Thursday, April 19, 2007

OCS class reunites, remembers fallen comrade

Members of the Fort Belvoir’s School of Engineering class of 1967 gather on Parade Field 2 on Saturday to look over a 1967 map of the base. The returning engineers stopped at several locations on the base, each time remembering various events and activities.  (Photo by Marny Malin)

A small but dedicated group of about 30 former officers visited Fort Belvoir Saturday to remember a fallen comrade and mark the 40th anniversary of their graduation from the Army’s School of Engineering Officer Candidate School.

The classmates took a tour of Fort Belvoir to rekindle memories and see what had changed in the 40 years since their graduation.

“It’s completely different,” said Ron Eckman, a member of the OCS class of 1967. “All of the modern types of buildings weren’t here. A lot of these brick buildings were here, though. The brick housing around the officers club, that was all here, but the new developments look very different.”

Despite graduating in the middle of the Vietnam War, there were relatively few graduates who served in Southeast Asia.

“I think that it was maybe only half or something like that,” said Eckman. “A lot of us didn’t go to Vietnam.”

However, one of the graduates who did not return from Vietnam served as the catalyst for the reunion. David Padgett graduated with the class of 1967, and went on to serve as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. When his helicopter was shot down, Padgett was listed as missing in action for 15 years. His remains were recovered in 1983, and after DNA testing confirmed his identity, Padgett was laid to rest on Veterans’ Day 2002.

“John Gregurich [a fellow classmate] was reading the names for veterans on the Vietnam Memorial and he read Padgett’s name,” Eckman said. “He had no idea that he was missing”

Gregurich then tracked down Padgett’s parents down and got more information about what happen to him. He learned that Padgett had gone on to become a helicopter pilot and was last accounted for flying a helicopter in Vietnam.

“They were trying to get into a firebase to bring in ammunition, supplies and to drop a Vietnamese major and colonel off,” said Gregurich. “Dave made a third attempt when the other two choppers bailed. They didn’t find that chopper for 15 years. In ‘83 they had the first sightings from aerial reconnaissance. It was on the side of a mountain. They tried to find dog tags, but a lot of it was stolen. The bones were all picked over by animals and who knows what. They did find enough of each person to have DNA testing. In the case of Dave, they found his false tooth by dental records. They found enough to verify by DNA testing. The Army did a hell of a job when they scheduled the wake and funeral on Veteran’s Day 2002. They did it proud. That’s when the class came together.”

Ron Eckman agrees that it was at Padgett’s funeral that the class of 1967 really reunited.

“Twenty-one members of this class came to the event,” said Eckman. “It was really an amazing event. We have tried to get a few together on Veterans’ Day every year since. We have five to ten people show up at the wall at six o’clock in the morning [every Veterans’ Day].”

Eckman cites the tremendous amount of unity that his class shared as one of the reasons why they were able to come back together after so many years.

“This was a very cohesive class,” said Eckman. “We spent six months together night and day. It really was an easy group to work with. I don’t remember a minute of dissension the entire time when we were in OCS. We come together today and it’s like no time has passed.”