Winn Parish Louisiana Archives Military Records.....Johnston, Srg. Gary D. 
Other War - Enlistment 101st. Airborne "Sreaming Eagles"***********************************************
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Marilyn Miller mrilynmiller@netscape.net November 21, 2005, 7:09 pm

United States Army
Gary was 18yrs. old when he enlisted into the Army. He fought in the jungles of
Vietnam. He was discharged and he re-inlisted again and went for second tour of
Vietnam. He came home and went to Germany, England, Russia, and various place in
the United States recruiting soldiers and training them to stay alive.  Finally in
his last tour of duty he was sent to Iraq.  This place was his eternal hell.  He
was in the field of battle with great numbers of tanks with uranium dust pollution,
chemicals weapons were destroyed without knowing the vast amount of contamination
that these men would be exposed to from this act. Finally he was home and did his
final duty in Fort Campbell, Ky. Here he retired from service and returned home to
Louisiana.  Here he hoped to rest and become a normal civilian. He did not know but
his body was slowly being destroyed by exposure to toxians in Iraq. He retired in
1994 and in 2002 his body began to fail him. Numbness in fingers, toes, and
stiffness in joints that made it difficult to walk and even to talk.  Today he is
diagnosed with the fatal disease of Lou Gehrigs. He has lived longer than
expected.  Today he is alive on a ventalator, feeding tubes, and massive amounts
of care, but each day is a blessing to see him fighting to stay alive.  I am so
proud to have him as my brother and to know that he helped save so many lives.
Whether it was in Iraq or being a drill sergeant. He said to me one day, "I gave
it my All."  To me that is all any soldier can do.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/military/otherwar/enlistment/johnston15gmt.txt

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