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Published: September 14, 2008 10:38 am
Serving proudly
Grandson escorts WWII veteran to Arlington National Cemetery
Toni Hopper
The Duncan Banner
DUNCAN —
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part story highlighting a family’s dedication to the armed services. Part 1 was be published in Friday’s Banner.
A tradition of military historyJohn Dyer said his father, Dyer Sr., joined the Army in 1917 and was called up but never had to go overseas for service.
“Down the line, my older half brother went in, in 1942. He went into Occupied Japan, the Aleutian Islands and it was in 1946 when they released him,” Dyer said.
Only a few short years later, in 1958, John Dyer Jr. continued the family tradition.
“I joined the Army. I was fixin’ to turn 21 years old. I got in the Army and they were short of cooks. I enjoyed my tour. I volunteered for three years and served 90 days less than that. They deactivated the tour,” he said.
His job as a cook in the Army provided him with many wonderful memories.
“As an Army cook, I was known as one of the only humans that could take good food and make it taste like human waste without running it through the human body,” Dyer shared and laughed heartily.
Dyer said he met his wife when she was only three days past 16 and he was 21, at the base skating rink in Washington state. They will celebrate 49 years of marriage on Dec. 26, he said. They married when she was 17.
“My wife’s grandfather was with the Corps of Engineers at Richland-Kennewick-Pasco up along the Columbia Gorge,” he said. He admits that when he and Jan met, he didn’t automatically sweep her off her feet.
“I literally knocked her off her feet — at the skating rink,” he laughed. Dyer, 71, who is now an ordained minister, said he has a great admiration and respect for women.
“You know, I told my boys, you can treat me any way you want, but if I ever catch you treating your mom in any disrespectful way, I’ll take you out in the backyard and deal with you.”
But his lighter side comes out as he recalls what he told Charles after his son finished Marine boot camp. The older Dyer, after sizing his son up, decided that maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea. In good spirit though, Dyer said he never had to worry about his sons being disrespectful of their mother. Charles is the youngest of the three Dyer offspring. The oldest, John Sydney Dyer III, 48, and daughter, Amy, 28, have somewhat followed also in their parents’ footsteps. Jan and Amy are both registered burses. The oldest Dyer son works in the heating and air-conditioning industry. He served 3 1/2 years in the Army. His father laughs when he talks about tradition of the John Dyer name being broken, when John Dyer III named his son Montana.
As Dyer continues sharing his thoughts, it’s evident that he is proud of his family and what they’ve accomplished. It also is interesting to hear him talk about veterans who served in the wars.
“I have a deep respect for veterans. When I see these older gentlemen wearing these ballcaps with insignia, I will go up to them and shake their hand and tell them thank you. Try it and you will see what I mean.”
He said its one of the most humbling moments that a person can do.
The Dyers are glad they have a strong faith in the Lord. Especially during a long year when Charles was in Iraq.
“I think God kept him safe. I believe in prayer, but God still has ‘thy will to be done’, nonetheless. Charlie, he couldn’t talk much about what he was doing over there. I know he was up Euphrates River, north of Baghdad. I asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘running with Navy SEALS, a demo crew.’ That was enough. I didn’t need to know any more.
But, it doesn’t surprise Dyer.
“Charlie loves weaponry. He started shooting a bb gun when he was 2 years old and he could shoot a beer can with that bb gun.
For Jan, she thinks of it in more humanitarian terms.
“He wanted to do something that wanted to mean something. Plus he’s a protector, they’re all protectors,” she said.
Has she noticed a difference in her son since his time in Iraq?
“It matures them real fast. They either go one way or the other. He matured, he’s older, quieter.”
And ignoring the harsh reality of it won’t make the war go away, the Dyers shared.
“One of the guys in his unit was killed while he was there. They go through some bad times they don’t want to talk about.”
That doesn’t surprise her. It’s only now after her father’s death that she has discovered just how much he, too, never shared. Within the month after his death, Jan managed to fill an expandable scrapbook album to 5 or 6 inches with certificates, photos and achievements her father earned during his lifetime.
A hero’s life, athlete’s accomplishmentsJan’s father, Richard Smith, was born in Corvallis, Ore., June 1, 1921. When he was 3, he got polio, but his mother wouldn’t accept that he might never walk. Her determination involved working with him constantly, first in the bathtub, then a pool and anywhere there was water that would serve as therapy. A year later, he was walking. That determination must have been what molded Smith into, what Jan describes as a perfectionist, but also an extraordinary athlete and soldier.
The highlights of her father, Charles’ grandfather, include competing in the 1948 World Olympics representing the Army, in London where he placed fourth in javelin; serving as the sports director at every Army base he was stationed; playing volleyball and even serving as the guide editor for the U.S. Volleyball Association from 1984-1993 and developing a play rulings book. According to some of the information in the Smith records, he was certified as a national referee in 1984 and worked every national tournament until he retired in 2000.
“He was real active in all kinds of sports and he had quite a career,” John Dyer said. Smith entered the military at the onset of World War II. He also served in Korea and Vietnam. In WWII, from 1945-46, Smith was with the 1st Allied Airborne Army in Europe.
After he retired from the Army, he went to work for the U.S. Capitol Police there at the nation’s capital. He worked that career for 16 years. Being a police officer wasn’t new for Smith as he also was with the Portland, Ore., Police Department for three years following World War II. He went back into the Army after that.
He earned 23 medals in his military career, including the Bronze Star medal. Dyer said that when they asked him what he did to get the Bronze Star, Smith’s response was simple. “I flew over Europe in World War II.”
Smith was a glider pilot in WWII, Jan said. It wasn’t so much cheating death as it was that streak of perfectionism and making his life count. Among Smith’s accomplishments is also the fact that he helped build the Oakland Army Terminal’s bowling alley in the early 1960s. In the album, a photograph shows Smith with two other men, all three holding bowling balls with lane action behind them, dated 1964. During that time, he was the post sports director at OAT and he organized numerous athletic events for the East Bay and central California area.
But aside from his athletic prowess, Smith also maintained a sense of humor through the war battles.
One letter written to his uncle reveals his lighter side during a difficult time. The five-page letter was dated May 23, 1966, and written from Nha Trang, Vietnam. Dyer has the original copy plus the military airmarked envelope it traveled in. Smith was responding to his invitation to the Coon family reunion which he said, he could not attend.
“This year, I am proudly serving my country in Vietnam.”
On Page 3, Smith writes “I’m without a doubt one of the most live cowards you have ever seen. I jump into the old ‘Beaver’ and push on 32 inches of manifold pressure and 3200 RPM and just leave it there until I reach at least 7,000 feet before easing off to a 28 inches and 1850 RPM cruise setting.
“My first night flight was was such a glorious occasion that Charley fired tracers near the plane. The crew chief was quite disturbed to find the pilot’s seat with big brown stains on it. I wasn’t really scared. It was more like petrified.”
The Dyers said that part of the letter always draws a laugh from those who read it.
“He coordinated the air-ground strike in Vietnam, plus he did some combat flying. I have his entire history written down. There was a lot of it.”
But some of that history is also lost. After Smith’s death, his wife, Azam Eskandar, whom he married 24 years ago, was cleaning out a file cabinet. As she was trying to get a drawer to close, she banged on it, said Jan. Some papers that Smith hid up under the bottom of that drawer tumbled out. Smith had gotten Alzheimer’s in the six months before he died. And in those papers was the Bronze Star certificate. It may be the only record of that medal of valor awarded to Smith. Many WWII Bronze Star recipients were not listed in a database.
For Jan, it’s a huge honor. She did not even know her father until she was 9 years old, as she was adopted by her grandparents. When her grandfather died, that’s when she found out about Smith. She explains that her father and mother had divorced, married other people, and years later, came back together. Eventually, though, his final wife was Eskandar, whom he met in Canada through a sporting event.
Why it’s importantFor the Dyers, many things have shaped their lives and will most definitely impact those of their three children, four grandchildren and 15-great grandchildren.
They both say whenever they are out in public, they keep an eye out for an old veteran wearing a ballcap or some insignia so they can say thank you.
Dyer, who claims to only be semi-retired, finds that no matter how one thinks they control their life, there is a bigger plan.
“You know, the last thing I ever wanted to be was a minister. I was raised a Christian in my mom and dad’s home,” he said. “I pray that God puts somebody in my way that I can help in some way. Some days, I think, why’d you put that one in my way.”
Yet, he never feels that way when it comes to veterans.
“You know, we old boys get so self-centered and self-seeking,” he said.
Obstacles tend to help straighten that out. He relates those obstacles much like the turmoil of the world. “You know, we really must appreciate what we have. We could live in a country where we aren’t so free.”
His wife agrees. “I really do appreciate my freedom,” Jan said.
(Writer’s note: Charles, just before he went on his tour of duty, told this writer that is why he re-enlisted. “For our freedom.”)
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