Saber Article Index
2020 Sep-Oct
Like those who eulogized Brigadier General (Ret) Art Junot in the
last Saber, I was saddened to see that he had died. But we are all on the
list. So, remember, carpe diem. Or, as they say in Texas, “If you ain’t
having fun, it’s your damn fault.†Judging from Art’s biography, he
certainly lived life to its fullest. I was surprised to see so much I did
not know about him.
When I had seen the photo of him in the Nov/Dec 2019 Saber when he
had stopped in the 1st Cav Assn HQ for a visit, I thought he looked old. But
it had been twenty years since I last saw him.
As Executive Director of the First Cavalry Division Association,
Art let me write some things in the Saber. That was Scout Three-Zero, in
1992. In 1997 I attended the 1st Cav Reunion at Fort Hood and drove by the
1st Cav Assn HQ in Copperas Cove, TX, to see how it looked. I noticed a
duplex across the street for rent. I was looking for a place to live, so I
applied and was accepted. I lived there for the next five years.
While there, I started to use the internet and came across a
website called Snore’s Funhouse. It turned out to be MEDEVAC crew chief
Sherman Breedan, whom I had flown within Vietnam. He said he was trying to
start a 15th MED Association. I told him he should write a column in the
Saber. He said, “Why don’t you?†When I had mentioned that to Snore, he was
not even a member of the 1st Cav Assn. I had to encourage him to join for
the pittance of a fee.
I used to go across the street and talk to Art a lot, and I maybe
mentioned that to him. Art said, “I need someone to write a 15th MED
column.†Thus, I began this column.
Snore started his 15th MED Association and had their first Reunion
at his house in Virginia. He ironically died not long after that.
Again, after reading Art’s biography, what surprises me is how much
about his background I did not know. I used to have so many one-on-one
conversations with him in the 1st Cav Assn HQ. He never mentioned his
background. He was always just focused on the 1st Cav Association and
getting the Saber out.
I happened to be in Copperas Cove for the last five years of Art’s
tenure as the 1st Cav Assn’s Executive Director. Just as I was leaving town
to move to where
I am now; Art was training retiring CSM (Ret) Dennis
Webster to take his place.
I used to see Dennis on TV at the Ft Hood town hall meetings when
he was Division CSM. He was always getting designated by the CG to take care
of somebody’s business. So, for him to take over as Executive Director of
the 1st Cav Assn seemed like a fitting retirement.
I got an email from B 1-8 Cav ‘66-’67 Veteran Clayton “Glickâ€
Goings 1cavglick@surry.net of Mt.
Airy, N.C. He said he knew MEDEVAC crew chief James Minish very well but
only learned of his death after reading this column.
Clayton says, “Jim cared for other Vets and did more for others
than I could ever mention here. He lived by your motto, “So That Others May
Live.†If any of your readers would like to share memories of Jim, contact
me at (336)756-0403.â€
‘70-’71 MEDEVAC pilot-MEDEVAC 2-and 15th MED Assn webmaster Ron
Huether sent an email about a movie being considered made about the outset
of U.S. Army aeromedical evacuation in Vietnam, and its first participants.
That was the 44th Medical Brigade using the call sign Dustoff, around 1962.
The 1st Cav’s Air Ambulance Platoon, call sign MEDEVAC, furthered
the concept when the airmobile division went to Vietnam in 1965. As well as
being different units, the 1st Cav put M-60s on their MEDEVAC helicopters by
order of CG H.W.O. Kinnard, which continued that way for their remainder in
Vietnam. No other U.S. Army aeromedical evacuation helicopter units had
mounted armament.
The out-of-print Government Printing Office book I frequently
mention in this column: Dust Off: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam by
Peter Dorland and James Nanney is still available as a FREE PDF file from
history.army.mil. Run it on Google etc. for the quick and easy download of
the complete story, all years, all units.
I got a telephone call from Earl Kinard in D.C. about whom I wrote
in the Saber in 2019. Earl called in response to my last column. He sounds
alive and well.
I had spelled his name differently in the then next issue when I
again mentioned him. I found the Washington Post article about him, and it
has this spelling above.
That article is still at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/07/24/judge-questionsprosecuting-physicians-aide/60b9598d-83fa-4bf8-98d5-fa0467357369/
.
He said what I had written about him was not wholly correct. You
can contact him to find out what I got wrong. There is no better accuracy
than from the horse’s mouth. 1st Cav Assn pun intended.
The 15th MED Assn website also posted photos of the MEDEVAC crew
members who did the first light evacuation of the urgent casualties on FSB
David in June 1970. They are included here.
Always remembering our 1st Cav Troops on duty around
the world; over and out.
FIRST TEAM! Garryowen
Mike Bodnar 2\7 '69
MEDEVAC 1-7\70
SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE