Veterans Month
November 2003
NS Veterans Remember
Jackie L. Phelps
Chief dispatcher
Alabama Division
I was drafted into the Army May 5, 1969 and received my basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., from May to July. I went to Fort Sill, Okla. for AIT training as an artillery crewman. Then there was another six weeks of training to become an artillery repairman. I was ordered to Vietnam on Oct. 14, 1969.
I served as an RTO for an artillery forward observer from October1969 until June 1970. I ran an NCO club from June 1970 until Aug. 19, 1970 when I was sent back to the U.S. due to my father's death. I served as a mechanic at Fort Knox, Ky. from September 1970 until my discharge in May of 1971. I received the Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service.
I joined Southern Railway in July 1974 as agent operator in Danville, Ken. I began service as a train dispatcher in July 1978 at Somerset, Ky., and was promoted to chief dispatcher at Somerset in June 1986. I became assistant superintendent at Somerset in July 1987, and transferred to Birmingham in November 2001 when the Somerset office closed.