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  • Salute To Veterans

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    Dick Luper is one of 2,039 veterans living in the small town of sedalia, Mo. Luper's time in the 101st Airborne Division led to close encounters with Vietnam and The Cuban Missile Crisis. "I think the average person who goes into the military is more disciplined," he says.

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    Dick Luper is one of 2,039 veterans living in the small town of sedalia, Mo. Luper's time in the 101st Airborne Division led to close encounters with Vietnam and The Cuban Missile Crisis. "I think the average person who goes into the military is more disciplined," he says.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato DOC, PDF, TXT o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    59 visualizzazioni3 pagine

    Salute To Veterans

    Caricato da

    api-292731264
    Dick Luper is one of 2,039 veterans living in the small town of sedalia, Mo. Luper's time in the 101st Airborne Division led to close encounters with Vietnam and The Cuban Missile Crisis. "I think the average person who goes into the military is more disciplined," he says.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    di 3

    SalutetoVeterans:CubanMissileCrisis

    offeredDickLuperfirstrealtasteofwar
    Tohonorthosewhohaveservedourcountryinthemilitary,KyForwardhasjoinedwithaUK
    SchoolofJournalismadvancedjournalismclasstaughtbyDr.MichaelFarrellforaseriesof
    storiesonveteransandtheirpersonalexperiences.Wehopethesestoriesprovideinsightforall
    ofusandgivespecialmeaningtothecelebrationofVeteransDay.
    ByNealQuerio
    SpecialtoKyForward
    DickLuperisamanwhoseentirelifewasalteredjustbychance.
    Luperisoneof2,039veteranslivinginthesmalltownofSedalia,Mo.,whichhasapopulation
    of21,387,accordingtotheU.S.CensusBureau.Histimeinthe101stAirborneDivisionledhim
    toKentuckyandhiscloseencounterswithVietnamandtheCubanMissileCrisis.
    LuperwasborninFlorence,Mo.,aroundtheendofWorldWarII.Hisparents,Bonnieand
    GilbertLuper,hadtwochildrenafterDick,asonandadaughter.
    LuperandhissiblingsgrewupduringtheColdWar.However,thefearofCommunismnever
    reachedtheLuperhousehold.Hesaidthathisparentswerenotpoliticalpeopleandwouldnot
    evenknowwhataCommunistwas.
    WhenLuperwas6,hisparentsdivorced,andhemovedwithhismotherandsiblingstothe
    countrysideofSedalia.
    Lupersmotherremarriedin1962toThomasJinks,astaffsergeantintheU.S.AirForce.Three
    morechildrencamefromtheirmarriage.
    At18,Luperdroppedoutofhighschoolin1961andenlisted.TwoyearslaterhisbrotherEd
    volunteered.
    LupersbasicandadvancedtrainingtookplaceatFortLeonardWoodnearSt.Robert,Mo.
    Ithinktheaveragepersonwhogoesintothemilitaryismoredisciplined.Theytendtobenicer
    towardtheirfellowman.Thatsapartofbeingasolider,hesaid.
    Hejoinedthe101stAirborneDivisioninthefallof1961andwasstationedatFortCampbell
    nearHopkinsville.
    The101stAirborneDivisionplayedasignificantroleinthefightingoftheVietnamWar.Many
    ofthemenwerestationedattheborderbetweenNorthandSouthVietnam,wherethemajorityof

    theheavyfightingoccurred.ThelastmajorbattlebetweentheU.S.andVietnamoccurredduring
    a23daybattlebetweenthe101stAirborneandtheNorthVietnamese,knownasFirebase
    Ripcord.
    Lupersawnoneofthisfighting.HespentmostofhistimeinHopkinsvilleorinBowlingGreen
    whileonleave.
    TheCubanMissileCrisisofferedLuperhisfirstrealtasteofwar.
    ThecrisiscameaboutafterSovietforceswerespottedbuildingnuclearmissilesitesinCuba.
    PresidentJohnF.KennedyorderedablockadeonCubaandissuedastatementthatSoviet
    LeaderNikitaKhrushchevwastoremoveanddestroythemissilebasesorthecountrieswould
    gotowar.NeitherleaderwantedanuclearwarsoKhrushchevcomplied.
    LuperreflectedonhisalmostdeploymenttoCubaandexplainedthathisdivisionwasonthe
    runwayreadytoflyout.
    Lookingbackonthatmomentinhismilitaryservice,Lupersaid,Imsure70percentofus
    didnthaveanyideawhereCubaevenwasorwhyweweregoingtogotheretotryanddefend
    theplace.
    TheCubanMissileCrisisneverculminatedinanactualbattle,butforLuperitwasatoopossible
    reality.
    Ittookme40yearstorealizehowclosewedcometoarealwar,reflectedLuper.
    Luperhadtheoptiontoreenlistin1964butdidnotwanttocommitfortwomoreyears.This
    provedtobeapivotaldecisionforLuper.
    Ifhehadreenlisted,Luperwouldhavejoinedhisbrother,EdLuper,inOkinawa,Japan.Edwas
    partofthe174thAirborne,whichwasoneofthefirstforcesdispatchedintoVietnam.
    HisstepfatherservedinVietnamandallofDickswifesbrothersspenttimeoverthereaswell.
    LuperhasasenseofhumorwhenitcomestohistimeatFortCampbell.
    Hejokedduringtheinterview,Ifwehad$3wedrankallthewine;ifwehadfivewewentto
    BowlingGreen.

    HisgrandsonandUniversityofKentuckystudent,SeanLoomis,recallsafamilytripto
    Hopkinsville.Hesaidthathisgrandpateasedthemaboutpossiblyrunningintoachildofhis
    downthere.
    Helikestojokeabouthispartytimes,butdeepdownIknowthathetookhistimeinthe
    militaryveryseriously,Loomisexplained.

    ThesedaysDickliveswithhiswife,Valmeta,inSedalianextdoortohisstepfatherontheir50
    acresofland.Histwodaughtersandtheirfamiliesstillresideinthetownaswell.Hepasseshis
    timerebuildingclassiccarsandspendingtimewithhisfamily.Heevendrewupthefloorplans
    forthehomeofoneofhisdaughters.
    Mypawpawwastheonewhoinspiredmetobecomeahistorymajor,SeanLoomissaid.He
    isthesmartestmanIknow.
    ThousandsofsoldierslosttheirlivesinVietnam,butforDickLuperfatehadadifferentplan.

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