Our Career Military Men
Ronald Corey
Sergeant Major - U.S. Army -
1951-1981 - Vietnam Veteran - Among other decorations, Ron received the
Vietnam Campaign Medal with 3 Campaign stars, the
Bronze Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Legion of Merit Medal,
and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm.
Most of Ron's career was performing as an Army Musician both stateside
and in Germany, Austria and Vietnam. As is true with most
Armed Forces bandsmen, the musician has been trained to fight.
Ron's Army Band was touring the various outlying camps in Vietnam when
the Vietcong attacked the outpost. Ron and his musicians grabbed
their guns and helped save the camp from the larger Vietcong
force. Later in his career, Ron would become the BandMaster at the
Presidio in San Francisco and also in Hawaii. |
Kent McKnight
A graduate of
the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Kent went on to become a Naval
Aviator. He retired from the U.S. Navy as a Lt. Commander in 1974
after 24 years in the Naval Service. Kent
spent much of his Naval career at both stateside bases and in the
Pacific Theater. He was Patrol Plane Commander in the P2V-7
aircraft deployed to NAS Kodiak, Alaska, and Marine Corp Air Station at
Iwakuni, Japan. NAS North Island, Coronado, CA. Antisubmarine Nuclear Weapons Delivery Instructor.
Airborne Early Warning Squadron One NAS at Agana, Guam.
He was the Aircraft Commander on the E121K aircraft (Super Connie) Typhoon Tracking and Airborne Early Warning
Missions deployed to the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Hong Kong, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands.
During the Vietnam War, Kent was located at the Naval Air Facility, Cam Rahn Bay,
Vietnam as Air Operations Officer and directed Naval Air attacks with
planes off the aircraft carriers. It was in Vietnam that he earned
the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palms, the Vietnam Service
Medal with 3 Campaign Stars, the Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation and
the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. He also won the Air
Medal with 2 Stars.
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Donald Smith
Often called "A
true American War Hero", Lt. Colonel Smith commanded Fire Base
Kontum and was a member of the the 10th Special Forces Group (Green
Beret) in two tours of duty in Vietnam. There, he was awarded the
nation's second highest medal - The Silver Star. The citation is
as follows: "Rescuing soldiers wounded in an attack on his base.
Armed only with his pistol, he loaded wounded soldiers into a jeep and
drove them to a Medical Aid Station. When the enemy attacked the
Aid Station, he rallied wounded that were able to fire weapons, lined
them up at Aid Station windows, and directed the defense of the
station. During the assault, Colonel Smith rescued a wounded
soldier who had fallen outside the Aid Station. He shielded the
soldier who was in a heavy fire area with his own body, while he began
medical treatment." Don also received two Bronze Stars, two
Air Medals, three Army commendations of heroism, two Purple Hearts, and
the Legion of Merit. He also served in Germany. He was an
Army Ranger, a Paratrooper and a Green Beret. His academic record
is superlative receiving a BS degree in Political Science from Michigan
State University, a BS degree in Criminal Justice from the University of
Georgia, a Masters degree in International Relations from Cornell,
attended the Infantry Officers Advance Course, Special Warfare School,
the Armed Forces Staff College and taught Chinese and Russian history at
Fort Benning. He served 26 years in the Army.
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Fred Weeks
Retiring
in 1969 as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army, Fred had a distinguished
career in the Military Police. He first served on Okinawa in1955-56
as an Infantry and Military Police Officer. Later at Fort Bragg, NC
he was Executive Officer of 'D' Company, 325th Airborne
Infantry Regiment and Commanding Officer of "C" Company, 503rd Military Police.
He earned his MBA at Syracuse University in 1958-59. During
his three years in France, Fred was the Division Security Control Officer
for the G-3 Division of Headquarters, Allied Land Forces Central Europe (NATO).
Twenty-six enlisted personnel of five nations worked under his staff supervision
in the processing and control of 4,000 COSMIC TOP SECRET documents and 20,000 NATO SECRET and
below. The documents were secured in 23 safes and three strong rooms.
Twenty-six officers of seven different nationalities did the work of the Division.
Because of the top secret nature of his assignments, not much detail is
known about Fred's work in Europe, but those close to him indicate that
Fred contributed greatly to the Allied causes during the most difficult
moments of the Cold War. His last assignment was in the Pentagon
in Washington, D.C. in the Office of the Provost Marshall General.
Many service personnel did not see action in a shooting war, but like
Fred served their country well during the intrigue of the more insidious
drama of The Cold War.
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