In honor of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, and the Middle Keys’ deep-rooted relationship with the military, Keys Weekly honors local veterans of all ages, who have served all over the world, from Iraq and Bosnia to Korea, Kosovo, Vietnam and everywhere in between. We thank you for your service and your dedication to our freedom, on Veterans Day and every other day of the year.
Name: David Dolqueist
Age: 50
Which branch did you serve in? Marine Corps.
What rank did you achieve? Corporal E4.
Unit you were attached to? 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines. I was in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Somalia.
What inspired you to join the military? I’m from a family of military going back to World War I.
What was the best part of your service? Camaraderie. It’s a family. People you meet in the military are lifelong friends. I’m still in touch with the 3rd battalion.
Is there a part of the service that you think about often? No, not really. Though I’m forever a Marine. Once you’re a Marine, you’re always a Marine. And that’s part of Marine Corps history. It makes you stand taller, act prouder.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? Do it. My son, Cade, just joined the Marines. He’s joining one week after graduation. Like me, he wants to follow the family. It was his decision. I just guided him. My youngest son, Reed, will follow the same path, I believe. It’s almost like a calling in our family.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? Honestly? We all knew what we were getting into.
Favorite military movie? I don’t really watch movies but “Full Metal Jacket.”
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I own an AC and plumbing company (Dolqueist Air Conditioning & Plumbing), and I fish with the kids.
Name: John Dick
Age: 74
Which branch did you serve in? U.S. Army.
What rank did you achieve? Specialist Fourth Class (SP-4).
Unit you were attached to? I was in the 20th Engineer Battalion, attached to the 4th infantry division. Vietnam.
What inspired you to join the military? I was drafted. But we came from our Brooklyn neighborhood, and we answered the call.
What was the best part of your service? The day I flew out of Vietnam.
Is there a part of the service that you think about often? I reflect on combat situations. I’m lucky I made it through. A lot of them didn’t.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? It’s a great respect to this country. They should be proud to be Americans, and Americans will be proud they served in the armed forces.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? You get surprised the first time you’re under attack, but it’s not like they didn’t tell us. But it’s a wake-up call. And going around the world is interesting. In Vietnam, it rains for six months, then not for six months. Once, I saw two tigers in one evening in the forest.
Favorite military movie? “Patton.”
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I’m the chairman of the school board. That’s what I do.
Name: Kenneth Bell
Age: 74
Which branch did you serve in? Marine Corps.
What rank did you achieve? E5 Sergeant.
Unit you were attached to? VMCJ1, First Marine Air Wing, Vietnam.
What inspired you to join the military? I was drafted. A lot of us were gung ho. Half were not. I was gung ho.
What was the best part of your service? I traveled all over the world. Vietnam and back. Hawaii, Bangkok, Thailand, China. A little New England boy, and I’d never been anywhere.
Is there a part of the service that you think about often? Yeah. I should have stayed in the Marine Corps. They would have made me an officer if they re-upped my contract. There are a lot of benefits to being in the military — health insurance, a real nice pension plan. And it involved an awful lot of people I really liked.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? I would say jump on it. It’s a real good career, a good pension.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? I didn’t know what was going on. I was in TET. The TET offensive. They almost got me about six times.
Favorite military movie? “Platoon.”
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I’m the financial treasurer of the American Legion Post 154 here in Marathon, as well as its adjutant service officer and judge advocate.
Name: John Allan
Age: 61
Which branch did you serve in? U.S. Navy.
What rank did you achieve? E4 petty officer, 3rd class.
Unit you were attached to? I was on the USS Stein, Hull No. FF1065. I was in the Pacific Ocean, mostly out of San Diego.
What inspired you to join the military? I was young. 19. I just wanted to get away. I thought we were going to war with Iran back then (1979).
What was the best part of your service? I think going places, seeing things. I went to Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Singapore. I sailed across the Indian Ocean, far enough to see Africa.
How did serving change you? I developed good habits in me, little stuff like getting up and showing up.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? I encourage it. Honestly, there are a lot of benefits you get out of it, like the VA. Parents worry about their children joining, then let them ride a motorcycle. I don’t think they think things through.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? The big thing is: The ocean looks the same wherever you go. Two-thirds of the world is water.
Favorite military movie? “The Sand Pebbles” with Steve McQueen and Richard Crenna.
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I’m a retired carpenter.
Name: Daniel Perkins
Age: 59.
Which branch did you serve in? U.S. Army.
What rank did you achieve? I was in the Army two years, in the armored division. A tank driver. I was also a National Guard tank instructor, a commander for Disabled American Veterans and a service officer for DAV Chapter 122, Marathon.
What inspired you to join the military? I had a decision: jail or army. It was the best thing I ever did. Straightened my stuff out.
What was the best part of your service? Following in my father’s footsteps. He was in the Korean War and won a Purple Heart and the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Is there a part of the service that you think about often? Always, the guys who fought: Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq. It really affected my nephew. He has PTSD. He was a great Marine.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? Fight for your country. That’s why you have a free country.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? The discipline made me be the person I am today. If I wouldn’t have done that, I would have been a criminal.
Favorite military movie? “Pearl Harbor.” A friend of mine was there when it happened. His father was stationed there. He remembers the planes flying over, and he shot them with a toy gun.
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I worked for D’Asign Source for 14 years. I spray bugs now for A&B Exterminators.
Name: Edward John
Age: 92
Which branch did you serve in? U.S. Army.
What rank did you achieve? PFC.
Unit you were attached to? 82nd Airborne in the Korean War.
What inspired you to join the military? I volunteered. I was a young kid. My mother’s youngest brother was a Marine.
What was the best part of your service? I was a bodyguard for Miss North Carolina (1951), Lu Long Ogburn. And she won third in the Miss America contest. I was surprised. I thought I was going to be digging ditches.
Is there a part of the service that you think about often? No. I ain’t going back there.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? Listen to your superiors. They’ll carry you through.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? I think about later, when I became a bodyguard in the Presidential Protection Division. I’m a retired Federal agent. I was a bodyguard for the Queen of England and three presidents: Nixon, Ford and Carter.
Favorite military movie? The “Band of Brothers” HBO series.
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I chase my wife around the house. I don’t have any trouble catching her, but I forget what I was chasing her for.
Name: Bobby Wellsby
Age: 51
Which branch did you serve in? Marine Corps. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
What rank did you achieve? Corporal CLP. Combat engineer. I was a grunt with a brain.
Unit you were attached to? 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Company Support.
What inspired you to join the military? I was inspired by medieval times and the knights. The modern knight is a Marine. People should be able to live without fear. If someone is living with fear, we go and help. Marines are the first in and the last out.
What was the best part of your service? When I was doing refugee work and knowing children were being taken care of in humanitarian camps in Northern Iraq. Out of all the stuff I had to do, that’s what broke my heart.
Is there a part of the service that you think about often? Brotherhood. Family. Like coming in here (American Legion Post 154), you know you can always get help. It’s a dysfunctional family, but we still love each other.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? Remember to honor your country, and your mother and father, whether they are together or not. And honor thyself and family. We are all sinners in God’s eyes. We can all repent with family and friends.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? My first deployment. I joined before my birthday in November, trained in December, then went to the Gulf. It was like, bam, bam, bam. It was a recognition of the real world.
Favorite military movie? For inspiration, “Cadence” with Charlie Sheen. For funny, “Top Gun.”
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I’m an ordained minister. And anything anybody needs, I’ll be there for the church, the Legion. At least 75 percent of people in town have my number.
Name: Mandy Rodriguez
Age: 72
Which branch did you serve in? The most proud branch that there is. The Marines. Hoo-rah. We’re always Marines. We fight to the last.
What rank did you achieve? E5 infantry. I was a grunt. And proud of it.
Unit you were attached to? 3rd battalion, 5th Marines, and I worked closely with 3rd Force Recon. I joined 1967 to 1969, and I was in Vietnam during the TET Offensive. I got there, and a few months later we had a party. It was not fun.
What inspired you to join the military? I thought it was only fair that I served my country in partial payment for opening the doors and allowing my family from Cuba to come to this country.
What was the best part of your service? My service is mostly in combat. I got a medical discharge. The best part is the camaraderie. They were brothers. We gave our lives for each other. You know what? There wasn’t a black, a white, a yellow. We were all the same color.
How did serving change you? I was a Boston inner city street punk, and it made me into a man. Boy, oh boy, they straightened me out real quick.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? Yes. I like other countries that have mandatory two years, because it does change you. But I think serving is the ultimate sacrifice to keep the democracy we have.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? We were well-trained, and they put us in combat and we relied on our training. Thank goodness for that. Combat is akin to police work. A lot of down time, then chaos in a matter of seconds. You never know how you’re going to act in combat until it happens. It’s perplexing. “They’re actually really trying to kill me, and I’m trying to kill them too.” That was crazy. You rely on training and muscle memory.
Favorite military movie? “Full Metal Jacket.” The most real.
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I work (as chief operating officer and co-founder of the Dolphin Research Center) and raise children. I have the most amazing job and the most amazing family there is. I’m the luckiest. We were not treated well when we came back (from Vietnam). We were not used to being baby killers. It hurts, it really hurts. Here’s the silver lining: We learned how to treat our heroes. At the DRC, we got an award for helping Wounded Warriors. Vets stood up, and they thanked us. Semper Fi.
Name: John Schaefer
Age: 59.
Which branch did you serve in? U.S. Navy, Navy Reserves and Army Reserves.
What rank did you achieve? E5 petty officer 2nd class.
Unit you were attached to? USS Independence, an aircraft carrier. It was ’82 to ’85, three Mediterranean cruises, when I was age 19 to 23.
What inspired you to join the military? I was working for a friend’s dad, who was a surveyor in Ohio. It was brutally cold. We went by a recruiting billboard and it said, “You can work in paradise,” or something like that. And we signed up.
What was the best part of your service? Port calls on the Mediterranean and going through the Suez Canal. On Christmas Day in Israel, we did a tour through Bethlehem. And also the camaraderie: A guy from my hometown in Ohio joined a month after I did.
How did serving change you? Coming from a small town in Ohio, I had no grasp on the real world. After you join, you grasp the privileges, how well you got it. And it made me a good worker. I would see what would need to be done and do it, rather than the minimum. I got really solid work ethics.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? I’d encourage it, whichever direction they feel pulled in. You learn a lot no matter which service you’re in.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? We would lose pilots on every cruise. They would crash. One time, the catapult pushed him straight into the water. Another time, on a port call, a guy started drinking and jumped off a building. It was a build-up of stress. Once we went without a port call for 90 days. When they do that, they stop the boat and party. We were jumping off the ship and into the water. And I developed a respect for Mother Nature. We were in the Mediterranean when Grenada happened, and we went through bad storms. The waves were breaking over the flight deck. I got seasick, and I had to lie across a vent (for some air). They called an emergency muster that I didn’t hear, and they thought I went overboard.
Favorite military movie? “Top Gun.” Give me “Top Gun” any day.
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I’m a mailman. I deliver for Amazon six days a week, 10 hours a day, at least. I’m thinking about retiring in July.
Name: Charlie Estrella
Age: 59
Which branch did you serve in? U.S. Army
What rank did you achieve? Spec 4.
Unit you were attached to? 101st Airborne Division, Battalion 327. I was stationed in Kentucky from 1980 to 1984. I didn’t go into live action, but I was rotated into battalion on 24-hour notice. I was deployed to Puerto Rico for jungle training, then Alaska for arctic training. Wow, I hated that, it was cold.
What inspired you to join the military? Watching my friends getting into trouble. I’d gotten into a little trouble. I was 17. I had to go to court. The judge said, “You gotta do something with your life. What about the Army? You’ll get a clean slate here.” So I enlisted in the Army at age 18, the day of my birthday.
What was the best part of your service? Becoming a man. Once I got to basic training, I rolled into Georgia from Rhode Island on a bus, and I hadn’t eaten for 24 hours, and a sergeant was screaming at you. You were broken down and they start you from the ground up. You can’t be a punk. I became a man. I needed it, big time. Or I’d be in jail, I imagine.
How did serving change you? I thought I knew everything about the world. That went in a 180. When I stepped off that bus, it was a lot different.
What do you tell young people who want to serve? I almost feel like every able body should go in for two years. Everybody would benefit from that time of discipline. You don’t take anything for granted any more.
Biggest surprise after becoming active duty? How fast, how high you had to jump from helicopters. That was my duty in 101st Airborne. We had to fly in helicopters with belay ropes on Blackhawks. On Blackhawks you sit facing out the door on both sides. You jumped or rappelled. It was very intense. I learned to love it.
Favorite military movie? “The Dirty Dozen.”
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I work at Marathon City Marina.
Name: George James Dowling
Age: 69.
Which branch did you serve in? I was a Merchant Marine.
What rank did you achieve? I was a captain, and I ran cargo.
What inspired you to join? I joined at age 20. I grew up in Rhode Island, and I always liked to be on boats.
What was the best part of your service? Traveling all over the world. I liked Thailand. The Mediterranean. Ibiza. Majorca. Jordan. The Middle East.
What’s your favorite memory? I turned 21 in Grenada, Spain. I hit every bodega on the street. Two days later, when I sobered up, I was in Tangiers, Morocco, a different continent.
What do you tell young people who want to be a Merchant Marine? If you like to travel, go.
What do you do now in the Florida Keys? I’m retired. I don’t do a damn thing. I used to run a lot of boats, from 1985 to 1994.
Retired VA nurse has fond memories of her patients
Marathon resident Henny John, age 78, was a VA nurse for over two decades in Milwaukee, from 1976 to 2000. She shares her thoughts of that time:
“I loved it. It’s a unique patient. They have such a camaraderie for each other. We had big wards. If someone wanted something to drink, someone would say, ‘Can you give him something to drink?’ In most hospitals, you don’t know each other. The Milwaukee VA hospital specialized in paraplegics, quadriplegics and open heart surgery. Depression and alcoholism were the worst things they had. I felt close to them in age. The Vietnam War, you know. I have so many pleasant memories as a nurse, and I loved all of them.”
