Ringler Is June Veteran Of The Month
June 10, 2020 at 12:55 a.m.
Ringler Is June Veteran Of The Month
By David [email protected]
In a couple of weeks, Maron will present two veterans of the month “to catch up a little bit,” he said.
The June 2020 Kosciusko County Veteran of the Month is Garry Ringler.
Reading Ringler’s biography, Maron said Ringler was born Feb. 6, 1949, in Warsaw. He graduated from Syracuse High School in 1967 and soon after enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1967.
After completing boot camp at Fort Polk, La., he was sent to Vietnam, where he served with the 1st Air Cavalry, 15th Transportation Company Battalion.
During Ringler’s time “in country,” his duties included Greenline guard duty. During the night, he sat on a bunker with an M-60 machine gun and watched for enemy movement outside the perimeter.
His military occupational specialty was flight operations specialist, Maron said. He was in charge of directing helicopter flight paths so they could be efficient in picking up and dropping off supplies and personnel.
He also was a door gunner on a UH-1 Huey helicopter.
Maron said Ringler said it was a little daunting to be told that the average life expectancy of a door gunner in direct combat ranged from 12 seconds to five minutes.
After two years in service, including a year in Vietnam, Ringler was honorably discharged with the rank of Specialist E5 and he moved back home.
He married Karen Juday on Aug. 8, 1970, and joined her at Indiana State University, where they both earned degrees in speech pathology. During that time, he spent a year as first lieutenant in the National Guard. After graduating, they moved back to Syracuse and had three children, Matthew, 47; Benjamin, 46; and Elizabeth, 42.
Ringler spent 32 years as a speech pathologist and administrator at Whitko and Wawasee school corporations, retiring in 2006.
Karen died in 2018, but “Gary’s three children and six grandchildren all live in the area, so he gets to spend plenty of time with them,” Maron said.
Ringler still enjoys collecting postcards, ice fishing and meeting the guys at the Syracuse Café for breakfast.
In a couple of weeks, Maron will present two veterans of the month “to catch up a little bit,” he said.
The June 2020 Kosciusko County Veteran of the Month is Garry Ringler.
Reading Ringler’s biography, Maron said Ringler was born Feb. 6, 1949, in Warsaw. He graduated from Syracuse High School in 1967 and soon after enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1967.
After completing boot camp at Fort Polk, La., he was sent to Vietnam, where he served with the 1st Air Cavalry, 15th Transportation Company Battalion.
During Ringler’s time “in country,” his duties included Greenline guard duty. During the night, he sat on a bunker with an M-60 machine gun and watched for enemy movement outside the perimeter.
His military occupational specialty was flight operations specialist, Maron said. He was in charge of directing helicopter flight paths so they could be efficient in picking up and dropping off supplies and personnel.
He also was a door gunner on a UH-1 Huey helicopter.
Maron said Ringler said it was a little daunting to be told that the average life expectancy of a door gunner in direct combat ranged from 12 seconds to five minutes.
After two years in service, including a year in Vietnam, Ringler was honorably discharged with the rank of Specialist E5 and he moved back home.
He married Karen Juday on Aug. 8, 1970, and joined her at Indiana State University, where they both earned degrees in speech pathology. During that time, he spent a year as first lieutenant in the National Guard. After graduating, they moved back to Syracuse and had three children, Matthew, 47; Benjamin, 46; and Elizabeth, 42.
Ringler spent 32 years as a speech pathologist and administrator at Whitko and Wawasee school corporations, retiring in 2006.
Karen died in 2018, but “Gary’s three children and six grandchildren all live in the area, so he gets to spend plenty of time with them,” Maron said.
Ringler still enjoys collecting postcards, ice fishing and meeting the guys at the Syracuse Café for breakfast.
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