Thank you, Veterans!
The Greenways neighborhood is proud to be home to many veterans. This November, STROLL The Greenways would like to extend a special thank you to all who have served. We appreciate your service and sacrifice!
Roy Hedtke
Branch of Service - US Army
Years of Service - 22 Years
Graduated from West Point in 1971. My first assignment was at Ft. Carson, CO. One word of advice for new young officers: don't be too full of yourselves. I learned that the NCOs have a wealth of knowledge and they will help you if you only ask. My service time included Germany and Korean assignments, but my class was not sent to Vietnam because of the high death rate among 2nd lieutenants. I was a company commander in both Germany and Korea. My initial branch was Air Defense Artillery. After graduate school in 1986 I changed my specialty to Nuclear Weapons Officer. I retired from the Army in 1993 and then worked 21 years at the Pantex Plant. Life has been good and living in the Greenways has been a blessing.
Paul Harpole
Branch of Service - Army
Years of Service - 1968-1971
Joining the Army just out of high school at age 17, my mother had to give her permission. Shortly after turning 18, I was assigned to Vietnam. I arrived in Vietnam to find out I was assigned as a flight crew chief on an unarmed Dustoff medical evacuation Huey helicopter. We evacuated wounded and KIAs and I served two tours. The Army awarded me 18 Air Medals for over 475 combat flights and an Army Commendation Medal. Besides Vietnamese and United States armed forces, we evacuated and treated wounds for Vietnamese civilians, Australian forces, Royal Thai forces, Republic of Korea forces. We were called to evacuate Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces as well. We did this day and night in any weather, including monsoon rains and even in typhoons. While evacuating pregnant Vietnamese civilian women we helped deliver babies on two occasions. Dustoff had a three times higher chance to be shot down than other helicopters. Our highest risk was while performing hoist missions in the dense jungle while hovering in one position in the tree tops. We lowered a jungle penetrator for ground troops to load patients on, both wounded and dead, for extraction. There were only 126 Dustoff Hueys out of over 5000 Hueys in Vietnam at the peak of U.S deployment in 1969. My Huey went down five times; shot down three times and from mechanical failure twice. I know I was very fortunate and blessed to not be wounded. I served with many extraordinary pilots and medics. I’m very proud to have been assigned by chance to a Dustoff crew. “We fly so others may live.”
Trey Johnson
Branch of Service - Army
Johnny Fithen
Branch of Service - Army
Years of Service 1966 - 1969
Served in Vietnam
Kris Fitzpatrick
Branch of Service - US Air Force
Msgt USAF Medic, 1960-1980, VietNam Veteran
Troyce Phillips
Branch of Service - Army
Years of Service - 1968-1971
Helicopter Pilot - 1st Air CavalryVietnam
If you'd like information about becoming a preferred partner with Stroll The Greenways please reach out to Sandy Proffitt at sandy.proffitt@n2co.com or you can schedule a time to visit using this link: https://calendly.com/sandy-proffitt