My whole family served in the U.S. NAVY since John Paul Jones.
My Father and 3 Uncles served in WW2 and Korea. My Brother Served in Vietnam, from 1966 to 1969, and I served from 1969 to 1973. All of my uncles spoke quite a bit about their experiences, as they served 20 years each. My Father was discharged due to Shell Shock, after he had 2 ships sunk under him. His last Ship was a destroyer Escort, the USS Putnam. I enlisted and during the Vietnamization in 1972, I spent 35 days on The Bassac River, relocating, refugees. My boat took machine gun fire from the shoreline, and we lost our lead boat.
The first photo is of Dad in 1943. The other photos are from Boot Camp in the Great Lakes training Center during 1969, Navy # 2 Deck edge Elevator space in 1969, and On The Line in Tonkin Gulf Vietnam in 1971. My little Brother also served 20 years in The U.S. Navy and was on 4 ships. He is a Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom Veteran. I along with many other Vietnam veterans, were spit upon, and called Baby Killers. I had a balloon full of red paint tossed at me while in Uniform.
The wartime experience did not affect me in any way I am aware of other than, it is something that young people should commit to and then excel in, as with any other endeavors they may choose in life. My older brother has just recently over the last few months started talking more about his Navy life. But my younger brother talks more about his service than my older brother does.
Not many folks understand the meaning of “A Calling”. The Lord impressed it on my heart to preach His Gospel. It started out with me teaching the younger children, and then The Lord Moved me to older adults, and around 1982, he called me to Preach the Gospel. I was saved in 1975, and committed my life to the Lord at that point. Once we commit to HIM, we are moved in the direction that we should be going! My Son Daniel, who was born in 1982 was healed of Leukemia in late 1984 and early in 1985.
I was a Machinist for 45 years, and a C.O.G. Minister, and Evangelist, currently now retired from both.
~ Rev. Gary Cate, Vietnam Veteran
www.youtube.com/channel/UCc5OtNMPiGzBvtjO9zwAwKw
We are very grateful to Rev. Cate for his story with Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, where we are all connected.
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