As crew chief, Winkler was responsible for maintenance on the aircraft, but in his position you're also one of two glorified gunners, an incredibly dangerous position. Winkler spent over two years on active duty in Vietnam.
RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW) — Jeff Winkler is a serviceman through and through.
Now, the Commander of the Rhinelander VFW, Winkler enlisted right away after high school.
Winkler was born April 16, 1949, and raised in Rhinelander where he graduated high school in 1967, just prior to being placed on a 180-day delayed enlistment.
“As soon as I got out of high school, I had 180 days to go play before I went into the service,” Winkler said.
Enlisting allowed servicemen like Winkler the ability to choose their own military branch and go to specialized training. Winkler chose a position as crew chief, responsible for maintenance on UH1H Helicopters in the U.S Army. Winkler completed his basic training in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and advanced to individual training in Fort Rucker, Alabama.
“That's what my MOS was when I went to Vietnam, I was a crew chief," Winker said. "But then I had a 50-caliber round come through the seat next to me, and that was my last day being the crew chief and I went into maintenance. I figured that was my warning."
As crew chief, Winkler was responsible for maintenance on the aircraft, but in his position you're also one of two glorified gunners, an incredibly dangerous position. Winkler spent over two years on active duty in Vietnam.
“That's what we were trained to do, keep communism out of Vietnam but after, found out it was all political for money gain and everything else," he said. "It was a bad war all the way around."
Winkler recalls how he and other Veterans were treated after their service. He said they were labeled everything from 'baby killers' to 'murderers'. The verbiage and abuse they received upon their return home was so intense, that they were separated from people in the airports.
“It was what you were told to do," Winkler said. "If you joined the service, whatever your job was, you had to do it no matter what it was. To me, it is not correct for anyone to disrespect the military, they're sitting there because of what we did back then, and they don't realize it yet."
Winkler returned from the Army in 1971 and took about a 10-year hiatus from being affiliated with any military service or organization. At this time, he married his wife Shirley, who had been waiting for his return and welcomed their two children - Chad and Collett. In 1980, Jeff decided to go back into the service, well, kind of.
“A group of guys got together, and we were down at a bar, and they got me a little over-inebriated,” said Winkler.
And next thing he knew, Jeff found himself down in the basement of the Memorial building, where local recruitment took place.
“The next morning, I woke up, I said '"Woah, what’d I do last night"'… and I joined the national guard that night,” said Winkler.
There, he started out as a Squad leader and went on several tours from Panama to Germany. Even as a bit of a wild card, Jeff worked his way up to Platoon Sergeant and then 1st Sergeant where he retired after 26 years.
“Then, after that it was one thing after the other, I joined every one of the military organizations as I came up to them,” Winkler said.
Today, he proudly dedicates his service to several military organizations such as the NCO/Amvets, the American Legion, the VFW now, the Northwoods Honor Guard and most recently, the DAV.
“I think right now I have more respect for the honor guard people than I do for anybody, because it's the ultimate thing you can do, to support another veteran,” Winkler said.
Winkler said he cherishes the bonds he’s established with his fellow veterans, the ones who supported each other back then, today and to the day it’s time to pay final respects.
“When you get done with a funeral and they play taps, I don't care if it's the first time you hear it or the last time you hear it, there's a tear in the corner of your eye and you feel like you really did something,” Winkler said.
