A Michigan man who received a terminal diagnosis has one final wish: To see the ocean one more time. His family in the Tampa Bay area is now working to make his final wish a reality.
He graduated from Cohn High School in Nashville in 1959 and decided to join the Army.
âI just did it,â he said. âYou look for something different, something exciting.â
Dye enlisted in 1960 and he went through jump school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
He served two and a half tours in Vietnam. The Nashville native went there in 1961 for a six-month tour to teach the South Vietnamese soldiers how to use heavy weapons. He returned in 1969 and was there in 1970-71.
Dye served with the 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, 5th Special Forces Group. The infantry Soldier was in Kontum.
âYou never were fully relaxed,â Dye said. âYou stayed kind of tensed up a lot.â