This week’s Veteran is Bob Vandergrift, who served in the U.S. Army from 1965-1967, and again from 1969 – 1994 in both active and reserve roles for a total of 27 years. Bob had a distinguished ancestor, General Arthur A. Vandergrift, who commanded the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, and won the Medal of Honor during the Solomon Islands Campaign. Like the General, Bob was an Infantry Officer, at Fort Polk, Louisiana, but he didn’t make it to Vietnam until his second stint in the Army. He taught school from 1967 – 1968, before entering the Army again in January 1969. Since he was already Airborne qualified, Vandergrift applied for the Army Special Forces and was accepted. Bob spent 13 months in Vietnam before returning to Fort Devens, Massachusetts in September 1970, as the drawdown of the war in Indochina was ongoing, and Vandergrift, a Captain at the time; got caught up in the reduction of 15,000 Army captains in forces, to which he pivoted to the Army Reserves. In his civilian work, Bob worked as a stockbroker for Ross Perot, then went on to work for the US State Department, with his most interesting duty being in the security forces overseeing the Camp David Accords during the Jimmy Carter Administration. Good Luck Bob, and Congratulations on being MCNs ‘Veteran of the Week’.