Kurt is a Third Class IC man who served two tours in Vietnam on a mine sweeper as a Navy sailor. He went into the service in 1968 and graduated high school in 1967. He went to community college for a year and realized it wasn’t for him. From there, he joined the service and went into the Navy. He went to boot camp in San Diego and then to IC school where he trained to be an Interior Communications Technician. During this period, everybody was protesting the war in Vietnam. When he came home, there was still a lot of protesting, which made him hide the fact that he had proudly served our country. He kept quiet about his service for the longest time.

What hurt him the most was when he witnessed the Desert Storm troops coming home to accolades and celebrations of the fact that they were heroes. He saw so much support given to those who fought using missiles and technology while he was all but spat upon when returning from a war fought one on one in the jungle. It was only a couple of years after that his country finally started to really recognize Korean War and Vietnam veterans as brave men and women who served their country. Looking back, he regrets throwing almost everything away that associated him with his service in the Navy. He didn’t keep his uniform… only his dog tags, metals that he had won and a special jacket that he had made for him in Bangkok.