Kent and the Military

After serving two years as a missionary for my church, I enrolled in college at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. Before I had finished two quarters as a student, I was drafted into the military twice. The second time, I decided not to resist and became a soldier.

I went to Denver with a friend, Kelly McGinnis to take the induction physical. Kelly came home from Denver, but I did not. It was a long time ago, but I believe that Kelly came home with my recently purchased AMC Green hornet.

I was off to Fort Lewis Washington where I would take basic training. It was in Fort Lewis that I learned about rank and how important it was to salute an officer. The 200 push ups I was supposed to do were a good reminder when I was tempted to forget.

The years of growing up with a family of hunters helped me to be somewhat prepared for the shooting range where we qualified with our weapons These two pieces of "brass" were for qualifying on the rifle range. I did OK with the rifle, but the grenade range was a different story. I gave an instructor quite a scare when my grenade landed short and we had to dive to the bottom of the bunker before it exploded.

After basic training, I was sent to Southeastern Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia. It was there that I earned the Signal Corps insignia. I was learning to be a land-line teletype operator. That's a piece of equipment that I don't think is used at all any more. Three fellows I shared my room with also were learning to operate the teletype, but in a radio teletype setup or a RAT rig. When we went to Vietnam, they were working remotely while I was assigned to work in Long Binh in USARV headquarters.

While in Vietnam I earned the rank of Specialist fourth class, or spec 4. I enjoyed my assignment in Vietnam. I was assigned to the communications center, and I drove a 2 1/2 ton truck back and forth from the communication center to the living quarters. I was in Vietnam just short of one year.

This chain at the right is a picture of dog tags (although not my dog tags. The little square thing is a p38. It was a folding can opener. I got rid of mine when it came open in my pocket.

After coming home from Vietnam, I did the work of a sergeant. I wore the stripes, but was never never given the pay grade. I would have been known as a "Jack Sergeant".

The image to the right is a set of dog tags. We wore them around our necks at all times. The small rectangular shape is a P38. It's a can opener that is used for opening up cans of rations. I carried mine in my front pocket for a while, but it opened up on me and I decided that wasn't a very good practice.

I lived in the billets in what was then called the Banana Belt at Fort Carson. I have never understood why it was called that.

The ribbons to the right and to the left are ribbons that I earned while I was in the army. The one at the left is the department of defence ribbon and is given to all members of the armed forces. The one to the right is the Vietnam campaign ribbon and is awarded to all service personnel who served in Vietnam.

The ribbon to the left is an army commendation medal. I was awarded this ribbon for "meritorious service". I never wore ribbons in this format, but put together, this is what they would look like. This group of ribbons was worn above the breast pocket of the dress uniform.

The uniforms that you see on soldiers these days are very different than the ones you see here. There are jungle fatigues. Mine were starched so stiff that I could hardly bend over in them. The ones used today are for a desert environment and are a lighter color.

These would go with jungle boots. I couldn't find an image of the type of jungle boots I wore. They were similar to the ones seen on soldiers today, but they were solid black.

These are two patches that you would find on my uniform. The one on the left was the insignia of the 124th signal battalion and the one on the right was for the fourth infantry division. I was in these units when I was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.

The picture on the left was taken on Christmas day in Vietnam. We all went to an orphanage and we visited with the children there. That day was a big dissapointment to me. I had hoped to take Christmas presents to some needy children. Instead, we watch some officer's children entertain their parents.

The picture to the right was taken in 1974. You can see some of the patches and insignia on this uniform. The uniform to the left are our jungle fatigues. The one on the right was my winter greens. I was proud to be a member of the armed services and am grateful for those men who are willing to serve our country today.