Steve Kroeger, Iowa State
Carl B. Koon, Florida
Paul
A. Scharf, Cornell
I graduated from Iowa State in the fall of 1967 with a degree in animal science. Within a month of graduation, I received my notice for service in the US Army.
We arrived at the air base outside of Saigon in July of 1968. The base was subject to sniper attacks, and my introduction to Vietnam was like a 4th of July celebration.
My second assignment in Vietnam was with the 41st Civil Affairs company. My training in agriculture was the reason for my being assigned to civil affairs. The unit was working on the introduction of a new hybrid variety of rice to Vietnam. I spent most of the time working in the country in several different villages with that program. I was exposed to some very primitive conditions, especially among the Montanyard tribes of that area. They lived in raised huts similar to what you might see in African bush country.
After my tour of duty, I was transferred to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and served out my service there. I had married my wife, Judy, and our oldest son, Ken, was born there. When we returned to Iowa, we started farming with my wife’s parents near Menlo. Our second son, Scott, was born the year after we started farming. Within a couple of years, we were thinking of another child, and as we had two healthy boys, a daughter was my wife’s hope for the family.
I couldn’t help but think of all the disadvantaged children and orphans I had seen during the war. We decided to look into inter-country adoption for a daughter. In the fall of 1976, our daughter, Kari, arrived from Korea to be welcomed into our family. As our family continued to grow, we felt the need for another daughter, so we again looked into inter-country adoption. Our second daughter, Kimberly, arrived from Korea in 1981.
Vietnam was a part of my life’s experience, and it still affects me to this day. There are many sad stories from that war and that time. Two of our Fraternity brothers lost their lives there. Yet, in spite of the many sad stories there are some positive ones. Two orphaned girls now have a father, mother and two brothers that they may not have had, had I not served there during the war.
I’m now currently working as a loan officer at a local bank. Our sons have grown up and moved away from home. Kari is now a junior at Iowa State, and Kim is a junior in high school. Thirty years have past, and yet it hasn’t been all that long ago.n
I pledged the Florida Chapter in September 1956 and was initiated in November 1956. In June 1959, I graduated from Florida and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army.
I entered the U.S. Army one day after graduation from college and remained on active duty until my retirement as a Lt. Col. on January 1, 1982. During my 22 1/2-year military career, I volunteered for all of the toughest types of training and organizations possible and successfully completed them all.
I served two tours of duty with the U.S. Military Assistance Command-Vietnam. The first was in 1964-65 and the second in 1972-73. In 1967-68, I helped support the war in Vietnam from Thailand with the U.S. Army Special Forces.
I participated in the trials and tribulations of a war and believe that I was made a better man. The war did not make me homeless, hungry, or unable to hold a job and earn a living. I put the war behind me and tried to be a good husband, father, soldier, later a civilian and a citizen of the United States of America.
At present, I am the senior management assistant for the San Francisco Fire Department. In the past 38 years, 24 of them after my war experiences in Vietnam, I have never been unemployed. Each new job brings new responsibilities, greater pay and new challenges. I have never tried to hide the fact that I served my country in Vietnam. I was a soldier and was told to go. I went because I was a professional soldier and did what my leaders directed.
What did I get from my experiences in Vietnam? In addition to a lot of sweat, tears, loss of many friends by death on the battlefields and long separations from my family, I also obtained a greater appreciation for just what we have as citizens of the United States of America, the greatest country on this earth.n
I was an animal husbandry major from Bronx, New York, and upon graduation in 1963 from Cornell, I accepted a regular Army commission.
My first assignment was Germany, and while serving in this assignment, I received my orders for Vietnam in April 1966. Since I was Airborne Ranger qualified, I was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Separate. The Brigade stayed in action throughout the entire year; however, I was lucky and came home without a scratch. I was a Captain and decided to stay in for awhile.
My next assignment was Jordan, where we were caught in the Civil War known as "Black September." I ended up as a hostage of the PLO for several days and was finally released through the efforts of the Swiss Red Cross. I didn’t have to go back to Vietnam because of the hardships in Jordan.
I retired after more than 30 years active service. I stayed in Guatemala, where I was last stationed, in the private business sector for two and one-half years. We finally had enough of all the excitement and intrigue and returned to the United States in 1996. We now live in North Carolina, where I fish and watch birds. I’m a fanatical birder (started while in AGR) and have seen 3,370 species.
Getting back to Vietnam, I am not sure if I stayed in the Army because of it or in spite of it.n
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