ALL,

HSCS Don Swanger is having his retirement ceremony this Friday, the 25th. Great guy and truly someone that loves his country, his rate and has done great things for the HS rating. I'm sure he would love to hear from those of you out there that have worked with him in the past.

HSC Elliott

quote:

Originally posted by cgwildcat:
ALL,

HSCS Don Swanger is having his retirement ceremony this Friday, the 25th. Great guy and truly someone that loves his country, his rate and has done great things for the HS rating. I'm sure he would love to hear from those of you out there that have worked with him in the past.

HSC Elliott

You get a free apple, Mr. Kain-tuck. Yes, Senior Chief Swanger will surely be missed, and the Coast Guard is losing a living-breathing piece of History and someone who's middle name is "service". They don't make them like Don anymore. I will be there if I can; I'm on leave. Later, Bubba.....

Luv ya, Don, if you read this. I wish I had gotten to work with you and grown to know you better. The few times that we did meet (add up to minutes) are worth more than the many years I've had to work with some people in my CG career. If I don't see you before you retire, stay in touch and have a cigar on me; just tell the proprietor that I owe them for a cigar of your choice...just put it on my tab. You deserve it....Good luck, bro....and fair winds...

Hey Roger,

I never met Senior Chief Swanger, but back in the day, when I was Detailer, I did phone business a number of times with Petty Officer Swanger. A no B.S., straight shooter kind of guy. Wish there were more like him.

Even though I don’t know what he looks like, if I bumped into him and he said anything, I would probably be able to identify him by that distinctive voice of his.

Wish the man smooth sailing for me.

Mike Cantatore

quote:

Originally posted by Mike_Cantatore:
Hey Roger,

I never met Senior Chief Swanger, but back in the day, when I was Detailer, I did phone business a number of times with Petty Officer Swanger. A no B.S., straight shooter kind of guy. Wish there were more like him.

Even though I don’t know what he looks like, if I bumped into him and he said anything, I would probably be able to identify him by that distinctive voice of his.

Wish the man smooth sailing for me.

Mike Cantatore

Will do sir! He is a living piece of history and I suspect tomorrow is going to be a tough one for him.
Hope things are going well for you and yours.
Roger

HSCS,

Sorry to hear about you leaving the Guard..... I was looking forward to working with you out in Petaluma. Hopefully you will come in and instruct a few classes for old times sake!

Erin

Senior Chief,

I remember when you were onboard the USCGC CONFIDENCE in 2000 doing TSTA. It was a real pleasure to meet you. I will never forget your mentoring and your stories.

From one former Marine turned Coast Guard HS to another, Semper Fi and Semper Paratus!

Senior, you will surely be missed. Thanks for all your advise and for sharing your wisdom with us all. I will forever more think of you whenever I prepare a fried bologna sandwich and hope to share a sandwich or two with you soon.
Best of luck.

Randy Spainhour

HSCS,
It was an honor to work with you up to your last day in the uniform you wore so proudly. I will always remember the time we spent together (and the stories of Jeramiah Johnson, the crow, Bad Santa, etc). during the PATFORSWA training. Be safe and I hope to work with you soon at BW.
PS1 RW

FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS DON!
Erik


Last Vietnam combat veteran in Coast Guard's ranks retiring

12:00 AM CDT on Monday, July 7, 2008
By JOANNA CATTANACH / The Dallas Morning News
jcattanach@dallasnews.com

After some 30 years of military service, the last Vietnam veteran still on active duty in the Coast Guard is finally retiring.



COURTNEY PERRY/DMN
Senior Chief Petty Officer Donald Swanger, a Coast Guard health services technician, served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine. After retiring from the military, he'd like to pursue work in the health industry and to continue helping other Vietnam veterans. And he's not looking forward to it.

"I can't imagine what life's going to be outside of this uniform," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Donald Swanger, a 58-year-old health services technician.

"I have never looked forward to retirement," he said last week as he picked at a guitar in his sister's living room in Mesquite. His SUV was parked in the driveway, filled with retirement gear – fishing poles, a hunting rifle, golf clubs.

"Someone said to me one time [that] when I retire, that'll be the close of an era," he said. "But I don't think it will be, because even though the last Vietnam combat veteran retires, that doesn't shut the door.

"There's still Vietnam veterans, there's Vietnam veterans' families and wives and their children that still need help," he said.

While Chief Petty Officer Swanger is the last active-duty Vietnam veteran in the Coast Guard, there are nine left in the Marine Corps. That's the branch of the service he joined in 1967, when he was 17.

Letting her son join the military wasn't an easy decision for his mother, who died last year.

"Mom was worried because of the situation and the way the war was going at the time," said his sister, Evelyn Hamilton. But, "she knew that [it] was an opportunity for him."

The young lance corporal was the oldest of five siblings, and supporting the family was his main motivation. "We grew up very, very poor," he said. His father left when he was 7. Most the $92 a month he earned as an enlisted man was sent home.

By September 1968, the young Marine was featured in a Dallas Morning News article documenting his platoon's battle with Viet Cong. Photos showed him alongside a tank but didn't convey his nervousness.

Standing up with the enemy around could get you killed in Vietnam, Chief Petty Officer Swanger said.

But it was the transition home – to Dallas, to a country that no longer saw him as a hero – that left its deepest wounds.

The first time he returned from Vietnam, he wasn't old enough to buy a beer. But plenty of people bought him drinks – and steak dinners.

But a year later, in 1969, Chief Petty Officer Swanger returned to a country he didn't know.

"Someone threw dog crap at me at the airport in California," he said. People called him a baby-killer, a fascist.

He tried to go to Vietnam again, to the stress and the dying, the life he knew as normal. But the Marines turned down his request for a third tour.

In 1973, after a brief stint as a logger in Oregon, he signed up for the Coast Guard. He left it in 1978 for civilian life, serving as a firefighter in Pensacola, Fla., and as a physician's assistant in Dallas.

But by 1985, he was back in the Coast Guard with a new mission – starting a school. The Independent Duty Health Services Technician School teaches technicians skills to diagnose and treat a variety of medical conditions.

"He worked over a decade to create a school," said Coast Guard public affairs officer Dan Dewell, who worked with Chief Petty Officer Swanger. "He felt from his own experience in the field that [technicians] needed a separate course of study. It turns out he was right."

In April, Chief Petty Officer Swanger retired. It's not official until August, but he's using saved leave to relax and look for a new job.

"I've been told I'd make a good door guard at Wal-Mart," he said, half-joking. " 'Here's your shopping cart, lady. Move it.' "

The burly Coast Guardsman isn't the greeter type. He can't quite get the military tone out of his day-to-day speech. He even dresses in green and khaki civilian clothes and still feels the need for a buzz cut when his hair reaches more than half an inch.

He'd like to pursue work in the health industry and continue to help Vietnam veterans and those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

He'd also like to spend more time with his two "outstanding grandchildren," and maybe something else.

"I've been dreaming of a Harley for 40 years," he said.

For Chief Petty Officer Swanger, his old Marines uniform represents more than just the 20 service honors he received while wearing it. The ****** greens hold the memory of 10 good friends, good Marines he left behind in Vietnam.

At his retirement ceremony in California, he said he planned to take his Coast Guard uniform, "cover it in plastic, stick it in the back of my closet along with a few other trinkets that I have collected along life's path."

From time to time, he'll pull it out, "gaze upon it with fond memories of shipmates and times past and choices and then hide it away again until the next time [I] need a reminder of how good it really was."