Remember and Honor Magazine - April 2020

March 20 19

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Important Phone Numbers LOVELAND VA CLINIC

970-962-4900

FORT COLLINS VA CLINIC

970-224-1550

CHEYENNE VA HOSPITAL

307-778-7550

DENVER VA HOSPITAL

303-399-8020

LARIM ER COUNTY VETERAN SERVICES

970-498-7390

WELD COUNTY VETERAN SERVICES

970-400-3444

VET CENTER

970-221-5176

COLORADO DIVISION OF VETERAN AFFAIRS

303-284-6077

N. COLORADO VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER

970-888-4249

VETERANS CRISIS LINE

800-273-8255 (press 1) or text 838255

HEALING WARRIORS PROGRAM

970-776-8387

In This Issue From the Publisher ............................................ 4 Call it Serendipity?............................................. 5 The Chosin Few ................................................. 6 Finding His Brother ........................................... 7 Authority, Responsibility, and Accountability..8 Diving into History ............................................ 9 Trapped............................................................... 10 News Brief ..........................................................11 Lucky .................................................................. 12 March 1, 1970 ..................................................... 13 Hearing Stories First Hand ............................... 14 Veterans Honoring Veterans ............................ 15 On The Lighter Side .......................................... 16 Veterans Owned Businesses ........................... 19

© 2020 REMEMBER AND HONOR All rights reserved. PO Box 1031, Loveland CO 80538. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Advertisements contained within this publication do not represent endorsement by the publisher. Publisher may not be held liable or responsible for business practices of these companies.

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From the Publisher's Desk

Dear Reader s, I am pr epar ing this m onth?s issue r ight at the beginning of the cor onavir us scar e. We ar e enter ing into a per iod of uncer tainty. I have hear d so m any stor ies thr ough the year s of veter ans w ho have gone thr ough incr edible uncer tainty and sacr ifice. Hear ing in these stor ies of how they per sever ed dur ing these per iods, gives m e solace that w e too w ill m ake it thr ough this per iod just fine.

Brad Hoopes, Publisher

As I sit her e under the stay-at-hom e or der , w her e I could still have r estaur ant Remember And Honor food and a six-pack of beer deliver ed to the house or put on an On Dem and m ovie, my level of discom for t and sacr ifice doesn?t even r em otely begin to r egister in com par ison to w hat the people featur ed in thr ee stor ies w ent thr ough. I have absolutely nothing to bitch about.

I sat dow n to lunch on a cold (not r eally), snow day w ith John Belair and Ken Spaulding, tw o Kor ean War veter ans caught up in the Battle of the Chosin Reser voir. You m ay w ant to put on a coat and gloves w hen you r ead their stor y. I left the lunch w ith tw o takeaw ays: I don?t know how they m ade it thr ough that 17 day battle and I w ill never look at Tootsie Rolls again in the sam e w ay.

Har old ?Scat? Scatter day w as in the Battle of Okinaw a. Once again, I don?t know how he m ade it out alive, as he cheated death tim e after tim e. He w as only one of 16 out of 160 in his unit to w alk off that island on his ow n.

Kent ?Skeeter ? Cow el in his ar ticle w alks us thr ough his last m ission in Vietnam . That battle took the lives of a num ber of his fr iends and took him out of the w ar. But like m any, it didn?t take the w ar out of him and never w ill.

Tw o stor ies this m onth tell about the sear ch for love ones. Kenny M onfor t set out for post-w ar tor n Eur ope to find the gr ave of his br other Richar d. Ken Bledsoe set out decades later to find his father ?s plane in the w ater s off the coast of Austr alia. Thank you M ike Peter s, for m er w ell-r espected r epor ter for the Gr eeley Tr ibune, for the tip on the M onfor t stor y.

Tim e and tim e again I have seen how sm all the w or ld r eally is, w ith the inter net shr inking it even fur ther. Bob M cDonnell has a stor y about tw o sailor s, w ho ser ved together halfw ay ar ound the w or ld in Vietnam , and r ecently discover ed that for year s they both lived in Loveland, at one tim e only a few blocks apar t.

The last stor y is about Gr eeley?s Nor thr idge High School?s M ar ine Junior ROTC pr ogr am . They have developed an incr edible pr ogr am ther e.

I need to extend an apology to M ynr a Ter r one. In last m onth?s issue on the stor y of m ur als at the Associated Veter ans Club, I listed her last nam e incor r ectly.

Finally, m or e than likely, this w ill be the last issue of Rem em ber and Honor m agazine. I have sim ply just not had a lot of success building up adver tising r evenue to suppor t the m agazine and can no longer continue suppor ting the balance myself. Pr acticality has finally over taken passion. I w ill take som e tim e to consider other options. I m ay consider a quar ter ly edition, a str ictly online ver sion, etc. I feel it is im por tant to shar e the stor ies of our veter ans and per tinent infor m ation that is out ther e. Ther e ar e so m any incr edible people, or ganizations doing w onder ful w or k, and am azing stor ies out ther e that should be highlighted. I hope that veter ans continue to shar e their stor ies and exper iences and I hope people take the tim e to listen to and honor them . I also hope you have enjoyed r eading the m agazine as m uch I have enjoyed publishing it.

Take car e and stay healthy.

Br ad Hoopes Submit your comments to Brad.Hoopes@RememberAndHonor.com

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Cal l i t Ser en di pi t y?

By Bob M cDonnell All m ilitar y veter ans have stor ies. Som e m en and w om an w ho ser ved ar e m or e w illing than other s to shar e their past.

enfor cem ent for tw enty-som e year s, attaining the r ank of ser geant. Bar t?s assignm ent w as Lar im er County. He chose to live in Loveland.

Rick Hoover and Bar t Bar tholom ew had to w ait to tell par t of their stor y. Their situation took m or e than four decades to evolve, long after they ser ved.

Rick also picked Color ado as the place to live. He saw Color ado as a six-year -old on a fam ily vacation. He knew he w anted to be live in the fr ont r ange. A job offer fr om the Thom pson School Distr ict allow ed Rick to teach in Ber thoud, and live in Loveland.

Rick, w hile living in Canton, Ohio, enlisted in the Navy in Januar y 1967. Bar t enlisted in the Navy, a few m onths later in August 1967. He w as living in Bur lington, Color ado at the tim e.

The Vietnam veter ans ser ved for about four year s. They both w er e assigned to the USS Valley For ge, an air cr aft car r ier. Bar t r ecalls that the ship had a cr ew of about 3,000.

Both m en w or k for com bat car go on the flight deck doing ver tical r eplenishm ent. Not only did they have the sam e job and w or ked together at tim es, they also lived in the sam e ar ea? a sleeping quar ter s that housed tw elve m en.

After their honor able dischar ges, the tw o m en w ent their separ ate w ays. Rick r etur ned to Ohio and com pleted his education, w ith aspir ations to becom e a teacher.

Bar t cam e hom e to Color ado, and becam e a Color ado State Patr ol tr ooper. He w or ked in law

For about for ty year s, neither knew w hat happened to the other one. W hile sur fing the inter net, Rick found pictur es of the Valley For ge.

One r elated item he discover ed w as about sw eethear ts in the Loveland paper , w her e Bar t and his w ife w er e m entioned. Rick asked the paper for contact info on his for m er cow or ker.

A call r evealed that yes, they both lived in Loveland. Not only that, they lived tw o str eets aw ay fr om each other for eight year s. AND, they both had a child that gr aduated fr om Thom pson Valley High the sam e year. They had no clue. Bar t joked that they m ay have changed in appear ance fr om their tim e on the ship.

Rick and Bar t now see each other at the Satur day PAM VET br eakfast held w eekly in Loveland, w her e m any stor ies continue to be told.

Ba r t Ba r tholomew a nd Rick Hoover

Rick Hoover (top) a nd Ba r t Ba r tholomew (bottom)

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Th e Ch osi n Few As I looked out the dining r oom w indow at the snow and 30 degr ee w eather outside, I couldn?t help but think that it w as at least 70 degr ees w ar m er than w hat John Belair and Ken Spaulding w er e talking about r egar ding their exper iences in Kor ea. John and Ken ar e par t of a ver y special gr oup called ?The Chosin Few ?. Discover ing w e had tw o Chosin Reser voir sur vivor s in the ar ea, they w er e br ought together for lunch hosted by Sugar Valley Estates w her e Ken lives to m eet and talk about their exper iences.

The Battle of the Chosin Reser voir is ver y pr om inent in M ar ine Cor ps histor y. United Nation for ces had cr ossed the 38th Par allel in an effor t to r oute the r em aining N. Kor ean for ces and r eunite the Kor ean Peninsula. One finger of the thr ust w as led by 1ST M ar ine Division heading up thr ough the m ountains at the Chosin Reser voir.Tw o things they w er e not pr epar ed for w er e the Chinese enter ing the w ar and the br utally cold w eather.

John and Ken w er e par t of a 15,000 contingent now sur r ounded by 120,000 Chinese.

The Chinese only attacked at night, sending w ave after w ave. Soon the sur r ounded M ar ines began r unning out of am m o, supplies and food, w ith casualties m ounting.

Com pounding their situation, it John Bela ir w as the coldest r ecor ded w inter in Kor ea, getting dow n to 40 degr ees below zer o. Equipm ent, vehicles and guns fr oze up. The 17 day battle w as finally over w hen the M ar ines br oke out and fought their w ay dow n a nar r ow valley r oad for 78 m iles to the coast and evacuation.

I sat ther e in aw e and physically shutter ing as I listened to the tw o m en descr ibe w hat they w ent thr ough. Endur ing the nightly attacks and being out in the elem ents in the bitter cold, they w er e m entally and physically exhausted, hungr y and 6

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fr eezing. ?Ther e w as no w ay to get w ar m , as w e couldn?t star t a fir e or w e w ould get hit by sniper s?, John said. They had to put r ations in their ar m pits to thaw out food. M edics w ould put vials of m or phine in their m ouths to thaw them out to tr eat the w ounded.

Ken Spaulding Ken w as w ounded dur ing the attack . He discover ed eight bullet holes in his jacket, but w as only hit by one. He w as so cold that he couldn?t feel the w ound. He had to hike out befor e being m edically evacuated and he spent the next thr ee m onths in the hospital. John said he w as ?sm all and too fast? and didn?t get w ounded, but like alm ost ever yone else ther e, suffer ed fr ostbite. He has since had both knees r eplaced and has ver y little feeling in his hands.

They w er e thr illed to discover that they w er e both fr om W isconsin, gr ow ing up about 30 m iles apar t fr om each other. Ken suggested that fact m ay have helped them endur e this tim e, but then added, ?Can you im agine those poor boys fr om New Or leans though??

One m em or y John m entioned w as Tootsie Rolls.

Facing a shor tage of ar tiller y shells, com m and r adioed for an air dr op (the only w ay to get supplies in) of Tootsie Rolls, the code nam e for ar tiller y shells. The r adio oper ator at the other end m isunder stood the r equest and soon it r ained dow n actual Tootsie Rolls. This m iscom m unication could have m ade a dir e situation even w or st, but it actually w or ked out.

The candy helped sustain the M ar ines and they also soon discover ed that once gooey in their m ouths, the r olls could be used to patch bullet holes and split w ater hoses in vehicles.

The lunch date ended w ith a w ar m em br ace betw een the tw o. Ken w anted to sum up the w hole or deal fr om 70 year s ago. ?We didn?t r etr eat; w e just fought in the other dir ection.?

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Fin din g His Br ot h er Kenny M onfor t alw ays looked up to his older br other Richar d, w ho w as five year s older. Once w hen they w er e playing in a gr ain silo, a tr uck cam e in and dum ped gr ain and Kenny star ted sinking into the pit. Richar d m anaged to pull him out and save him . Kenny had no pr oblem w hen it w as announced that som eday Richar d w ould take over the fam ily feedlot business, as he w anted to be a jour nalist.

Richar d w as a junior at Color ado A&M w hen he w as dr afted in 1942. He tr ained to be a navigator and in 1943 shipped off to England w ith the 8thAir For ce. On Januar y 29, 1944 M onfor t w as on his thir d m ission. It w as a m assive 800 air plane r aid over Fr ankfur t, Ger m any. After dr opping its bom bs and tur ning to r etur n hom e, Richar d?s plane w as attacked by Ger m an fighter planes and hit in the fuel tanks and tail. Or der s w er e given to bail out. Of the ten cr ew m em ber s, the tail gunner w ent dow n w ith the plane and the other s m anaged to get out. Seven sur vived and w er e taken pr isoner. M onfor t and the bom bar dier w er e killed. The bom bar dier ?s chute never pr oper ly opened and it w as assum ed M onfor t had died w hile leaving the plane because his chute

w as unopened. M onfor t w as bur ied on a far m thir ty m iles south of Fr ankfur t and later m oved to a m ilitar y cem eter y in Nancy, Fr ance.

Four year s later in 1948, Kenny him self now a junior at A&M , set out to tour Eur ope on bike w ith his college fr ater nity fr iend. His par ents, afr aid to fly, asked him to find and visit Richar d?s gr ave.

W hen Kenny and his fr iend ar r ived at the cem eter y they found an ?Out to Lunch? sign on the car etaker ?s office door , so they set out on their ow n to find the gr ave. Am azingly, w ith the 1000?s of headstones all w ith the sam e w hite m ilitar y design, Kenny w alked up to Richar d?s gr ave alm ost r ight aw ay.In the ear ly 50?s the M onfor ts had Richar d?s body r etur ned to the states and he pr esently r ests in the fam ily plot at Linn Gr ove Cem eter y in Gr eeley. Kenny and his sister M ar ger y agr eed that if they had sons one day, they w ould nam e them after Richar d. Kenny?s son Richar d is Pr esident of the Color ado Rockies.

That fr iend that accom panied Kenny on that Eur opean tr ip w as none other than Roy Rom er , futur e Gover nor of Color ado.

Richa r d M onfor t

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Au t h or i t y, Respon si bi l i t y, an d Accou n t abi l i t y Students at Nor thr idge High School in Gr eeley develop a sense of author ity, r esponsibility, and accountability as they ar e challenged physically, m entally, and m or ally (m any for the fir st tim e) thr ough the dem ands of student leader ship taught by the M ar ine Cor ps JROTC pr ogr am .

The M ar ine Cor ps JROTC pr ogr am is designed to instill in high school students the value of citizenship, ser vice to the United States, per sonal r esponsibility and a sense of accom plishm ent. The pr ogr am pr epar es high school students for r esponsible leader ship r oles w hile m aking them aw ar e of their r ights, r esponsibilities, and pr ivileges as Am er ican citizens. Lessons in leader ship, self-confidence, and self-discipline ar e the cor ner stones of the JROTC pr ogr am .

Ther e ar e tw o M CJROTC pr ogr am s in all of Color ado.

One is at Adam s City High School in Com m er ce City and the other at Nor thr idge High School. Nor thr idge High?s pr ogr am w as established and launched dur ing the 2013-2014 school year , and w ill be com ing up on its seventh anniver sar y in June. Since this tim e, the M ar ine Cor ps JROTC pr ogr am has becom e extr em ely active thr oughout the com m unity. The Cadets per for m an aver age of 60 color guar ds annually, w hile also par ticipating in over 3,700 hour s of com m unity ser vice each year , includinghelping our m ilitar y veter ans and other s needing assistance thr oughout the com m unity atevents such as the Nor ther n Plains Honor Flight, Wr eaths Acr oss Am er ica, local Disabled Am er ican Veter ans facility m aintenance, Toys for Tots, Weld County Food Bank & m obile food pantr y, Leader ship Pr ayer Br eakfast and m any other civic ser vice events.

The pr ogr am is r un by a r etir ed M ar ine Officer and a Staff Non-Com m issioned Officer that ar e cer tified by the M ar ine Cor ps and hir ed by the school distr ict as

cer tified teacher s. The Senior M ar ine Instr uctor (SM I) is M ajor Stephen Kintzley w ho ser ved 23 year s in the M ar ine Cor ps as an Infantr y/Reconnaissance M ar ine Officer. The M ar ine Instr uctor (M I) is M aster Gunner y Ser geant Br ian Yar olem w ho ser ved 30 year s as an enlisted Reconnaissance M ar ine. W hat is unique about this team is that they ser ved together for near ly 20 year s in the r econnaissance com m unity, and by know ing each other ?s capabilities they w or k seam lessly in any envir onm ent. Their com bined 50 year s of leader ship, academ ic insight and pr ow ess have fur ther enhanced the successful pr ogr am .

The Nor thr idge JROTC pr ogr am has ear ned the designation as a Naval Honor s Pr ogr am for five consecutive year s. Junior ROTC pr ogr am s ear n this high distinction by r anking nationally in the top 20% of all JROTC pr ogr am s.

Like other high school pr ogr am s, the Nor thr idge M ar ine Cor ps JROTC pr ogr am em phasizes the im por tance of sound academ ic output and has r ecently com peted nationally in a JROTC Leader ship Academ ic Bow l (JLAB) w her e the team advanced to the com petition?s sem i-final r ound. Additionally, the

pr ogr am also has com petitive physical fitness and shooting team s that par ticipate in state and national Raider Physical Fitness Challenges and m ar ksm anship com petitions. This year alone, the pr ogr am has r acked up four fir st places, tw o 2nd places, one thir d place and a sixth place finishes in state and national m ar ksm anship com petitions.

An even gr eater success can be found outside the pr ogr am . M any of the teacher s and adm inistr ator s at Nor thr idge High School have seen and r epor ted significant im pr ovem ents in the Cadets?gr ades and behavior since being in the pr ogr am . An over ar ching goal of the pr ogr am is to encour age the Cadets to continue taking on active leader ship r oles in the classr oom and thr oughout the school and com m unity.

Hoo Rah to M ajor Kintzley, M aster Gunner y Ser geant Yar olem and the M ar ine Cadets at Nor thr idge High!.

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Di v i n g i n t o Hi st or y Like so m any childr en and spouses of veter ans, Ken Elder Bledsoe knew ver y little about his father ?s W W II exper ience. W hat com pounded this fur ther w as that his par ents divor ced w hen Ken w as young. After that, in 1973, his dad w as killed in an autom obile accident.

It w as after the accident that Ken discover ed a box of letter s, new spaper clippings, photogr aphs and m em entos. W hile going thr ough his father ?s things. By r eading the letter s his father had sent to his m other , Ken discover ed that his father ser ved w ith the Ar my Air Ken with his father Ver non Cor ps as a tail gunner aboar d a B-17 stationed in Austr alia.

W hat peaked his inter est w as the headline of one of the new spaper clippings, ?La Junta Lad Escapes Injur y in Pacific Plane Cr ash?.

W hen Ken r etir ed fr om Rocky M ountain High School in 2002 after a 24 year car eer , he pulled out that box again and began in ear nest to patch together his father Ver non Elder ?s stor y. The stor y star ted to com e together w hen Ken, w ith the help of his w ife, w ho w as also an educator , put in or der the letter ?s his dad w r ote to his m other.

m em ber s to sur vive. Paul Lindsey and Houston Rice w er e tw o other Color adans on the sam e flight. Houston Rice, Ver non?s best fr iend, w as killed. Ver non pulled Rice?s body out of the plane and kept it afloat until a r escue boat ar r ived. Paul Lindsey w ould be killed a m onth later on another m ission.

After alm ost a decade of dedicated r esear ch, ther e w as one last thing for Ken to do. In 2010, he and his w ife took off for Austr alia.

Once they ar r ived on Hor n Ken with a piece of his da d?s pla ne Island, Ken hir ed som e local fisher m an to take him out to sea. Based on his r esear ch, other accounts, and by m atching pictur es to the coastline, Ken thought he knew the r ough location of the cr ash site. After a failed fir st attem pt, Ken tr ied a differ ent location. This tim e he donned his snor keling gear , dove into the w ater , and found his dad?s plane!

Ken put his dad?s stor y along w ith his ow n stor y about finding his dad?s plane into an excellent book . To or der ?Echoes of an Eagle? or to lear n m or e, go to Ken?s w ebsite: kenelder bledsoe.com .

To gather m or e infor m ation, Ken tr acked dow n and contacted the last sur viving cr ew m em ber , as w ell as fam ily m em ber s of the other cr ew m em ber s.

On July 14, 1942, Ver non Elder ?s cr ew took off fr om an air str ip on Hor n Island, located off the nor ther n coast of Austr alia. Unable to pr oper ly clim b, it cr ashed into the ocean about a m ile off the coast killing thr ee cr ew m em ber s (also found in Ken?s father ?s box of item s w as a w atch w ith its hands fr ozen at 3:43am , four m inutes after takeoff ). Ver non, badly cut, w as one of five cr ew Remember and Honor 9 9 Rem em ber and Honor

By: M a r y Scott, M SW , Loss & Tr auma Consulta nt Hea r t Sca r s 6, Lovela nd, CO

Tr apped: Th ose W h o Don ?t Wan t t o Leave, bu t Fi n d i t Har d t o St ay Looking dir ectly at each of us in our sm all cir cle of veter ans and fam ily m em ber s, veter an Ryan Lanham deliver s his fir st cr eative w r iting pr om pt of the evening.

One w or d lands on all ear s: ?Tr apped?, follow ed by a 15-m inute spr int as w e cobble together w hatever inter pr etation the adjective spar ks in us. It doesn?t take long for ?tr apped? to evoke m em or ies of challenges endur ed by thr ee veter an fr iends I?ve had the honor to know : tw o living, and a thir d w ho took his life in Febr uar y.

Putting pen to paper , I conclude w ith the piece below , intended to honor the inner conflict that lives in m any w ho possess a str ong w ill to live their life, but com bat an inter m ittent desir e to leave it. W hether over w helm ing gr ief, per ceived ?w r ong? doing, a sense of futility that the m ission and those lost w as in vain, or other invisible casualties of w ar and life, this lim bo (not alw ays w anting to be her e) can be exceptionally painful.

Dr aw ing on facts and feelings these individuals have expr essed, I?ve chosen to pr otect their pr ivacy by tur ning thr ee sim ilar stor ies into one; m aybe it speaks to you.

m om , volunteer s his tim e, and fights his dem ons.

He sur e doesn?t w ant to leave, but som etim es it?s har d to stay: loving the pr esent but shackled to the past; cr aving peace in his m ind as som e of his fr iends w ish for death, and a sister w ho?s alr eady ther e. Like so m any, tr apped betw een w hat feels so r ight and w hat r em ains so w r ong.

Now , per haps as the m ost pow er ful m em or ial, he?s m ade the choice to live his life each day in the nam e of those w ho no longer can.

Although this stor y speaks to the exper iences of thr ee veter ans (and likely other s), it is dedicated w ith per m ission to Retir ed SSG. M offett, Joshua C. He?s alive and w ell, but never for gets his fellow ser vice m em ber s or the m any he?s loved and lost- too m any.

Despite a shar p sense of hum or , M offett?s m or e som ber w or ds r em ind m e that honor ing w hatever br eaks our hear ts helps us m ake better sense ofwhat we?ve lost, and who we?ve lost? and that those exper iences and people m atter gr eatly.

W hether ?good? or ?bad?, they?r e w oven thr ough the fabr ic of our lives.

He?s been living w ith it a w hile: like a separ ate being, outside of him but pushing in - a m al-for m ed, w hiney m ass w hisper ing: ?Get out? go now.?

He never w anted to leave his life; he stuck it out for year s: fighting, pr oving, hiding, doing the r ight thing, sustaining. But it w asn?t enough, ?specially not for him .

Dr unk dad didn?t w ant him , not any of them . ?This is my house, get out?: a no-w in m essage for the boy and his br other , father launching them like r ockets acr oss the r oom to see w ho could bust up his cr appy dr y w all best? biggest hole the ?w inner ?. The boy didn?t w ant to leave, but som etim es he sur e didn?t w ant to stay. ?Do your job or get out?, the NCO later said to the boy tur ned m an, now a soldier. Sam e m essage, differ ent day.And then ther e w as that split-second decision to take out potential com batants r unning at their APC (Ar m or ed Per sonnel Car r ier ). So he did his job did it w ell: cleaned the vehicle, solo, put his m en back in, and dr ove on. Yeah, suck it up or get out.

He?s got his ow n house now - job, fam ily, a ?Honey Do? list, and pr obably a ?Honey Don?t?.

He w or ks har d, plays har d, loves his w ife, kids, 10

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In addition to the Veter an Wr iter s Wor kshop (open to active m ilitar y, veter ans and fam ily m em ber s each Wedn esdays 6-7:30 PM , t h r ou gh Apr i l 15, CSU, Eddy Hall, Rm #105), join us for a fr ee pu bl i c Jou r n al Rel ease Even t w ith r eadings by the w r iter s, Su n day M ay 3, 3:30-5 PM , Wolver ine Far m , Ft Collins. Fr ee copies of the jour nal available to all.

M ary Scott, Heart Scars 6 M aryscottretreats@gmail.com (970) 449-3665 Remember and Honor

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News Brief 75 Year s of Ser v i ce Cur tis Cam er on w as r ecently honor ed at Am er ican Legion Geor ge Beach Post 4 for his 75th year of m em ber ship w ith the Legion. The Am er ican Legion itself is only 101 year s old, so he has exper ienced ž of its histor y. Cur t ser ved as a cr ew chief w ith the 9th Air For ce, w or king w ith glider s in W W II. At 96, he is still ver y active and still leads up the All Veter ans Honor Guar d. Thank you Cur tis for all your dedicated year s of ser ving our countr y and your fellow veter ans.

Vet er an Tu r n s 100 Local W W II veter an Stanley Sepulbeda of Ft. Collins w ill tur n 100 on M ay 7th. Because of the vir us outbr eak, ther e w ill be no celebr ation.

Instead, his gr anddaughter is asking people to send him a car d, as he loves getting car ds. You can send your car ds to Stanley via her. She w ill decontam inate them and give them to Stan. Her e is the addr ess to send them : Stanley Sepulbeda c/o Alicia Laney, 702 M t. Evans Ave. Sever ence, CO 80550. Let's fill Stan's r oom w ith car ds!!!!!

Ban d-Ai d Br i gade

Veter ans Com pass has star ted a new pr ogr am called ?Band-Aid Br igade?. The idea of the pr ogr am is to connect veter ans w ho have w ide-r anging needs (ie. w alk their dog, er r ands r an, r ides, sm all pr ojects, etc.) w ith people w ho w ould like to volunteer their tim e to help out. ?Sm all Acts of Kindness for Sm all Needs? is the m otto of the pr ogr am accor ding to Julia Senesac at Veter ans Com pass.If you ar e a veter an w ho needs a hand w ith som ething or if you w ould like to get involved to help out, please call Veter ans Com pass at 970-567-8807.

Tr eat m en t f or TBI s The Rocky M ountain Hyper bar ic Association for Br ain Injur ies? m ission is to im pr ove the quality of life for people suffer ing fr om br ain injur ies. Their ?Healing Our Her oes M ilitar y Pr ogr am ? pr ovides veter ans of Oper ation Endur ing Fr eedom and Oper ation Ir aqi Fr eedom w ith financial assistance for hyper bar ic oxygen ther apy (HBOT) and lodging for those w ho w ill be tr aveling to their Louisville, CO office for tr eatm ents. To lear n m or e, visit their w ebsite at: https://r ockym ountainhyper bar icassociation.or g or call: 303-442-4124.

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Lu ck y As Har old ?Scat? Scatter day, Jr. tells about his exper iences in W W II, all a per son can do is continuously shake their head in am azem ent and think about how incr edibly lucky he is to be sitting her e telling you his stor y.

As soon as it is deter m ined it isn?t anything thr eatening, Scat noticed his foxhole m ate sear ching ar ound on the floor of the foxhole. He had alr eady pulled the pin of the gr enade w as now looking for it to put back in.

Scat and four other school buddies headed off to the Ar my together to basic tr aining on the w est coast.Scat?s dad dr ove out to see them befor e they ship out over seas. He took them out to dinner and dur ing dinner conver sation asked Scat?s fr iend Louie Har d, ?So Louie, w hat ar e you going to do after the w ar , go to w or k for your dad?? W ithout hesitating, Louie looks him in the eyes and said, ?M r. Scatter day, I w on?t be com ing back .? Scat and Louie ship off together to Saipan as r eplacem ents. Ther e they ar e split up as Scat goes to the 77th Infantr y Division and Louie to the 96th. A shor t tim e later , Scat w r ote Louie a letter , but it cam e back . Louie had been killed in action.

How ever , m ost ever ything else that happened on Okinaw a w asn?t funny. One tim e w hen Scat w as sitting on the edge of his foxhole, a shell landed about a foot and half fr om his hip. For tunately it w as a dud. Another tim e he and thr ee other soldier s w er e pinned dow n w ith m achine gun fir e. He w as the only one to sur vive. Another night they w er e or der ed to m ake a m ajor push for w ar d. As they all star t r unning acr oss an open expanse, a soldier cr ossed r ight in fr ont of Scat and at that instant is hit by a bullet.

Now w ith the 307th Infantr y Regim ent, Co G of the 77th, Scat is par t of the Invasion of Okinaw a.

This is w her e in his stor y that your head star ts tr uly shaking w ith am azem ent. As his com pany is clim bing dow n the car go nets fr om the ship to the landing cr aft, a kam ikaze slam s into the other side of the ship, w iping out the entir e HQ Com pany of the 307th. The Allies ar e now on Japanese soil, so the Japanese ar e dug in and fighting even har der than ever. The battle is alm ost akin to a tr ench w ar far e setting fr om W W I. Scat is a bazooka m an and m oves ar ound w her ever he w as needed. But neither he nor anyone else m oves at night. Night tim e is ter r ifying as the Japanese ar e constantly tr ying to infiltr ate the Am er ican lines. Anything that m oves is shot at. ?You just hunker ed dow n in your foxhole and stayed still.? Scat r em em ber s the code w or d is ?w onder ful pickle? because the Japanese can?t pr onounce it. Tw o night-tim e exper iences stick out in his m ind, one eer ie and one that still m akes him laugh. He and his foxhole m ate w er e sitting in the pitch black w hen a flar e w as sent up to light up the ar ea. They looked up and ther e w as the silhouette of a Japanese soldier standing at the r im of their foxhole. He m ust have been just as star tled, as he tur ned ar ound and r an. The funny exper ience happened w hen Scat and a foxhole m ate w er e looking out and they thought they saw som ething m ove. His par tner asked if they should thr ow out a gr enade. Scat says not to do anything until they know for sur e.

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Of the 160 m en in his com pany, Scat w as one of only sixteen left able to w alk off the island. He had not a scr atch on him .

The ship sent to pick up the tr oops w as equipped to take car e of 160 m en, so on the tr ip back to the Philippines the sixteen sur vivor s lived w ell.

Com pany G w as br ought back to full str ength w ith r eplacem ents and then began tr aining for the planned invasion of the Japanese hom eland.

For tunately the atom ic bom bs w er e dr opped and the w ar ended befor e the invasion w as necessar y.

Scat and his com pany go on to Japan anyw ay as par t of the occupation for ces until he gained enough points to go hom e. One m em or y in Japan w as sleeping in sheets for the fir st tim e in tw o year s.

After the w ar , Scat r etur ned hom e, gets a degr ee in ar chitectur e and w ent into the lum ber yar d business w ith his dad. They build it into a successful business that Scat has since passed on to his childr en. Scat w ill tell you that he tr uly w as the luckiest w hen he m et and m ar r ied his lovely w ife Janice. His good for tune continued w ith the bir th of his tw o childr en, gr andson and tw o gr eat-gr andchildr en.

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M ar ch 1, 1970

By Kent ?Skeeter? Cowel I r em em ber it like it w as yester day, though som e thoughts ar en?t as clear anym or e. The night of Febr uar y 28th should have been like any other.

How ever , ther e w asn?t m uch sleeping because that day had been filled w ith tension. We w er e oper ating as a com pany, w hich w as unusual, because w e nor m ally planted in platoon str ength.

We w er e a com pany sear ching the jungle for a bunker com plex up ahead.

I w as 21and had been a buck ser geant, E-5, for eleven m onths.

I had taken the test for ser geant in-countr y. The Lieutenant had offer ed the position to a soldier , but he r efused, so I w as next. I had been advised not to hesitate but to answ er quickly and w ith author ity, even if I w as w r ong. I enter ed a tent w her e sever al officer s w er e asking all the questions. I r em em ber being asked how m any m en w er e in a r ifle platoon. I answ er ed quickly and w ith author ity, but incor r ectly! They m ust have needed people because they gave m e the str ipes anyw ay.

A ser geant usually begins as squad leader and I had 2ndSquad. It consisted of just Her b Klug and m e. Klug w as a likable guy. Once, he w anted m e to see a hot pink color ed tr ee fr og he had found.

The jungle w as per plexing to m e and I w anted to look at ever y leaf, but the m en behind m e w anted to m ove fast. Klug did a better job than m e at keepingthe pace.

Finally, w e spotted the bunker s. We fell back and w ould r etur n in the m or ning; w e?d hear d ar tiller y w as to hit that night. That sounded good to m e. I had acquir ed the conditioned r esponse of being w oken by the sim plest things. I think w e all w oke up that night, as w e hear d tw o r ounds. It w as quiet after that.

scaled it w hen the fir st shot r ang out. I dr opped back to the gr ound. About thr ee seconds later shooting w as ever yw her e. I askedJohn Napolitan, "W her e do you shoot w hen you don?t see them ?? I don?t r em em ber his answ er , but I r em em ber him getting splinter s in his lip fr om the bullets hitting a log in fr ont of him .

W ith my back to the r ocks, I r ealized I couldn?t see those that had been in fr ont of m e. W ith no officer , r adiom an, or m edic in sight, I passed w or d back that w e needed all thr ee up fr ont. Then I asked for som e M -16s to follow m e and although I w as afr aid I m ight go alone, I clim bed up anyw ay.

At the top, I saw M ike and another m an on the far side. I took a step tow ar ds him w hen I saw a flash r ight in fr ont of him .

He w as dow n. Tw o of us r an to gr ab his ar m s and star ted back .

He seem ed okay, except for lots of blood. Alm ost ther e, my steel pot fell off. I tur ned to r each it, fir ed into the bushes and then jum ped in slow m otion back to the safety of the boulder. W ith people w or king on him , M ike?s hum or w as still intact w hen he asked w ho told him being w ounded didn?t hur t.

Som e tim e had passed befor e som eone m entioned the hole in my leg. M y pant leg had w or ked its w ay up and the hole w as exposed. It w asn?t lar ge and it didn?t hur t, but the m edic told m e to leave on the next chopper. I w as elated, because having only 30 days left in Vietnam , I w as sur e this day w as my final one on ear th. I w asn?t feeling fear , but anger. In r etr ospect, I feel guilty for not staying longer.

In the m or ning, w hile gather ing our things, I r em em ber feeling like som ething w as differ ent.

Once again per haps because of the oper ation size.

I r em em ber hear ing the Capt. tell the Lt., ?I?m going to let you take the lead, go in any w ay you w ant.?

Befor e leaving, I saw Phil Solis and Her b Klug talking. M om ents later , they w er e gone and I hear d the intense sound of the M -79 gr enade launcher. I had car r ied that w eapon, so I knew Salois w as w or king har d. Am azed, I tur ned to som eone and said, ?That?s Salois out ther e!? Later , at the Saigon hospital, I told Lt. Hoover w hat Salois had done and asked that his actions be r ecognized. I w as unaw ar e that Her b had been w ith him .

We w alked about 30 m inutes w hen I sm elled them . I w as seventh fr om the fr ont and my fr iend M ike Kam r at w as dir ectly in fr ont of m e. I tapped M ike?s shoulder and pointed to my nose to indicate an odd sm ell. He nodded and w e kept m oving. A few m inutes m or e and w e cam e to a r ock outcr opping about shoulder high. M ike and I

Her b Klug w as killed that day, as w as my Lieutenant, Ter r y Bow ell. Half of my platoon w as w ounded. I?ve since m et Her b?s par ents, and Ter r y?s father. They ar e w onder ful people, but I have tr ouble talking w ith them , per haps fr om guilt or the em otion of that single event. How ever , my adm ir ation for Phil Salois w ill never w ane.

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Hear i n g St or i es Fi r st Han d I w as asked aw hile back how long I have been pr eser ving veter an?s stor ies. M y ver y fir st inter view w as W W II Navy veter an Dick Veasey on Decem ber 12, 2002. I r em em ber that inter view as clear as day. I pulled up in a Toyota m inivan and w hen he cam e to the door , the fir st thing he did w as star t up one side of m e and dow n the other for dr iving a Japanese car. He had ser ved in the Pacific. Since that tim e, I have r ecor ded som ew her e nor th of 500 inter view s. A w ide var iety of exper iences captur ed fr om ever y br anch and ever y m ajor conflict since W W II. The m ain objective has alw ays been to m ake sur e the veter ans and their fam ilies had their stor y dow n on per m anent r ecor d. A secondar y objective, w ith their per m ission, w as to donate a copy to their local libr ar y/m useum , CSU?s M or gan Libr ar y, The National W W II M useum in New Or leans, and the Libr ar y of Congr ess in DC. M or gan Libr ar y a couple of year s ago digitized the fir st half of the inter view s so the public could view them and is pr esently w or king on the second half. If you w ould like to hear som e incr edible stor ies fir sthand, go to their w ebsite: https://m ountainscholar.or g/handle/10217/184486. Once ther e, you can plug in a veter an?s nam e, a par ticular conflict, battle, ship, unit, etc. and choose your video.

Rober t Ler oy Tayl or Jr .

August 1, 1981 - February 17, 2020

Rob w as r aised in Hudson, Flor ida and ear ned his Bachelor 's degr ee in Econom ics fr om Allegheny College w her e he played football for the Allegheny Gator s. He w or ked in the finance industr y befor e joining the Ar my and finding his passion as a soldier and leader. He ser ved tw o tour s, one in Afghanistan, one in Kuw ait, and w as honor ably dischar ged under m edical r etir em ent after seven year s of ser vice.

Rob w ould tell you that ser ving in the Ar my w as his passion and his pur pose in this life. After leaving the Ar my he w ent on to ear n his M aster ?s degr ee in Business and Adm inistr ation fr om Color ado State Univer sity in For t Collins, Color ado w her e he lived w ith his w ife and 3 childr en. He r etur ned to w or k in the finance industr y w her e he w or ked as a Pr em ier Banker. He also volunteer ed his tim e and know ledge w ith the or ganization Vets4Life w her e he ser ved as their tr easur er and w as a cor e m em ber of their boar d of dir ector s, all in an effor t to help his fellow veter ans.

His other passions w er e being an am azing Dad to his 3 young childr en, college football, NASCAR r acing, and being outside anyw her e in Color ado. He spent his tim e fly fishing the beautiful Color ado r iver s, skiing, hunting, and cam ping w henever he could.

He is pr edeceased by his father , Rober t L Taylor , Sr. and leaves behind his w ife, Liza Taylor ; son, Rober t Taylor III; daughter s, Calla and Vir ginia Taylor ; m other , Evelyn Taylor ; sister , Lisa Taylor Beck; br other in-law , Jeffr ey Beck; 6 nephew s and 3 nieces, all of w hom he loved fier cely.

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Home visit to 96 yea r old W W I I veter a n Kent Reitz

Feb. 15th cer emony (l to r ) Rober t "Gunny" Va nVynck, Pete Gomez, Gr eg Goettsch, M ike Smith, Steve M ulvihill, Anne Hoffma n posthumously a ccepting for late husba nd Neil Hoffma n, Gil Ga r cia , a nd Cha r lie Russell

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On the Lighter Side

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Veteran Owned Businesses AUTOM OTIVE Christian Bros. Automotive 6601 29th St., Greeley, CO (970) 795-2277 CBAC.com/Greeley BREWERY Sparge Brewing 3999 GW Bush Ave, Unit 101 Wellington, CO 80549 www.spargebrew.com Instagram.com/SpargeBrew COLLECTIBLE ART Designs by Ricker 6730 N. Franklin Ave. Loveland, CO (970) 593-6950 Norm Oliphant (94 year old WWII veteran) Facebook.com/Norman.Oliphant.3 CUSTOM CNC WOODWORKING Attention to Detail CNC Router Design (2D, 3D & Laser) (970) 691-4979 JFolse@hotmail.com EXCAVATING Barry Barnett (970) 443-1912 FLOORING Northern Colorado Carpets 5837 S. College Ave. Fort Collins, CO (970) 226-6800 NorthernColoradoCarpets.com FOOD & BEVERAGE Snack Attack 120 W. Stuart Fort Collins, CO 970 -825-5989 SnackAttackit.com Blocky?s 285 E 29thSt. Loveland, CO 80538 970-292-8353 HOM E CONSTRUCTION Lance Jones Remodel * Maintenance * Repairs 970-852-4433 Lance@LanceMJones.com

Tradesmen Remodeling, LLC (970) 631-1607 TradesmenRemodeling@gmail.com TradesmenRemodeling.com HOUSE STAGING & DESIGN KK Staging and Redesign, Inc. (303) 378-0914 Karla@kkstaging.com KKStaging.com HVAC American Air Heating and AC Inc. 561 E Garden Dr Unit F Windsor, CO (970) 686-6086 - (970) 686-6087 AmericanAirHeatingCo.com LAWYER Casey Alexander 640 E. Eisenhower Blvd., #200 Loveland, CO Phone: (970) 355-3499 Casey_Alexander@hotmail.com NOCOVeteransLaw.com M OTORCYCLES American Fender Art 6730 N. Franklin Ave Loveland, CO (907) 593-6950 AmericanFenderArt.net OUTDOOR EQUIPM ENT REPAIR KD Repair 1261 S. Cleveland Ave. Loveland 970-203-5043 KensRepair@myscritch.com PROM OTIONAL PRODUCTS Colorado Promotional Supply 970-663-9498 Sandie@copromosupply.com www.CoPromoSupply.com REALTOR Bob Sprague - Broker Love Northern Colorado Real Estate 970-372-8520 Bob@LovenNOCORealEstate.com LoveNOCORealEstate.com

James Hagerman (970) 999-2816 JHagerman@C3-RE.com ROOFING Jim Spielman Roofing Professional Roof repair 35+ years experience 970-222-5019 SENIOR RESOURCES Senior Living Advisors of Colorado Danita Nixon (970) 541-4592 Danita@SLAColo.com SLAColo.com Charlotte Lutz Owner / Senior Living Advisor Northern Colorado Senior Placement Services, LLC (970) 391-0387 NOCOSeniorPlacementServices.com TRANSLATION SERVICES Yvonne Paez Paez Translation & Lang. Services (970) 204-0212 PaezTranslations.com TRASH BIN CLEANING Residential & Commercial Services Bins Bee Clean/ Blue Wave Power Wash Rob Godek (970) 775-3393 BinsBeeClean.com TRAVEL Humpday Cruises, Inc. (303) 518-0855 HumpdayCruise.com YOGA Grace Yoga Nicole Murphy LoveGraceYoga.com (970) 646-2022

Ed Hansen Broker Associate Keller Williams Realty No Co 970-632-4395 Ed.Hansen@kw.com

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We will be hosting the Traveling VIETNAM _M EM ORIAL_WALL M ay 21-25t h Remember and Honor

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