Veterans Day Salute

 

 

Bill DeWitt (Shoopette's Dad)

Honorably discharged as Petty Officer 2nd Class (E-5) after four years in the United States Navy -- 1964-1968.

Bill enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1964 and served primarily on the USS America (CV-66), an aircraft carrier. The USS America was attached to Fighter Squadron (VF-33), and Bill served as an Aviation Fire Control Technician (AQF-2). He worked on the electronics that controlled the air-to-air missiles on the F4-B Phantom fighter jet.

The time period when my dad served was the early Vietnam War era. His aircraft carrier was also involved in the rescue effort of a Navy electronic intelligence vessel during the Six-Day War in June, 1967, when the USS Liberty was mistakenly attacked during the Arab-Israeli conflict.

 

My dad learned as much as he could about electronics in the Navy, and after he was discharged, he used the G.I. Bill to attend college at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering, he spent the next 40+ years as a Professional Engineer in various companies and then as a Full Professor of Electrical Engineering Technology at Purdue University.

 

 

 

Orlo Shoop (Shoopette's father-in-law}

U.S. Army, Chief Warrant Office IV, retired after 24 years of service.

After attending Wabash College in Indiana, Orlo entered the U.S. Army in 1971 in the midst of the conflict in Vietnam. While stationed in Hawaii, he graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Chaminade University.

 

During his career in the U.S. Army, Orlo was stationed at various bases throughout the world including bases in Hawaii; North Carolina; Wurzburg, Germany; Arizona; Georgia, Heidelberg, Germany; and Nebraska. He served in Military Intelligence including being stationed at Headquarters USAREUR - Heidelberg, Germany, during the U.S. Gulf War in the early 1990s. He finished his career at STRATCOM in Bellevue, Nebraska. Beyond that, since he was in Military Intelligence, we can't say anything else -- it's classified. :)

 

My husband grew up in this Army household and moved at least every three years during his childhood. The motto in the Shoop household was, "Home is where the Army sends you."

 

After retiring from the Army, Orlo moved his family back home to Indiana. He has spent the past 20 years working for Purdue University in IT/Technical Operations.