Quilts of Valor Jack Bush Jack was a member of the Army, in the Infantry division. His unit was the 350 th Infantry. He was drafted into the service in 1953, but the Korean War was resolved before he was deployed so he was stationed in Austria after basic training. By the time he was discharged in 1955, he was a Corporal. Most of his time during his tour in Austria was spent in continued training, or overseeing the transfer of troops to the base. He was in a volunteer leadership school and then volunteered for a skiing group, where he was selected as 1 of 27 to continue to an advanced class for a ski patrol/mortar team to watch for a possible Russian (USSR) movement in the area. Jack was noted for his skiing and shooting ability. Jack remembers the interesting events that happened during the time he oversaw the transfer of troops across the country and overseas. They faced harsh weather and a very strong storm in the Atlantic Ocean. When he was in ski training, he was taught by the Austrian Olympic Team. Outside of the military, Jack enjoyed fishing and hunting, and is an avid fan of the Seattle Seahawks and Gonzaga Basketball.
Quilts of Valor Ross Cutter Ross served in the US Coast Guard from November 1942 until January 1946. He attended the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut where he completed the Reserve Officer Training Program. He served as a Junior Deck Officer aboard three different ships. Two of these ships were Navy vessels operated by Coast Guard personnel and the other ship was a Coast Guard Cutter. The names of the ships that Ross was on were the USS Joseph T. Dickman, USS Wakefield, and the Coast Guard Cutter Winnebago. Ross served as a communications officer on the Coast Guard Cutter Winnebago. One of the Navy ships he was on participated in the Italian invasions of Sicily and Salerno. When Ross was not aboard ships he was at training stations located in Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, and California. After Ross served on the USS Wakefield he learned that it had previously been the luxury liner Manhattan that transported our Olympic Athletes to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Some of Ross s favorite places that he traveled to included Algeria, Scotland, and Boston. Ross ended his active duty service as a Lieutenant Junior Grade.
Betty Gehr Betty joined the Army Nurse Corps as a 2 nd Lieutenant on March 3, 1945. She was stationed in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina prior to assignment in the Philippines at the end of the war. She was one of over a thousand nurses that made up a medical staff for the invasion of Japan. Fortunately the war ended just before her arrival. She was Assistant Chief Nurse in the Hospital at Lingayen Gulf and ran the PX there part time. She received the WWII Victory Metal and the American and Pacific Theater Medals. Betty was mustered out as a 1 st Lieutenant on September 3, 1946. Keith Gehr Keith entered the Navy Reserve as a Seaman 1 st class on July 10, 1944. He attended a Naval Electronics school in California and later was stationed at the major Navy transmitting base at Lualualei, Oahu. Hawaii. There he was responsible in part for keeping about 50 large transmitters on the air. He left the Navy as an Electronics Technician 2 nd class on July 4, 1946. He later had a commission in the Navy Reserve.
Hunter Keen Hunter Keen joined the army in January 1943 as a private. After basic training, he was stationed at Clemson College training to be an electrical engineer and then, Camp Camel in Kentucky as a Chaplain s Assistant. His responsibilities included working on disabled tanks that were off of the field. He received an honorable discharge as a Technical Sergeant after the war in February 1946.
Quilts of Valor Dean Ratzman Dean served in the Navy from September 1943 until February 1946. His Units name was Navy 3245. During his service he was responsible for building metal nets that control the flow of submarines in and out of the base. He worked as an electrician on boats. Dean was stationed in Farragut, Idaho, Lake Union Naval Base, Hawaii Naval Base, Kwajalein Island, Eniwetok, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. He remembers that his girlfriend, whom he left at home, began dating another man when he left for the Navy. After she broke up with the other man, she and Dean increased their correspondence and eventually were married. They are still happily married to this day. Dean made many friends during his military career unfortunately they have all passed away. During his service Dean received the Pacific Participation Award, Good Conduct Award, and the Ruptured Duck Award. He also added that the Navy told him he wouldn t live a very long life because of the troubles he has had with his heart. He is grateful for medical science for the long life he is experiencing. Dean is also very appreciative of the GI Bill for helping pay for Pre-law and Law School.
Francis (Rob) M. Roberts World War II Timeline Drafted into the Army in Dec. 1943, from his home in Afton, Wyoming, where he was employed by the Soil Conservation Service (USDA). He entered basic training and engineer orientation at Geiger Field, Spokane before Christmas. He deployed for the South Pacific aboard a converted Dutch freighter ( Klip Fontain ) sailing from San Francisco to Finchaven, New Guinea, Jan. 1944. The Klip Fontain travelling at 15 knots was 30-days at sea with only one stop in Milne Bay, New Guinea. The ship was unescorted because it could travel faster than submarines and most warships in the Japanese fleet. In transit, the troops and sailors road out a typhoon the first of two typhoons Rob experienced in the South Pacific. He was assigned to an engineering unit responsible for constructing airfields on various islands in the South Pacific, including the Admiralty Islands, Holandia and Finchhaven, New Guinea, Moratai (a D-day landing) in Indonesia, Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines, eventually arriving in Manila. In the Philippines he was part of a team of surveyors and engineers assigned to prepare Gen. MacArthur s personal airstrip for his return to the Philippines, a job they all thought unnecessary because of adequate landing sites in the area. From Manila he travelled by LST to Japan. After landing, his unit travelled by rail to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, six weeks after their destruction by atom bombs. Though not concerned at the time, he later wondered why no precautions were taken to avoid radiation exposure in these areas. He was never deployed to begin a surveying project as anticipated, and after several weeks of inactivity he and the other engineers were taken to Nagoya and loaded on the General Butner troop ship for a non-stop voyage to Seattle, landing November 12, 1945. He was mustered out at Ft. Lewis later that month after two years of service with the rank of Master Sargent.
Quilts of Valor Bud Shaw Bud joined the Naval Air Reserve based in Spokane at Geiger Air Force Base in 1949. Bud began his military career as an Aviation Technician Apprentice. He attained the rank of Aviation Technician II by the end of his military service in 1958. Bud was responsible for repairing and maintaining radio equipment. He was a radio operator in the planes while in flight. Bud remembers his Skipper saying; Let s go to Cuba! The booze is cheap! So they went to Guantanamo Bay for a week. Bud volunteered for the transport squadron and was assigned the Super DC3 s. The Super DC3 s were much bigger and faster than the regular DC3 s and they were very unique because there were only about 12 made. When transporting troops from the East Coast they could take off much later, pass the regular DC3 s in the air, and land in Spokane at least an hour sooner. Bud s work in the service led him to his future jobs at Washington Water Power where he worked for 50 years. Bud appreciates the military for the great education and training in electronics.
Charles Yentzer Charles joined the Army on August 2, 1942 and then, switched to the Air Force in 1945. He entered the Air Force as a Private. His responsibilities included personnel and administration. Charles was stationed in Kansas, Alaska, Georgia, Germany, France, Fairchild, California, England, Massachusetts, and Colorado. He received six commendations for Performance of Duty. He was promoted to the super-grade on the initial selection on December 1, 1959. On September 1, 1968 he left the military as a Chief Master Sergeant. Charles was a dedicated, hard-working, and obedient solider. After he served in the Air Force, he worked in a bank for 22 years.