Springfield South Dakota Veterans
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      • Edwin Dwight Wood
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      • Walter Babcock
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        • Bernard Kastein
        • James Kirk
        • Leonard Lange
        • Ted Lindeman
        • Clarence Ludens
        • John C. Ludens
        • John "Jack" Martin
        • Richard "Darby" Martin
      • Robert DeRoos
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      • Allen Palsma
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      • Robert Slade
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      • Clark Thomas
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      • Clarence Vanderlei
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      • Robert McCollum
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      • Daryl Heusinkveld
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      • Lee Merchen
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    • My Week in Hue City
    • Biographies >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Perry Lundin
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
      • Robert Monfore
      • Larry Talsma
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      • James "Uke" Uken
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The Rest of the Story                    


As we all know, war is an unscripted exercise in mayhem.   During this kind of unpredictable event, all kinds of bizarre situations can arise.  These situations can range from tragic to odd to humorous.   Springfield’s veterans, like all veterans, have plenty of such stories to relate.  I have taken all of the information I have obtained in the past and gleaned some of these stories and put them together in a narrative that the reader should hopefully find stimulating.  The stories need not necessarily occur in combat, but are related to the war in some way.
                                                                                                Dick Martin


Secret War!

Where was Daryl Heusinkveld from May 11, 1969 until May 13, 1970? The Air Force has always confirmed that he was an officer and a pilot during that time.  His family confirms that he was nowhere close to home.  The rumors are strong that he spent the entire year dodging enemy anti-aircraft rounds flying 213 secret combat missions in a prop A1 Sky raider into Laos.  But don’t ask the Air Force about Daryl’s whereabouts because they, officially, have no knowledge of any activity in Laos.  Better to ask Ho Chi Minh or General Giap as Daryl and his fellow pilots were taking a terrible toll of the enemy on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and in support of the Laotion Army.


Thank You!
 
Harvey Kastein’s first deployment, after finishing his initial Navy school, was as a Seaman on the USS Collett ship.  The deployment was highlighted on February 10, 1969, by being part of a naval gunfire support team anchored at Da Nang Harbor providing supporting fire for friendly forces inland involved in combat operations twenty miles south of Da Nang.  Months later during a redeployment back to Vietnam at a stop in Okinawa, Harvey felt a tug at his sleeve and turned around to face a battle hardened Marine.  Not knowing what the Marine had in mind, Harvey was startled until the Marine, having seen Harvey’s Collet patch, thanked him profusely for the fire support that February 10 that the Marine said saved their rear-ends.


Unexpected Reunion!
 
In 1967, the First Marine Division had been conducting operations in the dangerous I Corp area of Vietnam.  Larry Talsma was busy driving a truck through the area and Dan Mejstrik, as a medic, was busy patrolling with his platoon in the same area.  On a day in November of 1967, Larry was leaving the Marine base camp at An Hoa in his truck bound for Da Nang.  At the same time, a marine unit was patrolling the road out of An Hoa.  Without any warning, Larry found a bearded Dan Mejstrik on his running board.  Dan had spotted Larry driving by in his truck, jumped on the running board, and had a quick reunion while Larry’s truck passed Dan’s platoon. 


Big Change!

War movies and books about men in combat often depict the plight of new recruits and their tendency to quickly become casualties.  Combat relies on instincts that come from experience.  Lee Merchen was keenly aware of this as he spent most of his tour in Vietnam, honing his skills and instincts as a helicopter pilot.  As the war receded, a surplus of helicopter pilots developed and Lee was assigned to his detail branch, the artillery.  He was then attached to an infantry unit as a forward observer.  This new position required Lee to develop an entirely new set of skills and instincts; something that was rarely required of the troops in Vietnam.




This web page is a work in progress. It has been created through the donated efforts of Laura Genant Martin, Dick Martin, and Jim Hornstra. When Laura was made aware of what we needed, she took the initiative to research and educate herself on how to create a web site to identify, respect and honor the military veterans in Springfield. The web site had to be easy to navigate and had to provide the viewer a method of providing feedback. Most of the written material has been provided by Dick Martin over the past couple of years with some important contributions from others, i.e. Jim Kirk.  Jim Hornstra has been the reliable source as he has been the collector of information concerning Springfield Veterans and has provided Laura much of what has gone into the web site.
  • World War I
    • Veteran Photos
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • Edwin Dwight Wood
  • World War II
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Lawrence Namminga
      • Fred C Hornstra
      • Chuck Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • John Palsma
      • Clarence Ludens
      • Jack Martin
      • Bob Slade
      • Joe Uken Jr
    • Springfield Was There
    • Biographies A-H >
      • Walter Babcock
      • Wayne Barham
      • Charles "Chuck" Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • Jake DenOuden
      • Biographies K-Ma >
        • Bernard Kastein
        • James Kirk
        • Leonard Lange
        • Ted Lindeman
        • Clarence Ludens
        • John C. Ludens
        • John "Jack" Martin
        • Richard "Darby" Martin
      • Robert DeRoos
      • Shorty Halsey
      • Nanno Hiemstra
      • Fred C Hornstra
    • Biographies Mi-O >
      • Floyd Mitchell
      • Jacob Namminga
      • Lawrence Namminga Sr
      • Ode Odens
      • Lawrence Owens
    • Biographies P-S >
      • Allen Palsma
      • John Palsma
      • Virgil Rauch
      • Jack Rich
      • Robert Slade
    • Biographies Th-U >
      • Clark Thomas
      • Neil Thomas
      • Merle Toyne
      • Joe Uken
  • Korean War
    • Veteran Photos
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
    • Biographies >
      • Donald Dempster
      • Gelvin "Gil" DeRoos
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
      • Virginia McClure
      • Donald McMillan
      • Peter Monfore
      • Wilbert Renner
      • Clarence Vanderlei
  • Cold War
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • Robert McCollum
  • Vietnam War
    • Veteran Photos
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
      • Larry Talsma
    • My Week in Hue City
    • Biographies >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Perry Lundin
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
      • Robert Monfore
      • Larry Talsma
  • Middle East Wars
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • James "Uke" Uken
  • Army National Guard
    • Veteran Photos
    • Rapid City Flood
    • Japanese Internment