Russ Schultz of Uhland served in the U.S. Army from 1972 to 1978 and spent most of his deployment in Germany. B.B. Scott of San Marcos served in the Marines from 1962-1966. He was stationed in Vietnam and and is a Purple Heart recipient. Schultz and Scott joined together on this occasion as members of the Blue Knights, a law enforcement motorcycle club, to honor fellow law enforcement veteran Clay Crabb. Lt. Crabb of the Austin Police Department was killed in a car wreck Oct. 16 of this year on his way to work.
Melvin “Buster” Miller, 84, from Kyle, lied about his age to join the U.S. Air Force. He was 16 at the time. The “big” war was already over — it was 1946 when he signed up. The photo is from 1947. And though Buster had dreams of visiting foreign lands, he never did. He ended up at Hamilton Field in Calif. running the motor pool. He left the service in 1949, having reaching the rank of corporal. Though he had a day job at Austin Engineering Company running heavy equipment, his real passion was car racing, which he did for many years. He and his wife of 63 years had six children; he lost a daughter to cancer not long ago. And he still enjoys a few fast laps around the track; he recently did laps at Texas Motor Speedway and a track in Las Vegas as part of the Richard Petty Driving Experience. His speed topped out at 136 miles per hour. He’s waiting to hear from the Guinness Book of Records to see if he’s the oldest race car driver in the world.
Ron Fletcher, a Buda city council member, shared photos from his last flight in Vietnam in 1971. He flew the F-4 Phantom II on 175 combat missions. In this photo, he was just hosed down by the fire truck as he enjoys what’s left of the bottle of champagne that was poured over his head.
Alex Castillo of Kyle served in the U.S. Army and is a Vietnam Veteran. He’s lived in Kyle for 71 years. This photo, taken in 1965, was submitted by his daughter, Roxanne Castillo.
Randolph Goodman of San Marcos joined the U.S. Navy in July 1968. He was on active duty by Sept. that same year. Bootcamp in San Diego was followed by a request to be on any ship bound for Vietnam. He got his wish. He served two tours in Vietnam, including a year-long deployment in Da Nang. The photo on the bottom shows Goodman at the infamous China Beach. Over his 20-year career with the Navy, Goodman received several awards, including the Good Conduct Metal while he was in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (above).
Ben Lindsey, left, a U.S. Marine veteran, passed on his military genes to his grandson Curtis Edwards, who is in the U.S. Army. Lindsey is a Korean War vet.
Connie Giles (now Brewer), in Aug. 1974, taken at boot camp in Orlando, FL. She spent five years in the U.S. Navy, with training in Millington, TN. She then transferred to NAS Chase Field in Beeville, TX. She taught for a time, then maintained flight simulators for T-2s and A-4 jets for basic and advanced jet flight training. She reached the rank of TD2 before leaving the Navy in July of 1979. Connie is the business manager for the Hays Free Press and lives in Mountain City.
Be sure to thank the members of our community that served in the Armed Forces. Below are lists of current members of the local chapters of AMVETS and the VFW.
AMVETS | VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS | ||||
Timothy Griffith Rheuben Hair Brent Harmon George Hatt Bailey Hayter Robert Hites Joel Kirkby Lucy Kirkby Michael Krug Mark LeMense Brenda Maese Juan Martinez Raymond Mason Henry Klipple Harold Leung Steven Pulis Robin Rose Kendra Krebs James Gaspar Burrell Gerbine Samantha Gerbine | David Salazar Jennifer Sanford Billygram Simonet Duke Smith Kevin Taylor Blake Williams Cliff Williams Clint Williams David Wilson Richard Banks Michael Jones John Mayfield Richard McKean Terry Murray Loren Wilber David Lyle John Knox John Krug Kerman Hammond James Meany Elias Moran Chris Morgan Roberta Myers Tom Ormsby Michael Padilla Jude Prather | Elizabeth Aguilar Jose Aguilar Matthew Balboa Ronnie Barnett Sylvester Bennett Michael Beverly Donald Bittner Helen Brayton Mark Brayton Scott Brock Ray Bryant Sandra Bryant Alan Cameron Baltazar Castaneda John Castro James Clements Travis Cottington David Cowan John Crawford Allen Deaver Leonard Diggs Bo Dresner Martin Ezell Bruce Fender Bryan Fuentes Mike Fulton | John Williams David Wilson Lawrence Wilson Manley Wilson Michael Wilson Conrad Yates Tony Kuharski Thomas LaHaye Richard Lawlor Mark Lemense Arthur Hill Robert Holcomb Terry Huffman Leon Jackson Willie Johnson Suresh Kalkunte Darrell Kelly Beverly Kelsey Timothy King John Krug Steven Leonard Brent Harmon Jacob Haverda Edwin Henry Ricardo Hernandez Robert Herrera John Hildebrandt Gaylon Akers William Alderete Bret Alexander | Raul Vela Robert Wait Dalton Wall Darryl Lindgens Michael Lucas Virgil Maples Valerie Marburger Clayton Martin Raymond Mason William Maul Eddie Maycen Willard Meier Randy Meinen Sean Messinger Maxwell Millard Richard Miller Mark Miska Max Montgomery James Moore Thomas Murray Timothy Newhall Lloyd Norman Louis Oana Edward Ortman Colin Painter John Pantermuehl Kenneth Pelech Steven Pflepsen Jimmie Quintero | Daniel Webber Sherman Weeks John Groos Maximo Vasquez Richard Vasquez Shane Arabie Melanie Atkins Marilyn Barak Thomas Barbee James Bean Sylvester Bennett John Berry Michael Beverly Manuel Bravo Margaret Briones Richard Briones Scott Brock David Brown William Burns Alicia Calvert Ronald Cardey John Castro Pat Chisolm Kenneth Christie Steven Cook John Corzan Benny Courtney Jorel Covin Andrew Cox Todd Weingeroff |
