Veterans Month
November 2003
NS Veterans Remember
Gary L. White
Demurrage clerk
Atlanta
I am a Vietnam Veteran, and proud to have served my country. I was in the U.S. Army from November 1966 until November 1969, and in Vietnam from March 1968 until February 1969. That was during the Tet offensive.
That was the worst year for our troops in 'Nam. We were losing 550 men a week.
I had a very good job while there working as a water plant supervisor. I had eight men working under my supervision. My last two months in Vietnam, they eliminated the water points, so they put me in the Fire Department.
It was on-the-job training. They told me that if I could purify water, I could fight a fire with it. Only the prayers of my family and friends got me through that awful place.
My youngest son, Allan, enlisted in the U.S. Army in October of this year, and I will now be praying for him as well as our troops now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I've been with Norfolk Southern for 30 years and started my career in Savannah, Ga. We were transferred to Atlanta in February 1999, and hopefully will retire here. My wife Kathy and I have seven children (all grown, thank goodness) and 11 grandchildren.