Right before this trip happened, the Russians shot down a passenger jet killing all on board. This put a little political spin on this exercise at the start, but at the end it ended up being routine and uneventful. We were told our visit was the largest deployment of U.S. troops to Japan since World War 2.

James Dad was deployed as a part of a 900 man brigade controlled Battalion task force from 9th Infantry Division to participate in a bi-lateral exercise with the Japanese ground self defense forces & United States forces from 2-21 October, 1983.

James Dad went to Alaska for cold weather training, leaving from the high tech test bed at Ft Lewis, Dad remembers flames shooting out of the engine when landing and how the nose hairs froze instantly upon stepping off the plane.

There is a little chronological order to these pics, the first two are from graduation at Ft Devens Massachusetts, after a flight to Detroit the next 3 pics are being sent off from Metro to St Louis, where the Spirit of St Louis and big polar bear reside at their airport. The next flight was to LA then onto Japan. A hop skip and jump later it was Second Division Korea for the next year (and next 70 pictures). Most of the time Chuck worked at second division but did earn a trip to Che Ju Do Island, a beautiful paradise off the southern tip of the Korean penninsula. While there he was trained in repelling down cliffs which was a whole lot of fun.

Also toward the end of the photo gallery are pictures of James Dad returning home after a one year tour of Korea (and two promotions later).

Charles served at Second Division which was located about 10-15 miles from the DMZ zone and would make frequent courier runs to the DMZ usually on Sundays. During the week Charles worked at the SCIF (Secured Compartmental Information Facility)

Continue reading “James Dad Goes To Korea 1981” →

After the Iranian hostage crisis, James’ Dad left college and joined the military to help out. He went to Military Intelligence School at Ft Devens in Massachusetts and remembers walking to a cool music store that was located in Ayer, a small town outside of the base.

Dad got to see much of New England’s history while stationed here including the USS Constitution and Plymouth Rock. One of his favorite times was camping at Cape Cod which seems odd since when you are in the military you are camping out all the time (its called bivouac or being out in the field).

Charles graduated ahead of his designated time which was a real accomplishment in those days since you had to learn Morse Code or “hacking dits” as they called it at Fort Devens.

Continue reading “James Dad Graduates Military Intelligence School 1981” →

James Dad was in College (Henry Ford Community College, aka Hank High) when President Carter ordered a rescue mission to save the 52 Americans being held hostage at the American Embassy in Iran. The rescue mission was a disaster and failed miserably when a helicopter crashed and killed 8 Americans. United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned his position following the failed rescue attempt.

The next day James dad signed up for service in the United States Army. He wanted to leave after the softball season which ended in late August. Early September a car pulled up and took him to the Detroit center which took him to Metro Airport where a flight took him to New Jersey and a bus took him to Fort Dix for basic training.

After basic training another bus took James Dad to Fort Devens Massachusetts for AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Army Intelligence School.

Here’s pictures of Mark who was a second lieutenant during the Vietnam War.

Mark was injured when a grenade blew up near him and he loss the use of one of his eyes and had scrapnel throughout his body as a result. Mark never talked much about the war, he told me he did not want to see the movie “Good Morning Vietnam” because it brought back bad memories.

When Mark passed away his friends attempted to get his name added to the Vietnam memorial since he died so suddenly. The doctors had told him with all the shrapnel in his body it could happen anytime and it finally did, about 30 years after the injury.

Mark also served a tour overseas in Germany. His wife Kathy was with them and while in Germany had their son Ron. When Mark was sent to Vietnam Kathy and Ron came home and stayed with his mother.

Continue reading “Mark Dunberger Begins Military Service 1968” →

Kenny Selvia (future husband of Criss) joined the military in 1963 until 1969. He was in the Riverine task force patrolling the Mekong Delta.

The Mobile Riverine Force combined the 2d Brigade of Army’s 9th Infantry Division with the Navy’s Riverine Assault Force (Task Force 117) to conduct combat operations along the waterways of the Mekong Delta. A large percentage of the Mekong Delta was under water depending on the season which is why both Army and Navy forces were needed. How much of the Mekong Delta is under water is dependent on the season and rainfall at any particular time.

The Mekong Delta also proved to the U.S. army that their small boat force was still needed as the U.S. military since World War 2 had phased out the smaller ships in favor of larger ones. The Mekong Delta Mobile Riverine Force concept paired newly created assault boat units with a brigade of Army infantry.

Continue reading “Ken Selvia Serves Military 1963 – 1969” →

After his wedding to Loretta, Charles was sent to the Pacific to fight world war 2. He spent a year at Christmas Island and a year in Hawaii. While these pictures are all black and white, you can still see the beauty of both islands and the interaction the soldiers had with the islanders. He was on a boat heading to what he believed was Japan when it was announced that the war was over and the boat was turning around. Within a week or two he was in Chicago getting discharged from nearly 5 years of service during World War 2, a war that cost him his younger brother Raymond and made his family a gold star family.

Charles Thomas Kleiber was very proud of his service, he kept his honorable discharge on his desk along with Raymonds Purple Heart.

Continue reading “Charles Thomas Sent To Pacific War 1942” →