Vietnam Vet Still Serves Proudly

Published June 3, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Brian Cox, PA
185ARW

03/09/08 -- In May of 1971, at the age of twenty-two like many of the young men in the early 70's, Claire Welte was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training and advanced individual training. This was the beginning of a long and storied military career for Welte. Less than a year later he found himself stationed with Military Assistance Command Vietnam Headquarters, (MAC-V) as a clerk typist in Saigon, Vietnam on Tan Son Nhut Air Base.

Vietnam was quite a change for a young man straight off the farm near Danbury, Iowa. "Nobody wanted to be there. All we could talk about was getting home." said Master Sgt. Claire Welte, who today works as a Vehicle Maintenance technician in the Iowa Air National Guard. "I was there at the end (of the war). It was 7:30 in the morning, the treaty had been signed, and all of a sudden rockets started coming in. There is nothing you could do. Just wait until the attack is over." said Welte.

Thirty-seven years later, things have changed slightly for Welte. He is now a Master Sergeant with the 185th Air Refueling Wing (ARW), Iowa Air National Guard, in Sioux City, Iowa. Since the year 2000, Welte has volunteered to deploy six times to the Middle East, including Iraq in 2004.

His wife has never liked him to volunteer for overseas deployments during wartime but, along with their children (all grown now); she has learned to accept it. "I did it because I like to travel and see new places." Welte said. "I made a personal decision to deploy. Everyone's situation is different. But when you deploy, the experience you gain makes you more valuable to the military and to yourself. Everybody should deploy at least once."

Welte knows that things don't always go as planned overseas and the experience of operating in a "real world" environment can be invaluable back in his home unit. His civilian job as a service manager with John Deere in Sioux City, Iowa lends itself well to his current military job in vehicle maintenance. He gets to work on heavy equipment and make sure the equipment is up and running when needed.

Experience acquired from his many deployments including those with the 185th ARW helped him earn a Bronze Star for maintaining a 97% mission readiness of combat vehicles while deployed to Iraq in 2004. This was no small task considering the hostile environment and lack of availability of spare parts while he was there. "You just have to learn to adapt. We would scrounge parts from different pieces of equipment or improvise and make new parts so we could get the equipment working again," said Welte.

Things have come full circle for Welte. "When I came home from Vietnam (February of 1973), my family was at the airport to meet me. And that was it. You were embarrassed to wear the uniform, and would rather be seen wearing civilian clothes," said Welte. The difference from then to now is evident from his last overseas homecoming. "I will never forget this. When we returned to Baltimore from Kuwait, there was a whole group of people from the USO there to welcome us home. It almost brought tears to my eyes."

When asked if he had any final thoughts on retiring from the Air National Guard, Welte said, "I enjoyed the mission and I enjoyed serving. However, all things must come to an end." As for his retirement plans, there will be no discernable change aside from having a few more weekends free. Welte does have a small piece of advice for new Airmen. "If you keep an open mind, pay your dues and maintain a positive attitude, the Guard can take you places."