Photo In Uniform |
Service Details |
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Current Service Status
USA Veteran
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Current/Last Rank
Sergeant
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Current/Last Service Branch
Signal Corps
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Current/Last Primary MOS
31M20-Radio Relay & Carrier Attendant
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Current/Last MOS Group
Signal
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Primary Unit
1969-1970, 31M20, B Company, 304th Signal Battalion
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Previously Held MOS
31M20-Multichannel Communications Equipment Operator
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Service Years
1968 - 1970
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Voice Edition
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What are you doing now:
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Other Comments:
Being the old guy now it's possible to look back over my life and see what was important and what wasn't. Forty years ago I had no plans to join the military. I was drafted. Plain and simple I got my notice to report and I did. I did have other plans. I was getting married. I had a good job. I had my life in front of me yet it made a sharp detour for several years.
Vietnam was going on hot and heavy. Tet had just happened shortly before I was in basic training. During the night guys were heading out the back door of the barracks and a few hours later they were in Canada. I did what I knew was right. I am not the warrior type, but stuck it out. Looking back, it was the best things I could have ever done. Sticking in there when things are tough is a rock you can build the rest of your life upon. Though most of my hard training was for Vietnam, the orders never came; I was sent to Korea instead.
The Army had polished off those youthful rough edges and when my service was over I had a different perspective on life. When I came home most of my friends were still there, but a few were gone. Some went to Vietnam and never came home. Now I honor their memory. With the passing of years I understand completely the expression one often hears: "Freedom is not Free"
Today I have the deepest respect for those that choose to serve their country in the armed forces. God bless this great country of ours and especially those who protect it!
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Reflections on SGT Dunn's
US Army Service
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PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE ARMY.
The influence that got me into the Army was a draft notice from my friends and neighbors. It politely suggested that I show up for a free all-expense trip on a luxurious Greyhound Bus to the induction center in Butte, Montana. Once in the center I was probed, poked, questioned, and relieved of several body fluids at which point they said put your feet on the yellow marks on the floor and repeat what the sergeant standing in front of us said. I raised my right hand, stepped forward off the yellow marks, and said to the best of my memory something about defending our country and other stuff. At that point, I was a piece of the bigger picture with the number US56638904. This young kid of 21 was in the fog and was about to begin the adventure of his life. I didn't know where the adventure would take me but am glad God watches out for those that aren't too bright. I would get smarter with "Army Smarts" in the weeks to follow. I make lite of it now, but being drafted was a shock to me. I had nobody in the family that had been in the military for several generations. I had a great uncle that served in the First World War but died from the flu a few weeks after hostilities ended. The only knowledge I had which kept me sane the first few weeks of basic was from a guy that I worked with. I would ask him question after question about what to expect and he was honest and explained in detail what was going to happen. He wasn't wrong and I later appreciated what he had told me to watch out for.
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WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BASIC TRAINING AND WHAT UNITS, BASES OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I got my draft notice in late November 1967. I got married in December and was on a bus to the induction center at the end of February 1968. Basic was at Fort Lewis, Washington. Following basic, it was to Fort Gordon, Georgia for Signal School. Then back to Fort Lewis and the 232nd Signal Company. The company got orders for Vietnam and at the last moment, the company was deactivated. I hung around Fort Lewis picking up butts and painting rocks until I received new orders in the early summer of 1968 for Co B 304th Signal, Camp Coiner in beautiful downtown Seoul Korea. The following February of 1970 my freedom bird brought me home again to Fort Lewis where I got on another plane to Billings, Montana where I've lived ever since.
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IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?
I guess you can call it a combat operation, but Korea at the time I was there, 1969-'70 was not all that quiet. People were getting killed all the time. The North Koreans were continually sending down suicide squads that loved to shoot the place up and kill people. We were on alert most of the time and ready to pack up and move at a moment's notice. Our standing orders were to pack up our communications gear and head south as quickly as possible. Seoul is only 15 miles from the DMZ.
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FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
One has to remember back in the Vietnam era guys like me were drafted into service by the thousands. We went and we served. Then when our tour was about up there was nothing more exciting than becoming "short". Man, I was going home and I had the "short chain" to prove it. Short chains were made of old-fashioned plumbers' chain that attached a drain plug to the bathtub. Each round bead on that chain represented a day before it was time to go home. With each day there was a little ceremony of clipping off a single bead. One would come up to a buddy and ask, "How short are you?". Reaching in your pockets, out would come the short chains and the measuring began. The memory that stands out the most and that I revisit many times in my thoughts is the thrill of knowing that my freedom bird was on its way and I was going home. Nothing seems to top that feeling.
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OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
A few days before I was getting out of the army, in a company formation in Korea I was called out "front and center". There I was presented with a Good Conduct medal. I can't remember what the CO said, but it was a nice honor to receive. I don't know why I was singled out other than I didn't screw up too badly and did what I was told.
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WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
Drill Instructor Sgt. Glen Tominaga One cool dude! Most basic training platoons had two DIs. We had one. The company was short a man so one of our DIs took his place leaving us with Sgt. Tominaga. He was a Japanese American with dual citizenship. He could have gone back to Japan after his college education, but he stayed and served our country and did a tour in Vietnam. Since he was in charge of the whole platoon by himself he had his hands full. On the very first day of training, he sat us down and told us EVERYTHING that was going to happen to us and WHY. It was a brilliant move on his behalf because before all hell broke loose, we already knew what was going to happen. We learned the most important lesson the very first day; do exactly what you are told. Doing what you are told shows respect for authority and when you show respect you receive respect. It's one of those life lessons you can live comfortably with for the rest of your life. Sgt. Glen Tominaga, you be a hero!
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CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
I had just arrived in the company as a newbie and didn't know what was going on. I quickly learned that the company had been out in the field playing war games for over a month and because the exercise went well, the CO was rewarding the company with free beer. He filled up a small trailer with ice and beer and let the party begin in the ball field. NOT a good idea. The company was the keeper of two junkyard-type dogs named Rudy and Chingu. Chingu liked beer. Chingu was a big-time boozer. He went from soldier to soldier begging for a little taste. Soon there was a company full of drunk soldiers and one really drunk dog named Chingu. The Korean house boys were also invited to the free beer party. These house boys were squatted down Korean style in a group when Chingu swaggered by and asked in his dog way for a little taste of beer. The house boys tried to push the dog away. Chingu, who could barely walk on his own four legs came back and did what I had never seen before. He lifted a leg and peed on the back of one of the squatting house boys. Humorous? You bet it was, but when you're in the Army, and had too much free beer everything is funny!
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WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
I was employed at the local television station when I received my draft notice. At that time 1968-70 if a person was drafted while being employed he was guaranteed his job back when he got out of the service. Two years later I came home and went right back to work in broadcasting. When I retired I had 45 years of television commercial work. Basically, I made commercials. Today I'm retired and use one of my professionally learned talents of restoring old photographs. I donate my time restoring photos of our fallen Vietnam heroes for many of the Memorial sites on the internet.
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
My military service impacted my life greatly. Being newly married and then drafted put a strain on my life. After basic my wife followed me around the country. It was tough going being in the Army and trying to set up temporary homes here and there outside military posts. One learns to toughen up and deal with it. Good lessons were learned.
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BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE ARMY?
My advice to any service member is simple. If you are in charge respect the men and women you give orders to. If you are the one receiving the orders, respect the one who is giving them. One other piece of advice that my father gave me that works well in the military, he would say, "Son, keep your nose clean (which means keep out of trouble) and do what you're told."
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
It's been over 50 years since I last stood in a formation. Some of those memories of that time are fading, but now TWS has given me a place to hang my hat and be comfortable with the thought I'm surrounded by fellow service members that understand. They know because they've been there and done that too! KC 3.28.23
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