gear plus the radio, giving him a much heavier load than many other soldiers. When Mike said he didn’t know how to operate a radio, his First Sergeant said, “We’ll teach you. Now put this on and get going.” It was on the job training from that point on.

Mike remembers the fear that set in on every mission. He never knew what lurked behind the next tree. On his first mission, when it came time to disembark the helicopter, the veteran soldiers all jumped out and disappeared in the tall elephant grass. The crew chief told Mike to jump, too. Mike looked down and was terrified, so he turned to the crew chief and said he wasn’t jumping. The crew chief told him to look down one more time, and when Mike did, he gave Mike a shove with his boot and Mike launched out of the chopper, landing on the ground. Mike jumped out of helicopters on his own from that point on.

Mike’s unit would normally spend 3 weeks in the field, then it would be pulled off the line to guard an artillery battery for 2 weeks, and then the rotation would start over again. If the unit was really deserving, it would get to spend time at the base camp in An Khe.

One junior officer Mike remembers in particular was the unit’s forward observer, who called in precision artillery and close air support strikes during their search and destroy missions. The observer had a habit of taking off his helmet when he started to call in artillery. He’d radio in the target coordinates and then the rounds would come in and hit the designated point. He’d radio again, adjusting fires to drop the next rounds closer to the unit. He’d repeat the process until he put on his helmet and took cover. When the men saw this, they knew the rounds would be coming in very close, so they’d hit their foxholes to avoid being struck by friendly fire.

Map of Vietnam showing location of Ia Drang Valley.The most significant engagement of Mike’s tour occurred on August 8, 1966. Mike’s company (Alpha Company), which at the time had about 85 men, was on a search and destroy mission in the Ia Drang Valley. Mike’s unit saw the telltale signs of a significant enemy force in the vicinity (markings on trees and recently abandoned camps), but when his unit reported to headquarters that they thought something big was in the vicinity, headquarters replied that, according to intelligence reports, there were no significant enemy forces nearby.

Mike’s unit found out that headquarters was wrong when it was attacked by an entire North Vietnamese regiment consisting of approximately 1200 men. The North Vietnamese repeatedly charged Alpha Company. The unit took heavy casualties, but the men kept fighting even when wounded. Just as the North Vietnamese were preparing for the final assault to overrun Alpha Company, the sound of approaching helicopters caused the North Vietnamese to abandon the attack and Mike survived. When Mike left the battlefield, he had only 5 rounds of ammunition left.

During the course of that engagement, Mike recalls an Air Force pilot flying overhead indicated he was returning from a mission and had some ammunition left. He asked Mike’s unit if he could help and they said yes. The pilot keyed his microphone so he was continuously transmitting as he made a strafing run on the enemy, all the time whistling the Air Force song Wild Blue Yonder. He did a second strafing run, again, whistling Wild Blue Yonder over the radio. Finally out of ammunition, the pilot wished Mike’s unit good luck and said he’d drink a beer for them when he returned to his airbase.

Mike stated that when the Medevac helicopters arrived, there was only room for the wounded to be evacuated. One soldier, who everyone looked out for because he was mentally slow, asked if he could leave with the Medevac helicopters. Mike said no, that he had to be wounded to evacuate. The soldier asked, “If I’m wounded, would I get to leave on a helicopter?” Mike said yes. The soldier then turned around and showed Mike 2 bullet holes in his back. Mike immediately tried to assist the soldier to a helicopter, but the soldier walked there under his own power and flew away, waving to Mike as he departed. Mike was also wounded by shrapnel during the battle, which he suspects came from a grenade.

After the battle, a reporter interviewed Mike and the story ran nationwide on August 9, 1966. Mike said the interview was how his parents learned he was okay, since the Red Cross had notified his parents he was wounded but not told them what his condition was or if he was even alive. Quoting from Mike’s hometown newspaper, the Tuscola Review, Mike “was awarded the Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal for his efforts on August 8, 1966, which included crawling twice through heavy fire and exploding grenades to deliver messages to the forward observer. Because of his action, communications were kept open and reinforcements were brought in.” After recovering from his wounds, Mike returned to his unit and finished his tour of duty in Vietnam.

Mike left Vietnam in May of 1967 and returned on leave to Tuscola, where his town welcomed him home as a hero. One example is when Mike’s Dad asked him to go to a local bar. Walking in, Mike saw a local judge with a police chief. Mike’s Dad ordered a beer, while Mike, who was only 19, ordered a Coke. The bartender set the Coke on the bar, but before Mike could reach it, the judge stepped up and grabbed it. He asked Mike, “didn’t you just come back from Vietnam?” When Mike said yes, the judge continued, “well, you didn’t drink just Coke in Vietnam, did you?” When Mike said no, the judge told the bartender to “give this man a beer.” The police chief told the bartender “and when he finishes that one, the second one is on me.”

First Sergeant Mike Allen, U.S. Army Official PhotoMike credits the support of his town, and especially the support of his close-knit family, with helping him transition from Vietnam. His father and four of his father’s brothers had all served in World War II, so they related to Mike because they understood what he had been through. Mike’s father, in particular, helped him learn to talk about his experience, rather than trying to keep it to himself. Mike also had four cousins who fought in Vietnam, so they were able to share their experiences together. Talking about Vietnam made all of the difference in the world, as Mike felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

After Vietnam, Mike was sent to Germany to serve out the remainder of his enlistment. With the Cold War in full swing, Mike’s job was to patrol the border between Germany and Czechoslovakia. While he was there, his First Sergeant took him under his wing and talked to him about reenlisting. The offer of a $6000 reenlistment bonus and 30 days leave in Tuscola was just too much to pass up. That 6-year reenlistment turned into a distinguished 23-year Army career.

Mike retired from the Army as a First Sergeant in 1988. He’s since retired 2 more times, first from a magnet factory in Kentucky and later from the City of Radcliffe, Kentucky. Mike is now fully retired and living with his wife, Martha, in Winter Haven, Florida. He hopes to relocate soon to his beloved town of Tuscola so he can be closer to family and friends.

Voices To Veterans is proud to salute First Sergeant Mike Allen, U.S. Army (Ret.), for his long career of dedicated service to our country in the Army, and especially for his courage and devotion to duty during the Vietnam War. Mike and his family have answered the call whenever our nation was in need, and for that we are forever grateful.

Sergeant Richard “Dick” Sowinski, U.S. Marine Corps

Sergeant Richard "Dick" Sowinski, U.S. Marine CorpsNatural leaders rise to the top, no matter where they start out. That’s why when the Marines recruited Richard “Dick” Sowinski, they knew they had a winner. They could not have been more right.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Dick graduated from West Tech High School in 1953. That fall he attended Kent State University, but it was his first time away from home and he spent a little too much time having fun and not enough time studying. It wasn’t long before Kent State sent him a letter inviting him not to come back.

Disappointed, Dick decided to straighten himself out, so he went to a military recruiting office. He intended to join the Navy, but he felt like the Navy recruiter gave him the “song and dance,” so he enlisted in the Marines instead. He didn’t tell his parents right away because he knew they would worry. To put his enlistment into historical context, the Korean War had just ended and the Cold War was in full swing, so when his parents found out, they were scared for him. Dick’s father also feared Dick would never finish college.

Dick and other local recruits began their Marine Corps enlistment on October 20, 1954, by boarding a train in Cleveland en route to Parris Island, South Carolina. When they arrived in South Carolina, they took a bus to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. As soon as the bus stopped, drill instructors rushed aboard and started yelling at them to get off the bus. Dick’s immediate thought was “Oh no, what have I gotten myself into.”

Dick found out the next morning. “In processing” began with a haircut that left him totally bald. In addition to the rigorous physical and military training, which began right away, recruits were required to shave every day, whether they needed it or not, and field day meant cleaning every inch of the barracks to the drill instructors’ exacting standards. Failure meant doing it all over again. Dick had to wash his clothes by hand with a scrub brush and hang them outside to dry. The one bright spot was mail call, where Dick’s drill instructor would hand out mail to the waiting recruits. Any recruit receiving lots of letters from a girlfriend was teased in front of everyone, and it was the one time the recruits were permitted to laugh.

Despite the demanding training and new way of life, Dick did well at boot camp. So much so, that his drill instructor designated him the “house mouse,” which meant he had to clean and take care of the drill instructors’ duty hut. Being the house mouse had its advantages, because when the rest of his platoon had mess duty working in the kitchen, Dick stayed in the duty hut getting coffee and doing other tasks for the drill instructors. Dick was also designated to carry the platoon flag, known as the guidon. That honor signaled to everyone Dick was squared away.

Dick learned early on that if a recruit didn’t get rifle qualified, he was looked down upon. Knowing his right eye was weak, Dick was afraid he might not qualify if he had to aim with his right eye, so he decided to learn to fire his M-1 rifle left-handed. To his surprise, he earned his rifle qualifications firing left-handed even though he was right-handed by nature.

Dick graduated from boot camp in January 1955. After a short leave period, he reported to Camp Geiger in Jacksonville, North Carolina, for advanced infantry training, and then on to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to the Second Marine Division, Sixth Marines, for his first assignment.

Dick excelled at Camp Lejeune just as he had at boot camp. He was made squad leader for his rifle platoon and soon his company commander recommended him for an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He passed the physical and written tests with ease and then had to interview with the regimental commander, who was a Medal of Honor winner. During the interview, Dick learned the course of study at the Naval Academy would be engineering. Afraid he could not handle the math, and believing rumors he’d have to commit to twenty years in the military, Dick turned down his appointment. His company commander was not pleased.

Soon thereafter, Dick’s unit sailed to Vieques Island off the coast of Puerto Rico for amphibious assault training. Dick’s ship had an admiral on board, and the admiral brought his barge, which is a small boat an admiral uses to go ashore or to entertain dignitaries. One of the Marines on board thought it would be a good idea to steal the admiral’s stars off the barge. When the admiral discovered they were missing, he turned off the smoking lamp (which meant no smoking), stopped showing movies, closed the ship’s store, and restricted the Marines to their quarters. As the seas got rougher, the situation got worse, until the offending Marine snuck back one night and returned the admiral’s stars to the barge. Appeased, the admiral lifted the sanctions and life at sea returned to normal.

Eventually Dick’s unit was ready to assault the Vieques beach as part of the exercise. After a steak and eggs breakfast, at 5:00 a.m. they climbed down the cargo nets on the side of the ship into the waiting landing craft and assaulted the beach. Once ashore, they dug in and camouflaged their foxholes. Dick knew he had done a good job because later that night his company commander came by to check out the unit’s positions and, not seeing where Dick was, fell into Dick’s foxhole.

After the exercise, Dick’s unit went ashore for liberty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since Fidel Castro had yet to take over the country, the Marines were permitted to leave the base and go into town during the day, but they had to be back inside the gates by nightfall. Still, Cuba’s precarious political situation meant Dick’s unit was on call in case they were needed for action.

When Dick returned to Camp Lejeune after the exercise, his company commander recommended him for Drill Instructor School. Only the very best Marines are permitted to become drill instructors because they are responsible for molding the next generation of Marines. Now a corporal, Dick was selected and began the school. He remembers early on sitting toward the back of the class when the instructor called him out and accused him of sleeping. Dick wasn’t sleeping, but he decided not to defend himself and just absorbed the berating. The instructor stopped abruptly and said to the rest of the class, “Now there’s a disciplined Marine. He didn’t challenge me or act disrespectfully. He just took my yelling calmly. Drill instructors need to be disciplined like this Marine.” Dick was really glad he hadn’t said anything to the instructor.

Dick graduated from Drill Instructor School in 1956 as a sergeant and then reported to Parris Island to train new recruits. While he has many drill instructor stories, one stands out in particular. One of the men in his platoon was a small, unassuming recruit, but he had a lot of spirit. One day a general was inspecting Dick’s platoon, which meant Dick followed right next to the General in case the general had any comments while inspecting Dick’s men. The general stopped in front of the unassuming recruit and barked, “What’s the motto of the Marine Corps?” Misunderstanding what the general said, the recruit answered enthusiastically, “There’s nothing the matter with the Marine Corps, sir!” Dick said all the general could do was laugh, pat the Marine, and move on.Dick and Maureen Sowinski

After serving as a drill instructor for 18 months, Dick got out of the Marine Corps and re-enrolled at Kent State. This time he made the Dean’s List every year. He graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health and Physical Education, and later earned his Master’s Degree in 1966.

One other thing happened in 1960 – Dick married Maureen, his wife of 57 years. They have four children (including one who served in the Navy), and ten grandchildren. They’ve had a wonderful life together.

Dick credits the Marine Corps with giving him a philosophy to live by – a philosophy he’s shared with countless youth over the years both as a teacher and a much-loved high school and then college freshman football coach at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Here is Dick’s philosophy for personal success:

  • Spiritual Soundness – Have a deeply rooted faith in God.
  • Respect – Show respect for your parents, the girl you are dating, and authority.
  • Courage – Stand up for what is right and don’t be afraid to say no to what is wrong.
  • Excellence – Do your best at whatever you are called to do and never do less than you are able.

Voices To Veterans is proud to salute Sergeant Dick Sowinski for his service in the Marines and his years of helping young people succeed both on and off the football field. Thanks for a job well done!

Staff Sergeant Vanessa Lawicki Vaché – Determination Has No Bounds

To understand Staff Sergeant Vanessa Lawicki Vaché, U.S. Air Force, you have to explore her roots. She grew up in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, a small town about 25 miles from downtown Cleveland. She played clarinet in her high school band and loved music. She wanted to go to Baldwin Wallace College, a local liberal arts college with a good music program, but her band director bluntly told her she wasn’t good enough. Worse yet, her guidance counselors told her she wasn’t smart enough to go to college. With her grades, they said, she would never get in.

What the band director, the guidance counselors, and even Vanessa didn’t know, was that Vanessa had Dyslexia, which made high school incredibly difficult for her. But what Vanessa did know was that she loved music, so she set out to prove the naysayers wrong.

Vanessa practiced her clarinet incessantly, auditioned for Baldwin Wallace College, and was accepted for admission. She spent one year there after she graduated from high school in 1977, practicing a minimum of four hours a day in addition to her music classes and band performances. She also took lessons from a clarinet player in the Cleveland Orchestra, who gave her the confidence she needed to succeed. But all of this cost money, and Vanessa’s family didn’t have much. So she worked at a pizza parlor whenever she could and earned just enough money to pay her way through school.

One year later, Vanessa auditioned for and was accepted into the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, and her life changed. Suddenly, she was no longer the girl in high school struggling to get by. Now, she was the young woman respected for her musical ability and for who she was. Needless to say, living in Manhattan was expensive, so Vanessa took cleaning and waitress jobs – anything that would pay the rent. Recognizing Vanessa’s determination and talent, her teachers did everything they could to help her succeed. She did, graduating in four years with a Bachelors degree in music.

While that alone would be an amazing story, Vanessa didn’t stop there. She auditioned for and was accepted by the world-renowned Juilliard School, also in Manhattan. She studied and played clarinet at Juilliard for two years, graduating with a Masters degree in music. No one told her she wasn’t good enough now!

After Juilliard, Vanessa received an offer to play for the National Symphony of the Dominican Republic, so she moved to Santo Domingo in 1984. She was the Symphony’s principal clarinetist and stayed two years until the living conditions eventually got to her. The lights in her apartment went out routinely, the running water was undependable, and she was constantly sick from bad water and bad vegetables. So she returned to Cleveland to come up with her next move.

Wanting to play music and looking for a challenge, Vanessa auditioned for the U.S. Air Force music program. She was accepted and enlisted in the Air Force. In July 1987, she attended Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, just like any other Air Force recruit.

After six weeks of Basic Training, Vanessa graduated as an Airman (E-3). She then reported to the 541st Air Force Band at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire, where she played clarinet. She spent two and a half years there, but then volunteered to transfer to Europe in return for an informal guarantee that she would get to choose her return orders stateside.

Vanessa’s timing was flawless. She transferred to the 686th Air Force Band, known as the U.S. Air Force Band Europe, just outside of Ramstein Air Base in West Germany one week after the Berlin wall fell. As if overnight, the Iron Curtain lifted and the Air Force Band was in demand in all of the newly liberated countries in Eastern Europe.

Everyone in the band was excited to see Eastern Europe, but they didn’t know what to expect. During Vanessa’s first trip east, her bus passed empty watchtowers looming over the borders. As the band drove closer to the towns, the world faded into a black and white picture from the 1940s. The landscape was dark and dreary, and every structure was old and needed paint. There were bombed out buildings from WWII everywhere, still with broken windows, walls without roofs, and piles of concrete all around. The air hung heavy with pollution, and even the sky stayed gray.

Vanessa played clarinet in the 60-piece Air Force Europe concert band. One of her first concerts was in Gorlitz, East Germany, near the border with Poland. The people were friendly, but very poor. They wanted to show hospitality to the band, but had no money or means to do so. They served the band soup, but there was barely anything in it. When some members of the band asked about Red Army Street, the town took down the sign and gave it to the band. Vanessa said this trip and others into the former Soviet Block revealed the realities of communism to her. Before it had been just another form of government she studied in school and heard about in the news. Now she saw first hand how people living under communist rule had to struggle to get by.

Vanessa’s most memorable concert was in the city of Pilsen in the Czech Republic. She and the rest of the musicians were loaded into buses outside of Ramstein and, contrary to their usual practice, drove through the night to get there. Vanessa managed to eke out a little sleep along the way, but woke up when her bus arrived in Pilsen.

When she looked outside, she couldn’t believe her eyes. American flags were everywhere! They hung from balconies and out of windows, they flew from flagpoles and the roofs of buildings, and thousands of people waiving small American flags crowded the area waiting for the band.

When the band members got out of the buses, the people from Pilsen swarmed them. They gave the band members hugs and flowers, but most of all they thanked them over and over. As the band marched to its first performance, a woman ran up to Vanessa and asked Vanessa to be in a picture with the woman’s baby. Vanessa gladly stopped and posed for the picture.

Vanessa learned later that Ambassador Shirley Temple Black arranged for the band to play for Pilsen’s Liberation Day, commemorating when Patton’s Third Army liberated the city from the Germans on May 6, 1945. The Russians liberated Prague (about 60 miles away) and the rest of Czechoslovakia, but after the Iron Curtain fell around the country, the Russians required the Czechs to teach that the Russians had liberated all of Czechoslovakia. The citizens of Pilsen never forgot, though, and made the truth part of their oral history.

Vanessa and the Air Force Band were the first American service members to arrive in Pilsen since Patton’s Army left, so the people of Pilsen wanted to show them just how grateful they were to the United States.

Vanessa and the Air Force Band performed at numerous ceremonies over the course of the next two days. She and the others knew they were standing in for the heroes who liberated Pilsen at the end of World War II, and were glad they could play their part in linking the Czech and American people together once again. Pilsen made such a profound impact on Vanessa that she wrote a children’s book about it called The Big Thank You, which Vanessa illustrated herself.

Vanessa returned to the United States in 1992 and completed one more tour on active duty with the U.S. Air Force Reserve Band at Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia. The band traveled nonstop, and actually played concerts as far away as Turkey and Russia. The incessant travel eventually took its toll on her and after twelve years, Vanessa traded in her Air Force uniform for a more stable civilian life.

Vanessa lives with her husband and fellow jazz musician, Allan Vaché, in Florida, where she continues to play and teach music. She admits her Air Force experience came with costs, but she is proud to have served and feels it opened new doors for her. Her greatest takeaways, though, are the friendships she made with her fellow musicians and the many people she met and talked to before and after her performances across Europe. To Vanessa, the U.S. Air Force Band brought people together, one concert at a time.