Class of 1962  ~  Served in the Military    

 Pictures are thumbnails...click picture to make larger

 

   Peter J. Arnolt   This article was written by Pete’s family (father and sisters).  We thank Pete’s family for submitting the article and including the picture of Pete.  There is a bronze plaque in the Rose Garden in Cahoon Park with Pete’s name engraved along with others from Bay Village that died for our country in the Korean War, and Vietnam War.

      Pete always had an interest in flying.  While at Cornell University, he took private lessons.  During his four years of college, he was part of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program.  When he graduated in 1966, he   was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army.  A few weeks later he was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma  where he made the decision to become a helicopter pilot.  His advanced flight training began at Fort Walters in  Texas and continued in Alabama at the U.S. Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker.  There, on June 19, 1967,  while flying with his instructor “under the hood”, which is instrument flight training, Pete was killed in a mid-air crash.  It was a tragic end to the life of a wonderful young man and brave soldier who had always brought great joy to his family and friends.                                                                        

  

David Batley           

David was drafted shortly after marrying Heather Hall in 1966--fresh from college at Ohio University, and new to his first post-college job in Cleveland. The Army was initially not at all what he wanted or intended to do with his life, but the Vietnam period changed many lives. David went to basic training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, followed by Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. McClellan, Alabama, then into an Infantry company, where he decided he needed to convince the Army he should be something like a clerk-typist, not a foot soldier. The Army had other plans, however, and after he applied  to go to Officer Candidate School to escape the drudges of enlisted life, he was shocked to learn he had been selected to go back to Ft. Benning to attend Infantry  OCS, and become a combat platoon leader--not at all what he had in mind!
     After six months of hell at the Infantry school, he was commissioned a second lieutenant, and immediately applied for a branch transfer to Military  Intelligence. He was selected, and he and Heather moved to Baltimore, where he went through several intelligence courses at Ft. Holabird, the location  of the Army Intelligence Center and School. The final course was the six-month Counterintelligence Special Agent course, a combination of CIA, Secret  Service, and FBI training. Towards the end of the course, David received orders that his first assignment would be with a Special Forces intelligence detachment at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. However, as the course ended, emergency deployment orders were issued for the entire class of 30 agents, including David. All would be sent to a "location in Southeast Asia." Figuring that it was Vietnam, David and Heather returned to Cleveland prior to departing the country. Heather was pregnant with our daughter, Sloane, so she returned to Bay while David was overseas.
      The "location in Southeast Asia" turned out to be South Korea, where an emergency buildup of troops was taking place in the wake of the USS  Pueblo capture in January 1968, along with the North Korean attacks and firefight incidents in South Korea. David arrived there as part of the build-up of a deterrent force, and was assigned to an intelligence unit near the DMZ. David was placed in a "cover" position as a civilian government agent, to disguise his rank as an Army lieutenant. This gave him freedom and access, and most important, cooperation, when dealing  with higher-ranking American and South Korean military, police, and intelligence personnel. After a 15 month tour, David came home to Heather, and a new member of the family, daughter Sloane, who was almost 11 months old! 
     David's career continued and he experienced several interesting assignments over the 26 years, including deployments to the Middle East/Southwest  Asia in joint rehearsals proceeding the "first" Gulf War (Desert Storm). The toughest place he ever had to go was Somalia, on the Horn of Africa, where the US was tasked with removing the Soviet influence that had dominated the country for several years. Unfortunately, tribal rivalries filled the  gap in this economically deprived country, ending with the terrible incidents that were documented in "Black Hawk Down," when Army Rangers and other personnel were slaughtered during a mission to arrest the warlords. 
     David retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel less than a year before this incident, and began a second career in communications, graphic design and photography. 

 George Gehrke  
     I was drafted and entered the U.S. Army on September 20th, 1967.  Basic training was at Fort Benning, Georgia and then Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia for my schooling in Avionics Navigation Equipment Repair.  It was obvious that my military destination was Vietnam therefore I signed up for an extra year to learn Avionics.  Bay Village High School did not offer Shooting 101 and my lack of weapon firing skills convinced me that I and others were far safer if I was not assigned to the infantry.  Surprisingly, I did receive a Sharpshooter's Medal.  However, I think the awarding was rigged.  I still do not believe I ever hit the target!
     Arrived in Vung Tau, Vietnam and remember looking out of the plane window as we taxied down the airstrip and seeing a pile of dead rats with a sign on top proclaiming, "Bubonic Plague is Here".  The typical Vietnam tour was one year and I immediately had a bad feeling about that scary country seeing the rats and people running around in black pajamas and straw hats.  Upon arrival the welcoming Sergeant asked for volunteers to work the night shift and I eagerly raised my hand.  My thought was that the Viet Cong normally sneaked around and attacked at night so it was better for me to be awake than sleeping.  As the days went by Vung Tau was not so bad after all because it was located at the most southern tip of Vietnam far from the actual fighting.  I was assigned to the Air Force base there and enjoyed watching the F4 Phantom jets roar off in the early mornings for their assigned bombing missions. The air base also had plenty of Huey HU-1B helicopters with door mounted machine guns and rocket pods.  I volunteered whenever  the opportunity arose to take repaired helicopter avionics equipment to the remote bases just to ride in the Hueys and experience the adrenalin rush of  flying just above the jungle tree tops and hearing the "whoop whoop whoop of the propeller blades.  Fortunately, my Vietnam service ended prior to the Viet Cong's major Tet Offensive and I departed intact.  I do mention that during my entire Vietnam tour I never experienced actually seeing or being with  anyone smoking or taking drugs.  Drinking beer or whiskey and smoking cigarettes were the norm.  I also never saw Bob Hope.
    I was assigned in April 1968 to the U.S. Army's Material Command, Europe in Munich, Germany to work in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, Aircraft Maintenance.  My jungle fatigues, combat boots and hat were never worn again.  For the next two years I tediously labored over the Army's European five year aircraft depot maintenance program and longed for any type of excitement.  I found it by joining the Lotus Racing Car Club and twice attended the Monaco Grand Prix.  It was thrilling to see Graham Hill racing his Lotus.  I even saw Prince Rainier and Princess Grace attending the Grand  Prix.  I also saw really, really rich people at the marina driving their Ferrari's and Lamborghini's off of mega million dollar yachts. 
     Being stationed in Munich provided me with a newly found desire to travel, and besides Monaco, several trips were taken to France, Austria, Denmark,  Sweden, Switzerland and Italy.  Traveling around Europe was exciting, and working at my Army job was boring, but educational.  I was honorably discharged on July 2, 1969 and will always proudly remember my military service.  National Defense Service Medal, 2

Geof Greenleaf  

     Pete Arnolt and I drove from Bay Village in June, 1965 for a 6 week session known as Summer Camp. This was a requirement for all Army ROTC cadets between junior and senior years.  Ft. Devens, MA, was home to that famous oxymoron, military intelligence. After the drudgery of each week of training and shoe shining, Pete and I could go to the O’ Club and partake of relative civilization while imbibing our 25 cent gin and tonics. Unfortunately, except for a few rounds of golf later in that summer and the next, that was about the last extended period of time I was able to spend with my best friend, Pete.
     One year later I was commissioned, but elected to go to Stanford Business School to pursue an MBA instead of going on active duty. In May, 1969, I went on active duty at Ft. Lee, VA for my 8 week Quartermaster Basic course. This was a tense time because on April 30 there were over 540,000 troops in Vietnam, which turned out to be the peak.  So the 48 of us in the class knew that many, if not most, would be sent straight to ‘Nam.
      Luckily for me and my bride of 2 years, I was assigned to Germany, near Hanau on the Main River, a medium sized town about 25 clicks east of Frankfurt. The 14^th Supply and Service Battalion supplied the 3^rd Armor Division with petroleum, food, clothing and paper among many other items. Our job was to keep the East Germans and Soviet tanks out of the Fulda gap. I was in charge of a warehouse that supplied most items except petrol and food. We had 90 Army soldiers and 50 “LNs” or local nationals, i.e., German civilians working there. I lived up to half of the sarcastic Quartermaster motto: ”In the rear with the gear, behind a bullet proof typewriter”. Actually an LN had the typewriter. 
     Also, it was there that I realized the US dollar was egregiously overvalued. As an example in 1970 we could buy a Swiss Franc for 23 cents. Now it takes $1.12 to buy one.  So I bought some equally cheap German Marks that I was able to sell a few months later at a nice profit to help pay for a new Mercedes (at a big Army discount). Talk about inflation and mismanagement of our currency! This kindled my burgeoning interest in currencies and precious metals that I’ve followed through today in my job/profession.
     My wife, Helen, who ran the administrative side of an NCO club, supplemented my monthly insult. Thus we had funds to travel all over Europe using my 30 days leave and weekends, six weeks after my two year term of duty was up in 1971 and one of our great Army bennies, 25 cent per gallon gas coupons. Also, we “lived on the economy”, that is in a suburb of Hanau with Germans, not in Army Officer housing. This gave us the chance to learn a little German language and meet some friendly young people. There we met a young frau who led us to a young fraulein. I introduced her to my company commander.  We blind-date-doubled with them to a big formal military ball in the I.G. Farben building in downtown Frankfurt. After a shortish courtship these two very nice people were married in Hanau. As best man, I got to experience a traditional German wedding including the “polter abend“ during which the wedding party, the night before the wedding, throws dishes against a wall outside the house to scare away evil spirits. After a civil ceremony they were officially a  married couple (and I’m happy to say, still together today and living in Atlanta).  Then there was a church service and following that the reception in the Schloss Philippsruhe, a beautiful baroque palace on the banks of the Main River, a tributary of the Rhine. It was there that I understood my first joke spoken in German. Uncle Otto asked me, “Kennen Sie warum die Frauen zwei Busen haben?“  “Leider, nein“ quoth I. “Weil die Manner zwei Hande haben.“ I understood it to be,” Do you know why women have two breasts? Because men have two hands. “

Postcript  About 15 years ago, 30 or so of us Clevelanders were invited to ride on a KC-135 tanker assigned to refuel a B-52 en route to, and the next day from, Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. We were guests of the Strategic Air Command. Upon arrival we were ushered into the underground command center which seemed like the set of Dr. Strangelove with dozens of computer monitors glowing in the near darkness on each of the four semi-circular levels. Presumably they were tracking our own and foreign aircraft all over the globe, or at least North America. For me, the best part of the day was at lunch as I sat across from an Air Force general who referred to me as “sir” as a civilian---- a big improvement from my active duty days as a LT. Also, I was impressed by the quality of the enlisted men and women at my table, most of whom were college grads and all of whom were volunteers.  It further solidified my belief that we need not and should not use the draft.  If people willingly serve in other dangerous jobs such as police, fire fighters and lumberjacks, we can encourage good quality recruits for the military with proper pay and benefits. If we don’t, the draft would condemn our youth to a type of (two year) slavery.

   

Jeff Katzenmeyer

     After receiving a BS Degree in Biology from Ohio Northern University (1962-1966), and while I was pursuing a Master of Science Degree in Physical Therapy at Case Western Reserve University, I  received my draft notice into the US Army.  As I was currently enrolled in classes I was granted a student deferment. But, the writing was on the wall. So, during my second year of grad school I joined the US Navy and was commissioned an Ensign. Following grad-school completion I attended officer indoctrination school at Bethesda, Maryland:  the "Women's Officer School," not a joke, all neophyte male or female medical service corp. officers (nurses, PT's, OT's, Dieticians) attended this indoctrination program. Upon completion, my Naval Career was launched after receiving my Official Diploma from the Women's Officer School. From 1968-1988 I applied my therapy and developing managerial skills as a physical  therapist in the Medical Service Corp. I was stationed, in chronological order, at the following Naval Hospitals: Great Lakes, Ill., Camp Pendleton, Ca, Oakland, Ca., Okinawa, Japan, and for the last ten years of my career at the Navy Regional Medical Center/Hospital, San Diego, Ca. where I ended my career as the Head, Physical and Occupational Therapy Department. I retired in February, 1988, as a Commander, MSC USN.

Ken Mick                       

     I enlisted in the Navy right after graduation—June something 1962.  Went to Boot Camp at Great Lakes IL where I ran into Guy “Richie” Clark and Dick Dregne one afternoon.  After Boot Camp I was stationed at NAS Jacksonville FL while attending Aviation Electrician Mate School.  About nine months later I was sent to Barbers Point Hawaii to serve in a reconnaissance/early warning squadron as a Flight Electrician crew member.
     While stationed in Hawaii, our primary mission was to fly the radar coverage for the DEW Line anti-missile barrier from Midway Island to Adak Alaska.  This went on for two years until the new over the horizon radar was operational.  We also performed anti-sub missions in and around Japan.  While in this squadron we were in and out of Hawaii, Midway Island, Adak Alaska, Japan, Johnson Island, Wake Island, Iwo Jima and a few other special places.
     When the squadron in Hawaii was de-commissioned I was transferred to a weather squadron in Guam.  Our primary mission was to track typhoons from the time they started forming in the South Pacific running north until they made a left turn into China.  One of our aircraft was always inside of a storm providing weather information to the fleet and civilians in the storm’s path.  If I wasn’t on weather duty we would be flying out of the Philippines and Vietnam to provide early warning radar coverage and aerial combat direction and control for the fleet aircraft attacking in Vietnam. 
     All in all, the Navy was a great experience and was never dull.  I was discharged at Treasure Island San Francisco CA in 1966 after 4 years, 1 month and 27 days.  From San Francisco I dropped in on my brother in San Diego for a short visit and ended up there for the next eighteen years

Don Munro      

     I entered the USAF Reserves in 1966, and  went on active duty in 1967.  In 1968 I volunteered for The Air Force Photo Mapping Wing in Tuy Hoa Vietnam and flew on C-130 aircraft as a Ground/Air Radio Operator.  I came back stateside in 1969 and  returned to Saigon and Nha Trang, Vietnam to finish out my tour as an AFLS (Air Force Language School ) advisor to the South Vietnamese Air Force.  "I wouldn't want to do it again, but I am proud I served our country.  All gave some, some gave all. "
                                                                

 Story from Don Munro…..  In 1969 I was stationed in Nha Trang , Vietnam.  I was told that an army officer was looking for S/Sgt Munro.  Being I was in the Air Force, I couldn't understand why he was specifically looking for me.  Of course I was thinking,  "what did I do now?”  I had the officer come in and I saluted him.  After a few uncomfortable minutes the officer tilted his sun glasses back and said  "Hey Donnie it's me, Brucie, from  Bay Village".  We spent the afternoon together catching up, but it meant so much to me that Bruce Michael found me.  It got my mind off Vietnam and back to Bay Village for awhile.  I will never forget his visit that day. Thanks Brucie!!!

 

Al Nelson

     I was in the US Naval Reserves.  Two years active duty from 64 to 67.  I was a Sonar Tech guy.  Spent the first eight months in Key West going to school.  The remaining part of my term in Newport, RI on a destroyer.  No action in the Vietnam War.  Went to Halifax, Nova Scotia and down to Florida a couple of times.  The fleet was preparing to go on a  Mediterranean cruise when I got out. 

Clewell Smith  

      I was drafted in February, 1968 and served on active duty in the U.S. Army until September 1969.  I did my basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and went through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  I applied for Infantry Officer Candidate School while at Ft. Dix and was accepted but instead of the infantry school I was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to the artillery OCS.  After a couple months there and being unsuccessful in my attempt to transfer to the infantry school at Fort Benning, I withdrew and was sent to Vietnam where I joined the 173d Airborne Brigade as a rifleman in August, 1968.
     I was assigned to an infantry squad in Company A of the 1^st Battalion 50^th (Mechanized) Infantry which was attached to the 173d Airborne and charged with providing security for supply convoys traveling on Highway 19 from An Khe to Pleiku in the Central Highlands area.  In this capacity my squad operated out of an armored personnel carrier but occasionally would be called upon to participate in search and destroy missions wherein we would be transported to our assigned area of operations by helicopter.  In May, 1969 I was promoted to the rank of Sergeant (E5) and given squad leader responsibilities.
     While in Vietnam I was awarded an Air Medal and two Bronze Star Medals, the second with an Oak Leaf Cluster, for ground actions against North Vietnamese Regular Army forces in and around the Mang Yang Pass and the An Khe Valley. I was released from active duty upon my return to the U.S. in September 1969.