Samuel Schmelzer always felt a tinge of guilt about his military service in Vietnam, which the Garnavillo, Iowa, native spent stationed at an evacuation hospital.
Mike Petersen, of Chaska, a retired lieutenant commander in the Navy, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Navy and Marine Corps Ball later this month.
It has been my great privilege recently to meet a true gunfighter. Robert “RJ” Thomas is one of the original Navy SEALs. He found himself in a gunfight at Ha Tien Republic of Vietnam in March 1969. At the time, Navy SEALs were classified elite extensions of the Navy Underwater Demolition Teams: ST-1 in Coronado, California and ST-2 in Little Creek, Virginia. Despite attempts at keeping the mission of the SEAL Teams classified, the NVA placed a $10,000 bounty for the killing or capture of one of the “Men with Green Faces.”