Last weekend was busy and bittersweet. On a sad note it was my son Mark’s first birthday since his passing. Celebrating without him was very tough. On a happy note, it was the 30th anniversary of the day Lyn and I were married. It sure doesn’t seem like that many years. My 12 years as a student in Perry Township schools still seems like quite a bit of my total years. My years with Lyn seem like a few special years because they’ve flown by.
Veterans Day was celebrated last weekend also. I graduated from Southport High School in 1960. The fighting in Vietnam was going very strong. The military draft was going strong. Many of my classmates, including myself, were quite involved in the drafting process.
I eventually signed up to serve in the Indiana National Guard. I served from 1963 to 1969. My unit was based at Stout Field on the west side of Indianapolis. It was the maintenance unit for the aircraft operated by the National Guard.
Our unit went through several special training programs should we be needed as a part of some sort of activation. We also were called to support the state of Indiana during difficult times. I’m still in contact with several of my buddies from those days.
Our class of 1960 has a member who has been totally involved in assisting homeless and disabled veterans in the southern California area. Because of the climate, southern California has one of the largest populations of homeless veterans. Bob worked on this special project for more than 20 years.
He has gone through many peaks and valleys, during his years dealing with this large and growing problem. It includes being arrested and taken to court. In 2012, he had demonstrated with members of the Old Veterans Guard to protest abuse and misappropriation of land and assets for over 230 weeks.
Bob and his family lived on West Epler Avenue when we were in school. His father and uncle both operated school buses just as did my father at that exact time.
A couple of months ago, Bob turned over his duties and moved back to Indianapolis. We enjoyed breakfast and a couple of class lunches. It is so nice to have him back home in Indiana.
Our friend and classmate was on a mission. As a veteran, I am so proud of him and all his efforts to assist those homeless veterans in California.
I personally have only known one member of the military that lost his life in combat. He was also a member of my Southport High School class of 1960. I was shocked when I was first told of his passing. Stuart Ernhart was one of the main members of the Chess Club. He was an expert chess player and held several offices in the club of our high school years. I remember him as a very quiet, polite student. He would have been very close to the bottom of my list of guys from our class to lose his life during combat in Vietnam.
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. He can be reached through email at fdshonk@aol.com.