Five men and two women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War have been named Veteran Grand Marshals of the 2007 VA Veterans Day Parade. They are:
MAJOR FRED FERGUSON
Fred Ferguson also is a veteran of more than one branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, having served in the Navy from 1958 to 1962, then in the Army beginning in 1966. From 1967 to 1968, he served as a helicopter pilot and aircraft commander with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam.
In January 1968, then-Chief Warrant Officer Ferguson, commander of a resupply helicopter monitoring an emergency call from wounded passengers and crewmen of a downed helicopter under heavy attack within the enemy- controlled city of Hue, unhesitatingly volunteered to attempt evacuation. Despite warnings from all aircraft to stay clear of the area due to heavy anti-aircraft fire, CWO Ferguson began a low-level flight at maximum airspeed along the Perfume River toward the tiny, isolated South Vietnamese Army compound in which the crash survivors had taken refuge. In the face of intense, short range fire from enemy occupied buildings and boats, he displayed superior flying skill and tenacity by landing his aircraft in an extremely confined area, in a blinding dust cloud, under heavy mortar and small-arms fire. Although the helicopter was severely damaged by mortar fragments during the loading of the wounded, CWO Ferguson disregarded the damage and, taking off through the continuing hail of mortar fire, flew his crippled aircraft through the rain of fire that he had experienced earlier, safely returning his wounded passengers to friendly control. CWO Ferguson's extraordinary determination saved the lives of five of his comrades and earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed on an individual serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
In a distinguished career after his service in Vietnam, Major Ferguson has served as Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, an air ambulance pilot, an instructor pilot with the Arizona Army National Guard and a veterans benefits counselor with the Phoenix Regional Office of the Veterans Administration. He also has been inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame and the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame.
LT. COL DAVID ALTHOFF
After serving two years in the Arizona National Guard, from 1950 TO 1952, David Althoff enlisted in the United States Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet. He completed flight training and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Marine Corps in June 1954. During 20 years of active service, he flew 26 different types of aircraft, serving in Korea and Japan, and was one of eight pilots qualified to deliver an atomic weapon in a single-engine aircraft.
Althoff served two tours of duty in Vietnam, flying 1,080 combat missions. He was shot down four times and earned 76 medals and decorations, including three Silver Star Medals, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Bronze Star. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1972. He has been inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame and the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame.
A successful Realtor in civilian life, Lt. Col. Althoff also has served on the boards of directors of several Valley health care organizations, including nine years as Chairman of the Chandler Regional Hospital Board of Directors, and as President of the Chandler United Way campaign.
RITA BROCK-PERINI
Rita Brock-Perini was a captain with the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps from 1969 to 1971. She served at Wilford Paul Medical Center in San Antonio, Tex., as a charge nurse on a ward of 50 or more patients that included seriously wounded men from Vietnam. She began her duty during one of the bloodiest years of the Vietnam War, and remembers worrying about her younger brother, who was serving in Vietnam, hoping that he would not end up as one of her patients.
Ms. Brock-Perini comes from a family that has sent many of its sons to war: her father served in the Marine Corps during World War II and fought his way through the South Pacific to Iwo Jima. Six of his brothers served during the same time, and he later served in Korea. Her youngest brother, Bernie Abeytia, served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam.
With a successful career in bedside nursing and health care administration, she also has served in leadership positions with several veterans organizations, was state Director of Community Health and Disaster Training for the Arizona Division of the American Red Cross, has served with the Maricopa County Elections Board and is currently a member of the City of Phoenix Military Veterans Commission.
MICHAEL GROSSMAN, MD
Dr. Michael Grossman was a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, assigned as Chief of Medicine and Pharmacy at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Phu Bai, South Vietnam. He arrived there in 1970, during an onslaught in the A Shau Valley involving the 101st Airborne. During his first weekend there, the hospital treated more than 300 casualties.
He also became involved in developing a drug rehabilitation center, for what he perceived to be a major problem among the mostly young enlisted men in Vietnam. The hospital had several patients who were dead on arrival from heroin overdoses. He says he faced some touchy political issues at first but, after March 1971, the enormity of the problem became public, and the rehab center he started grew and continued after he left in July 1971. He was awarded the bronze star for his service in Vietnam.
After the Army, Dr. Grossman went into private practice in internal medicine and later was involved in industrial medicine and employee health programs, as well as medical education programs. He has served on several committees of organizations such as the American Heart Association, the Governor's Task Force on Aids, and the Arizona Medical Association, and has received several awards as a teacher in residency training programs. Dr. Grossman currently is Associate Dean for Graduate medical education with the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix and Executive Director of the Arizona Medical Education Consortium.
LEONARD KIRSCHNER, MD
Dr. Len Kirschner served with the U.S. Air Force for 30 years, and retired as a Colonel. He arrived in Da Nang for his first stint in Vietnam in 1965 to fly reconnaissance missions, gathering voice, photo and electronic intelligence. As a flight surgeon he flew on numerous Air Evac missions out of Vietnam to Japan, Alaska, Hawaii and bases in the continental United States. He left Vietnam in 1967 to complete a residency in aerospace medicine, then returned in 1970 as a hospital commander in Thailand. As such, he also served on combat missions with the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He earned two Air Medals and a Bronze Star during his service.
Dr. Kirschner served as the Director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System from 1987 to 1993. He is President of AARP Arizona, and is on the boards of directors of Sun Health Corp., Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital, La Loma Senior Living Services and the Arizona Perinatal Trust. He is a member of the Harvard School of Public Health Leadership Council and is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Aerospace Medical Association.
Having earned a degree in industrial engineering from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, Calif, he went to work after service for the family-owned printing business, and has grown it significantly since. He has served as President of the Printing Industry Association of Arizona, “The Wildest Club in Town,” which benefits the Phoenix Zoo, and the Phoenix Breakfast Club. He is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
SUE WUDY
Sue Wudy served more than nine years in the U.S. Army, including working at the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) headquarters in Saigon from 1969 to 1970. One of the few military women to serve in non-nursing positions in South Vietnam during the war, Ms. Wudy was a stenographer for Gen. Foutz in the Office of the Joint Command for Operations. She was responsible for assembling a plan to draw down troops, beginning in December 1969. That plan was scrapped in January 1970, when a decision was made to escalate. She used a very early computer, which was connected to a Selectric typewriter. She also was an expert marksman with a .38-caliber pistol.
Since her service in the Army, she has worked in real estate and accounting, and served as a church organist. She also has been involved with several veterans organizations, including Vietnam Veterans of America, In-Country Vietnam Veterans, the Women's Overseas Service League, Women's Army Corps Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America, serving in many positions of leadership. She has served on the Veterans Recognition Committee for the Arizona State Fair, the National Cemetery Support Committee, and the Military Women's Recognition Luncheon. She notes that the “wonders of a computer” are still very much a part of her life.
Sgt. Wudy also has been inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame.
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Fred Ferguson also is a veteran of more than one branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, having served in the Navy from 1958 to 1962, then in the Army beginning in 1966. From 1967 to 1968, he served as a helicopter pilot and aircraft commander with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam.
After serving two years in the Arizona National Guard, from 1950 TO 1952, David Althoff enlisted in the United States Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet. He completed flight training and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Marine Corps in June 1954. During 20 years of active service, he flew 26 different types of aircraft, serving in Korea and Japan, and was one of eight pilots qualified to deliver an atomic weapon in a single-engine aircraft.
Rita Brock-Perini was a captain with the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps from 1969 to 1971. She served at Wilford Paul Medical Center in San Antonio, Tex., as a charge nurse on a ward of 50 or more patients that included seriously wounded men from Vietnam. She began her duty during one of the bloodiest years of the Vietnam War, and remembers worrying about her younger brother, who was serving in Vietnam, hoping that he would not end up as one of her patients.
Dr. Michael Grossman was a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, assigned as Chief of Medicine and Pharmacy at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Phu Bai, South Vietnam. He arrived there in 1970, during an onslaught in the A Shau Valley involving the 101st Airborne. During his first weekend there, the hospital treated more than 300 casualties.
Dr. Len Kirschner served with the U.S. Air Force for 30 years, and retired as a Colonel. He arrived in Da Nang for his first stint in Vietnam in 1965 to fly reconnaissance missions, gathering voice, photo and electronic intelligence. As a flight surgeon he flew on numerous Air Evac missions out of Vietnam to Japan, Alaska, Hawaii and bases in the continental United States. He left Vietnam in 1967 to complete a residency in aerospace medicine, then returned in 1970 as a hospital commander in Thailand. As such, he also served on combat missions with the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He earned two Air Medals and a Bronze Star during his service.
Sue Wudy served more than nine years in the U.S. Army, including working at the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) headquarters in Saigon from 1969 to 1970. One of the few military women to serve in non-nursing positions in South Vietnam during the war, Ms. Wudy was a stenographer for Gen. Foutz in the Office of the Joint Command for Operations. She was responsible for assembling a plan to draw down troops, beginning in December 1969. That plan was scrapped in January 1970, when a decision was made to escalate. She used a very early computer, which was connected to a Selectric typewriter. She also was an expert marksman with a .38-caliber pistol.
