thisweek mature lifestyles

BY EMILY HEDGESCONTRIBUTING WRITER

The sight of a UH-1 “Huey” transport helicopter picking up wounded soldiers and carrying them to safety is the quint-essential image of the American experi-ence in Vietnam.

For Lakeville resident Mike Guilday, this was a daily reality during his tour of duty. Guilday had no plans for college right out of high school. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and he knew ser-vice was inevitable. After a year working construction, he decided to pursue fl ight school for helicopters.

“I thought if I’m going to go in, I might as well do something I’d like,” he said. “Fly-ing helicopters sound-ed like something fun to do.”

He graduated from fl ight school in 1968 as a warrant offi cer and was sent to Viet-nam at the age of 20. He began fl ying ob-servation helicopters, but soon moved to the Huey. As the pilot, he was the aircraft commander in charge of the copilot and all the onboard troops.

“Anything you see in Vietnam, you al-ways see the Huey transport helicopter,” he said. “As pilot, you were the guy to keep them safe. It’s up to you to get them there in one piece.”

There were 17 pilots in Guilday’s unit. Five died during his tour.

“One is not much aware of your own mortality. I don’t ever recall thinking, ‘Geez, this is dangerous,’” said Guilday. “Sitting around drinking beer, you’d

think, ‘Well, this guy might die, or that guy might die, but I’m not going to die.’”

Guilday says that you don’t know how long a year is until you’ve been in a war.

“We had a short-timer’s calendar. You’d look at it and know exactly how many days you had left. A year counted down day by day,” he said.

His year fi nally ended and he returned to the states to fi nish out his active duty training other pilots at Fort Walters in Texas. Once discharged, he used the GI Bill to earn a degree in animal science from the University of Minnesota.

Guilday is semi-retired from the Kap-stone corrugator plant in Fridley, where he worked for more than 30 years. He

spent 21 years fl ying with the Minnesota Army Reserves where he taught young pi-lots. However, he points out that you can only get so good

fl ying one weekend a month.“In Vietnam, we were damn good pi-

lots because we fl ew every day, no week-ends or holidays off. Those controls be-came extensions of our arms, hands, and feet. We could make it do anything we wanted,” he said.

For Guilday, his year in Vietnam wasn’t all bad. He refl ects on the camaraderie he experienced and the feeling of being good at what you do with fondness.

“I saw a lot of death and destruction, but overall, Vietnam was a positive expe-rience,” he said.

Contact Emily Hedges at [email protected].

Vietnam helicopter pilot fl ew iconic ‘Huey’ chopper during year-long tour

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This August 1969 photo ran with an article in Guilday’s hometown newspaper in Delavan, Wis. Mike Guilday, left, and his brother Jon meet in Vietnam. Inset: Lakeville residents Mike and Sue Guilday have been married for 43 years.

Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 17, 2013 sunthisweek.com

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Richfi eld resident Francis Schmolke (Smokey) learned fi rsthand about the sacrifi ces of war as a child.

His sister, Cecelia, was one of 30 women killed in a plane crash in the South Pacifi c while serving as a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II.

“I was only about seven years old when they brought her remains back in 1946,” recalls Smokey. “I’ve got her diary, her scrapbook and an old Star Journal article about her.”

The loss made an indelible impres-sion on the young boy, the youngest of a military family. Two brothers served in the Army and Marines during World War II, and another brother tried to enlist in the Navy after Korea, but was denied due to asthma.

Smokey joined the Navy in 1957. After boot camp, he reported to his ship in Norfolk, Va, where he served in Information and Education, working closely with the captain in a clerical ca-pacity. He was later transferred to the

Information and Education chaplain. During this time he worked with John O’Connor, who became a well-known Cardinal from New York.

These days, Smokey attends mili-tary reunions and works with the Navy League. Recently he’s found another kind of war: beating lymphoma into remission.

“It’s an honor to serve like my brothers and sisters did ahead of me,” Smokey said. “Seeing some of the country and the world, meeting nice people. There were good and bad memories.”

Smoky recently returned to Wash-ington D.C., where he had spent time at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling during his service. The highlight of his trip was a visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

“The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is something I’d always go back to see,” said Smokey. “Listening to Taps; hear-ing the guns go off and the names read; I can’t help but cry.”


Remembering a sister who never came home from the Pacifi c

Above: Francis Schmolke’s sister, Lt. Cecelia A. Schmolke, was killed while serving as an Army nurse in the Pacifi c Theater.

Above left: Francis Schmolke joined the Navy in 1957 and served until right before the start of the Cuban blockade.



Family and friends of William “Doc” Wenmark refer to him as, “the myth, the man, the legend.”

When you hear his harrowing account of serving as a corpsman in Vietnam, you think that’s why, but that’s only part of what makes the Minnetonka resident un-forgettable. Petty Offi cer Wenmark served for six years (1966-1972) with the U.S. Navy, four in active duty and two in the reserves.

“I had a rich experience as a 20-year-old man during the troubling 1960s in Ameri-ca,” he said.

Shortly after joining in 1966, the young corpsman stationed in Washington D.C. had a unique assign-ment. Vice President Hubert Humphrey asked if there was a corpsman from Min-nesota available to attend him. Wenmark fi t the bill. During his time serving Hum-phrey, Wenmark spent many an evening watching “Bonanza” and “The Untouch-ables” with the VP. He also fl ew on Air Force Two to Minnesota, where he was able to introduce his family. Wenmark re-calls that his mother saw Humphrey at a campaign event two years later and he still remembered her name.

“When she told him I had just volun-teered to go to Vietnam, he told her to let him know if he could help me in any way,” said Wenmark.

His last year of active duty was spent in Vietnam serving with the First Marine Di-vision. A combat corpsman faced an aver-age life expectancy of three months. Wen-mark later earned the Navy Achievement Medal for exemplary service.

“I was able to use all my medical edu-cation to save many lives, but I also lost many others,” he said. “I live with their dying conversations as they pleaded with me to save them. I held them while they died, while doing everything I could.”

The fact that he survived Vietnam and 58,000 others didn’t is something Wen-mark doesn’t take lightly. He uses this knowledge to fuel his desire to make a difference in the world.

“That means God choose not to take me and therefore I am here to do some-thing every day with my life. My service set me up for who and what I have done with the 40-plus years since Vietnam,” he said.

Wenmark returned home to Minne-sota and immediately began to distin-

guish himself within the medical industry. He spent many years as a successful hospital administrator, policy writer and government advisor.

In 1983, he started the state’s fi rst ur-gent care facility, which grew into 28 medical practices. He says the minute he sold the business to Wells Fargo, he took off his watch and hasn’t worn one since.

He has participated in more than 100 marathons and trained an estimated 4,000 students to conquer the 26.2 mile challenge.

One of his students was his own moth-er, who ran the fi rst of many marathons at 73 years of age.

“I want to inspire people to keep living life and doing good things; to push and challenge themselves; to see the glass as half-full,” he said.


Doc Wenmark completes 26.2 miles this past March in the Bataan Memorial Death March held each year in White Sands, N.M. The event commemorates the Bataan Death March during World War II. Inset: Wenmark in Vietnam.

Vietnam corpsman seeks to inspire, teach others

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Patriotism and family could be found at the center of Jim Dare’s life. He was proud to have served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, although the experience would end his life decades after returning home to Eagan, Minnesota.

It was while seeking help for post-trau-matic stress after 9/11 that the retired Min-neapolis fi refi ghter re-alized the extent of his sacrifi ce in Vietnam.

When his doctors realized he had served on a ship cruising up and down the Mekong River, referred to the “Brown Water Navy,” his doctors im-mediately ordered tests for prostate cancer, a common result of exposure to Agent Or-ange. The results were grim.

After his diagnosis, Jim recalled that several shipmates from the USS Whitfi eld County, a 384-foot-long landing ship, had also had died from prostate cancer.

Although he fought his cancer with the same determination with which he served,

Dare passed away last October at the age of 66. One of his fi nal requests was to have his picture taken with the American fl ag.

“This Memorial Day will be a little harder on our family. It is important for us to bring awareness about the soldiers who served long ago and are suffering now from their service,” said his wife, Karen Dare.

She is passionate about raising aware-ness about the effects of exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange, which is

known to cause several cancers and other dis-eases.

“The awareness piece is that so many veter-ans that are in their

late 60s and 70s are discovering that they have medical conditions, and some of them do not have the medical coverage to cover some of the costs and care,” said Karen. “Many qualify for help from the Veteran’s Administration, but they are unaware or do not understand that it is OK to ask for help.”


Patriotism and family at the center of Navy vet’s life

Jim asked to have his picture taken in front of the American fl ag on the day he went home from the VA. He died three days later at home with the same blanket wrapped around him. Photo submitted by Karen Dare.

Jim Dare as a young man serving in the U.S. Navy.

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New Brighton resident Sharon Olson is proud of her uncle, William Vsetecka, and his service during World War II.

He participated in the battle for Okinawa and the invasion of Iwo Jima, two of the most dramatic episodes of the war in the Pacifi c. Vsetecka served on the USS Blad-en, a 426-foot-long attack transport. How-ever, it was only after reading two poems written by an 18-year-old Vsetecka that described the events fi rsthand that Olson and her entire family truly realized the pro-found depth of his experience.

“When our grandfather died, another uncle came across these and sent them to me,” recalls Olson. “I’m in constant con-tact with my uncle who wrote these, and I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you pursue a writ-ing career?’ He said he thought they weren’t good enough.”

Olson said that she and their entire family were impressed by the way he captured what he saw at such a young age.

“I thought, ‘Wow, my uncle is such a fan-tastic writer,” she said.

Vsetecka, a Minnesota native who now resides in Great Bend, Kansas, was serving as a seaman in 1945 when he wrote the fol-lowing, published with his permission.

Invasion of Iwo Jima

A murky morning, weary menBattle-scarred and grimRaising Old Glory on a barren rockSinging our national hymn

The battle for Iwo JimaIs over with and won.And the bulletin reads next morningThank you, men, well done.

But I’d like to tell folks back homeIf it isn’t against the lawSome of the things that happenedSome of the things I saw.

I saw faces taut with anxious strainAnd some with an empty stare.I remember that horrible morningBecause, Brother, I was there.

There were bodies strewn on that barren rockAnd on the beaches, too.Yes! I remember it, BrotherAnd you’d better remember it too.

If I live to be a thousandI’ll never forget that day.For we carried these kids overAnd we carried the wounded away.

Yes, we carried those kids overKids as healthy as any you’d fi nd.And we brought a lot of them back againBroken in body and mind.

I saw a lad with an arm shot offIt was lying by his side.And he placed that arm between his kneesThere was a tear he tried to hide.

And he plucked a ring from his lifeless hand

And he looked up with a plea

And he asked, “Would you place this wedding band

On my other hand for me?”

There was another lad and his mind was gone.They said it was gone from shock.That was his meager donationFor the price of barren rock.

I saw offi cers and men on the Bladen(That was the ship I was on)Doing everything in their powerFor the wounded we carried on.

They offered their clothes, their smokes and their bunks,They even offered blood.They did everything humanly possibleEverything that they could.

And I saw the doctors and the corpsmenWorking with all their might.Trying to save the human lifeThat we brought aboard that night.

Yes, we out here will rememberCome fi re, brimstone or fl ood,That every inch of the barren rockWas bought in American Blood.

William H. Vsetecka, February 25, 1945

Poems from Iwo Jima recall human cost of war

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Don and Delores Mullenbach of Shorewood will never forget one special afternoon on the Duluth Lakewalk.

While pausing at the Korean Vet-eran’s Memorial during their bike ride, they were approached by a young Korean couple pushing a toddler in a stroller.

The young man asked Don about his service in Korea.

Delores recalls watching the two men discuss and point at the large map hanging in the memorial while his wife stood by smiling, unable to speak English.

“After the visit the young man thanked Don for his sacrifi ce for being in Korea during the war. He said if it hadn’t been for people like Don he would not be going to school in North Dakota to advance

his education,” said Delores. “It was very meaningful, and I think everyone should know how the young people of

South Korea feel about America’s involvement in the Korean War.”

Don was drafted out of high school

in 1952 and served as a military police-man in Korea.

His company had policing responsi-bility of civilian and military installa-

tions in and around the Han River. “It surprised me a little bit that a

young man who wasn’t even born when we were at war would realize how lucky he was that the United Nations, with the U. S. as a big player, saved their country,” said Don. “It kind of made me feel it was a worthwhile en-deavor for the United Nations to do. It touched my heart.”


A thanks for service in Korea, many years later

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Mullenbach with a Korean girl. Mullenbach pictured in 1953 north of Seoul, South Korea.

Mullenbach, standing, pictured April 3, 1954, with Bill Koski, who played baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Mullenbach could see airplanes fl ying below from this mountain north of Seoul, South Korea.


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One of the annual highlights for Rich-ard Kaminski is riding in Edina’s Fourth of July parade. From an Army truck, he smiles, waves and hopes efforts like these will ensure that the experience of World War II veterans is never forgotten.

“It’s quite an experience and thrill riding in the parade,” the Richfi eld resident said. “It gets to you as you go by and everyone is clapping.”

At age 19, Kaminski was drafted into the Army’s armored forces, but later trans-ferred into what was known then as the U.S. Army Air Corps (it later became the U.S. Air Force in 1947). He completed gunnery school and was sent to England to join the 457th Bomb Group. During his time in Europe, he fl ew 15 missions as a waist gunner on a B-17, manning two .50-caliber machine guns in the middle sec-tion of the bomber.

“You sure get religion in a hurry when someone is shooting at you,” he said. “The crew would do anything for each other. I’m

glad I went through it, but I wouldn’t do it again.”

Kaminski said he went into the Army weighing 169 pounds and came out at 215.

“Being in the military straightened me out. I went in as a kid and came out a man,” he said.

Kaminski used his military experience and maturity to thrive in a position as facilities manager with the Munsingwear company, based in the Twin Cities He is a past president of the Eighth Air Force Association and continues to serve on the board.

“It’s quite an organization. Our mem-bers do lots of things, like speaking to kids in schools about their military experience,” Kaminski said. “Of course, there are air shows. We’re always involved in those.”

He feels that keeping alive the memory of sacrifi ces made for freedom is the most important mission of the organization.

“I’d hate to see everything lost that we went through,” he said. “That’s our biggest mission.”


Dick Kaminski stands with a painting of two B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers: McGuire’s Chop-house, his plane, and Stormy Weather, fl own by his brother, 1st Lt. Vincent Kaminski, who was shot and killed fl ying his 27th mission in May 1944.

The wings of warThe wings of war

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