Veterans Day: An opportunity to thank service members

Veterans Day is an opportunity to recognize all those who have served to protect freedom in the nation’s armed forces.

Though all of them share similarities, the stories that are told by Veterans are as various as the individuals that tell them.

Michael Bauer was born and raised in Ritzville. After graduating from Ritzville High School he attended Washington State University, and while there he participated in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps until his graduation.

He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on June 8, 1969.

After his graduation Bauer remained in Pullman, as he says, playing rugby and digging ditches.

It wasn’t until a year later in 1970 that he was assigned to his first station.

He reported to his first station on June 8, 1970, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he attended the Officer Basic Course for Field Artillery School for three months.

After completing his training Bauer remained at Fort Sill as a training officer. He was then deployed to Vietnam during the wind down of the war.

He was stationed in Da Nang as a part of the 23rd Air Cav Unit for about eight months.

“It was the end of the war, they were shutting down,” Bauer said. “The 101st up north they were consolidating with us in that and they had all these flights that were empty and so everybody got early outs”

Though the war was winding down, Bauer said he did see his share of action as a forward observer attached to an infantry company.

“My job was when we got hit, bring in the big guns,” he said.

“I recommend it for anybody who wants to lose weight because I went over there 195 pounds and came back 145,” he said about the service.

Bauer attributed this to carrying the gear required through the jungle.

“We’d hit creeks or bomb craters, we’d go in with our clothes on, what little we wore, wash ‘em, rinse ‘em hang ‘em on a tree, wash your body, get out and your clothes were dry,” Bauer said.

Bauer also said he caught a “touch of malaria” during his time in Vietnam as well.

“I was lucky, it made it so I can’t give blood any more,” he said.

His unit then moved to Chu Lai here he was an executive officer of an artillery battery. His firebase housed two 105mm howitzer guns.

“We were doing perimeter for the Chu Lai base camp,” Bauer said.

While there Bauer received a surprise visit from a high school friend, Danny Ray Packard from Ritzville High School.

After leaving Vietnam, Bauer went to McChord Air Force Base in the spring of 1972 where he processed out of the Army.

“I took my final physical and they said even though I was ROTC all the reserve units were full and they said well, because I was a First Lieutenant, they said join the reserves for one day and we’ll make you a Captain. Bauer said, “and I didn’t understand the reserve system and I said ‘see ya.’”

He returned to Ritzville to work the family farm in the spring of 1972, which is what he continues to do today.

Though Bauer may regret not continuing his service in the Army Reserve he still remains proud of his time that he spent in the service of his country.

“I’m still proud to wear the hat every Veterans Day,” he said.

Like all veterans, Bauer has many stories about his experiences in the service. Each story is as unique as the storyteller and Veterans Day is an opportunity to listen to these stories and honor those who have put others before themselves.

Community members and veterans are invited to the Veterans Day assemblies at the Lind-Ritzville Middle School at 10 a.m Nov. 6, and at Lind-Ritzville High School at 2 p.m. on the same day.