By Mandy Bourgeois | Published Sunday, November 8, 2009
The term "veteran" applies to 5,909 people in Wise County. Their ages range from the 20s to the 90s. Their experiences vary - some fought in the jungles, others the desert, while others spent their time on a destroyer on the sea. Their wounds are physical, mental and emotional, but each has healed differently.
They came to military service for different reasons. Some were called by the government, while others volunteered.
Regardless of their differences, these veterans share a bond that comes with volunteering time, and potentially life, for their country.
Following are the collective stories of several Wise County veterans, a wife and a widow.
Through their voices, we see not only the similarities and differences, but also the spirit that forever joins military men and women and their families.
The call
Manshadow Waylett, 72, of Decatur, staff sergeant in the United States Army during the Cold War from 1955 through 1964 - From the time you raise your hat, you never know what's going to happen.
Richard Wayne Hartley, 63, of Decatur, medic in the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1965 to 1967 - One misconception is that we're war mongrels, that we want to fight. Sometimes the bad guy is there and you have to act.
Bob Johnson, 74, of Alvord, United States Marine Corps from 1955 through 1983, earning the rank of colonel and serving through the Cold War and Vietnam - Everyone has their own unique experiences, but the one thing that we all have together is the fellowship that is developed in the military. From day one, you start to bond with the people. It's a bonding that you get in the military that's difficult to explain.
Jose Gonzalez, 31, of Decatur, sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving from 2002 to 2006 and deployed to Iraq - I was 24 when I joined. I was a little old compared to everybody else. I always wanted (to join) since high school, just when I got out, it wasn't time. I waited and worked for POCO for five years, and still had that itch. My wife supported me, so I joined.
Dee Schauer, 59, of Boyd, served the Texas Air National Guard from 1970 to 1992, earning the rank of staff sergeant, deployed during Desert Shield/Desert Storm - At age 19, I had to make the decision, could I put myself in the position to kill or be killed for my country, I decided that I could do that.
B.J. Shepherd, 84, of Bridgeport, served in the Navy from 1943 through 1946 during World War II - Me and my brother were working part time in Young County, and we just heard (that Pearl Harbor was bombed) on the radio, just like everybody else. I thought, "Where is Pearl Harbor?" I know I heard one remark from one old timer at the feed store about (the Japanese). They didn't have no army. They didn't have no equipment and the United States could whip them in 90 days. But it took four years. And without that atomic bomb, we might not have whipped them then.
Walt Warner, 74, of Runaway Bay, U.S. Coast Guard from 1952 through 1955, serving during Korea and the Cold War, earning the rank of third class petty officer - A lot of us were getting letters at those times. I joined the U.S. Coast Guard. Recruiters are prone to lie. They told me I was going to stay on the West Coast. I didn't.
Foster B. Hamblin, 85, of Runaway Bay, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to 1945, deployed during World War II and Korea - Pearl Harbor was bombed, and we thought, "Where the hell is Pearl Harbor?" We all decided to go to the Marines. We were all set to go when they found out I was 16. I joined on my own when I was 17.
Johnnie J. Couch, 31, of Briar, served in the Marine Corps from 1998 to 2002 and the Army from 2003 to 2004, deployed to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom - I was living in Palestine, which is a small town, and the only thing people do there is work at Walmart, work at the prison or live at the prison, and I didn't want to do either of them.
Robert W. Greer, 65, of Paradise, Air Force from 1962 to 1982, serving during Vietnam - I joined the Air Force when I was 17. It was something to do. The job I had I didn't like, which was being a carpenter. I had a wife and I was going to school. I decided I would quit school and join the military. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
The life
Shepherd - I had seen a few movies, and I thought it was going to be a lot more fun than it was. I didn't think I was going to get over quite as quick as I did. You just grow up real fast.
Hartley - I tell everybody I was 19 going on 15 when I got drafted. And two years later I came back from Vietnam 21 going on 35.
Couch - I expected more of what you see on TV - fighting around walls and stuff like that, and hot and sand. I got two out of three right. Basically, we got up in the morning and ate breakfast, and we went to the shop. Being a mechanic, we focused on the trucks. Every now and them, we had different missions, humanitarian stuff. We had a daily ice run that we did - we went to a place in town that we'd buy ice at. That got a little hectic now and then. It was pretty basic. It wasn't much different from being here in the states, other than the gear.
Hamblin - We were in the boondocks, in the swamps.
Shepherd - I was so big that they gave me two guns - one to shoot and one to take care of. I wasn't smart enough to pass that third class petty officer test, but I was smart enough to take care of that gun. I was probably the only seaman in the Pacific to have a 5-inch .38 that I had to take care of.
Hartley - For us guys on the ground, those pilots would come in and the enemy would be here, and you would be here and they would start to roll and come right over you. They'd turn those bombs loose, and you'd hear them whistling. They'd whistle right over the top of you and toward the enemy. Those guys right there got us out of a lot of problems. They'd come and wave their wings at me, and I didn't care as long as they came by.
Schauer - Patriot missiles are wonderful things, they can shoot (scud missiles) out of the sky. Here, you think it's going to happen miles and miles away from you - it doesn't. It happens right there, right over your head. And it gives you a little bit of a weird feeling when it happens like that.
Greer - I was with the 30th air rescue recovery squadron. I had dual occupation - I was also a firefighter. They came out and said we have a new thing we're going to do. We're going to put certain firefighters on helicopters. If a pilot bails, you're going to go get him. If a plane comes in and it crashes, you're going to be the first ones in. I volunteered for it. If it was near the bases or close by, we went and picked up the pilots. If the pilots crashed and couldn't get out, we were the first ones there.
Gonzalez - I was a combat engineer, so every time we found weapons, I was the one called in to blow it up. We'd come in and do a lot of minesweeping. We did lots of structure building, lots of sandbagging, some bunkers. We were attached to a company out of California, so we had to support a whole company, which is hard to do. Anytime there were missions, we went out. We were busy constantly. Sometimes we were gone for 16 hours, then we came back and got to rest for a little while.
Greer -They had a plane shot down and needed a qualified technician to go and they asked me to go. We got to the plane and both pilots were dead. We got off the helicopter in a rice paddy and they told us to go and retrieve the pilots. We came to find out that one of the pilots, his dad was one of the generals in the Air Force - one of the four star generals in the Air Force. He came in about a week, two weeks later and wanted to meet the people that picked up his son. He wanted to know what we did and what had happened and everything. The only thing we could tell him is that his son was dead. We had to retrieve his body.
Shepherd - During Okinawa, we just wondered when it was going to be our turn, when we were going to get hit. You tried not to think about it. We were so busy all the time, we kept half those guns shooting all the time. During the raids, we'd have to man the battle stations. I guess I'm a lucky one that didn't worry about it too much. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to worry about it, I just felt real lucky.
Johnson - It's not pleasant because you're picking up something that's hardly recognizable that a night or two before you were having a nice drink with and joking with.
Greer - The motto we had is "That others may live." We didn't worry about us, but that others may live. We went in to rescue people. I've seen a lot of people die trying to rescue other people. The motto we had is "That others may live." We didn't worry about us, but that others may live. We went in to rescue people. I've seen a lot of people die trying to rescue other people. I saved a lot of people's lives, and a lot I didn't. But I retrieved them. I never went into a situation where I didn't bring a body back, or a person back.
Gonzalez - You always had to be looking out for something. Always. If you don't, you're going to get hurt or someone around you is going to get hurt. You just constantly have to be looking out for something. We never laid around or joked around, we just stayed alert. Everybody I went with came back, so that was great.
The family
Shepherd - It's a lot rougher on married people. I was glad I wasn't married.
Gonzalez - (My wife) was scared and nervous. I believe we both were. We had a daughter, so that was one good thing that helped her through it when I was gone. When I was deployed, she came back here to live. We both have family here, so she wasn't by herself.
Peggy Greer, wife of Robert Greer - When he first left on his first tour, we had two small children. The youngest one was 5 months old and our son was 2. I commend what our country is doing today for the people who are fighting, but I stand there in front of the TV and it makes me want to cry because the spouses and families back then didn't get the support that they needed. ... I lived in Garland, I had a lot of support from the city that I lived in. I got cards and clippings thanking me for letting him fight for their life and their country. The families today have the support of all the American people. We did not. We didn't have communication back then, like they have today. They have the Internet, where they can get on the Web where they can show pictures of each other. We didn't have that ability. He was allowed to make maybe one call once when he was gone. Not knowing from day to day when you get home if somebody's going to knock on your door or if you're going to get a letter, or your child standing there and every time a plane flies over, him saying, 'there goes my daddy.' It's really difficult.
Rosalie Mann Gregg, 89, widow of Lost Battalion member Robert Nolen Gregg Jr., a sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II - Our families could not hear from these guys (members of the Lost Battalion) and assumed they had died. When they came home, a lot of their wives had remarried and had children. There was a time of no communication and people would tell Mrs. Gregg, "Oh, R.N.'s dead, he's not coming home." And she would say, "Oh yes he is, or I would know." Because when he was in Brownwood, something would happen and he would tell her he's not coming home. Something would happen when he could (come home), and she'd be waiting on the square with his car. She knew he was coming home. So she worried, but she knew that he was coming home.
Schauer - Being called up (with her husband) was interesting - we had only been married four months. We get to go to war, what a honeymoon! He lived with his crew in a tent that was two rows down and four rows over from me, and I lived in the women's tent. I did get to go fly with him on a few occasions. We'd go eat; we both enjoyed eating Arab food. Shopping downtown was fun. We had some good times over there.
The return
Shepherd - I was one happy sailor (when they were returning to the United States). When we got to Saipan, I had a brother who was in Saipan. I went down to the executive officer to see if I could get a leave to see my brother. He said, "Shepherd, you can have leave, but we're leaving in an hour. Do you want to go see your brother, or do you want to go to the states?" I said, "I believe I'll go to the states." When we pulled into Frisco Bay and they had that band playing, it sounded pretty good.
Couch - When we got back to the states, we had a layover in Maine, and they told us that everyone had to get off the plane to go through customs. We were mad because we'd already been through customs. When we stepped out there were probably 200 people lined up to give us hugs and offer us their cell phones to call family. It was really touching. It was great. I called my mom - that was the first person I called. I got to talk to her two times while we were over there, but it was hard to have a conversation. It was great to be able to just talk and let her know that I was back on American soil.
Gonzalez - I could not wait. Being gone for so long and seeing her and seeing my daughter, it was awesome to see them. At first, my daughter thought, OK, who are you? It was good being home.
Peggy - Nobody met you. Although he will have to say that my family, his family, came to the airport. But nobody in the city cared.
The impact
Shepherd - Of all the wars we've been in, I think the Vietnam veterans got less recognition.
Couch - I've talked to a lot of people who've been to Vietnam and listened to what they've had to say about not getting support. We've had a lot of support. I love the support. People shake my hand and the day we got back was wonderful.
Johnson - For the most part, the folks (in Vietnam) were good soldiers and did their job - the guys we have out there today, they're doing their job. I'm very confident in the service people we have today - they're doing a superb job. And they're getting a chance to have that bond.
Shepherd - No joking, I honestly believe that anybody that serves in the service comes out, the majority, with a better attitude about how lucky we are to live in the United States. I do more bitching and raising Cain about taxes than anybody, but we have the right to do that. In those other countries you can't do that.
Couch - (The media) never focuses on the good stuff that is going on over there, like when we were cooking hot dogs and throwing horseshoes on the Fourth of July. They need to put people's minds at ease and let them know that it's not horrible all the time.
Greer - I just recently talked to a young man, and he wants to go to the military. It upset his mother and upset his father. They're afraid he's going to get killed. I said, "You can get killed walking across the street." He wants to do the same thing I did. His mother said I'm going to take him to the VA hospital and let him see all the people who are maimed, and I said, "You can get maimed driving in a car."
War is not any different than anything else as long as you know what you're doing. I came awfully close to getting killed three times, but I didn't. Other people around me did. I've told him that there's going to be times when he's going to have to pick up a weapon, there's going to be times that you're going to possibly have to kill somebody. I told him, if you can't do that, then you shouldn't do this job.
Gonzalez - I don't believe I have any regrets. I fulfilled what I wanted to do. I wish I had done it sooner, but I don't have any regrets.
Schauer - I'm also in touch with my sixth grade teacher. He was a POW in Germany during World War II. And I am just stunned that I share the title of veteran with this man, absolutely stunned. I know there is a limited time with this man, and there's a limited time with the men in my guard unit. We're losing these men every day. That's why doing the funeral duty is very important to me.
Shepherd - It was one good experience is all I've got to say.
