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" SYRACUSE, Utah — Larry Kerr is an unassuming 69-year-old Syracuse resident who doesn't particularly like attention, but he doesn't mind if his story serves as a microcosm for what he calls the "thousands and thousands of people in the same boat as me."
The Ohio native volunteered for the Air Force in 1965, when he was 17 and fresh out of high school. By 1966 he was in Vietnam. He spent three years there, serving in several locations between the southern tip and the central part of the country, reported the Standard-Examiner.
His specialty was chemical weapons — detecting, treating and neutralizing them. He also learned how to decontaminate equipment and fellow service members.
"Everyone associates chemical weaponry with the Army," Kerr said. "But the Air Force had chemicals in bombs, artillery heads, and they had them in sprayer systems on the aircraft. We were dealing with a lot of bad, bad stuff."
Kerr was fortunate enough to avoid getting hurt by the chemicals he worked with on a daily basis. His good fortune stayed with him as he fought in and escaped the Tet Offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War that coincidentally launched on Kerr's birthday in 1968.
Kerr left Vietnam and did a stint in Korea. He came back to the states intact, but his luck would quickly run out. "
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/veteran-hopes-to-help-others-exposed-to-agent-orange
The Ohio native volunteered for the Air Force in 1965, when he was 17 and fresh out of high school. By 1966 he was in Vietnam. He spent three years there, serving in several locations between the southern tip and the central part of the country, reported the Standard-Examiner.
His specialty was chemical weapons — detecting, treating and neutralizing them. He also learned how to decontaminate equipment and fellow service members.
"Everyone associates chemical weaponry with the Army," Kerr said. "But the Air Force had chemicals in bombs, artillery heads, and they had them in sprayer systems on the aircraft. We were dealing with a lot of bad, bad stuff."
Kerr was fortunate enough to avoid getting hurt by the chemicals he worked with on a daily basis. His good fortune stayed with him as he fought in and escaped the Tet Offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War that coincidentally launched on Kerr's birthday in 1968.
Kerr left Vietnam and did a stint in Korea. He came back to the states intact, but his luck would quickly run out. "
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/veteran-hopes-to-help-others-exposed-to-agent-orange