Banner year for Vietnam Veterans Ride of Valor

The 14th annual Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway of Valor Tribute Ride took place July 23, and the estimate of participants was just shy of 350 — the largest number of motorcycles in the ride in several years. The bikers made their midway stop for lunch at the Groton American Legion and paid tribute to U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient, 2nd Lt. Terrence Graves, at the Graves Memorial on Main Street.

The purpose of this 100-mile, police-escorted ride is to draw attention to Route 38, which was given the designation of “Highway of Valor” in 2009, to honor both our fallen and surviving Vietnam veterans and to raise community awareness of those who served and what they endured during that conflict.

Among many others who participated from Groton was Paul Koekebacker, who served as a Spec/5 in the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He has been riding a motorcycle since 2005 and can’t remember a time when he hasn’t ridden in this tribute ride.

Raised on the East Freetown, New York dairy farm of his parents, Edward and Susanne Koekebacker, Paul has lived in Groton since age 12 when the expenses on the farm became overwhelming and his parents gave it up to work at Smith Corona.

Paul graduated from Groton High School in 1966, and although he said he “did a little wrestling,” he unabashedly admitted that his main goal in life at the time was to make money to buy a car.

While in school, Paul would arise at 3 or 4 a.m. every day to work his newspaper route until he discovered that he could make more money as a milk carrier.

“I would get up just as early and ride the dairy trucks,” Paul said. “I and another kid had carriers with eight glass bottles, and we would jump off the truck and run, delivering them to each house.”

At age 15, Paul began working as a clerk at Victory Market (VM) in Groton and quickly became the assistant manager. He said he “kept trying to move up money-wise.”

Edward was a private pilot and read about The Gale Institute in Minneapolis, a training institute for airlines, in a magazine. As Paul had no idea what he wanted to do after high school, it seemed like as good an idea as any to him to attend there.

“Gale trained stewardesses, ticketing agents, parking planes and anything else related,” Paul said. “When I finished, I was hired by Continental Airlines and sent to work at O’Hare in Chicago.”

It was just a little over a year after that when Paul received his notice from the draft board that he would be drafted within 90 days, so he immediately went home to wait — working again at VM until he was called up in 1968.

“I was sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for basic,” Paul said. “I went to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for advanced infantry training next and then to Fort Benning, Georgia, for jump school before I was assigned to the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg.”

Paul was trained to fire recoilless rifles, which he explained were either mounted on a Jeep or fired from the shoulder, which “felt like a rocket!”

“I got orders for Vietnam in January 1969 and got assigned to a mortar company,” Paul said. “I’d never even seen one before, but I was assigned to fire them.”

Paul then spent his time primarily in Binh Dinh province at a fire direction center where he would plot when, where and how far the mortars would need to go up in the air and then down as the soldiers in the bush requested them.

“We had to allow for wind and all kinds of variables,” Paul said. “And there were different kinds of mortar support the soldiers on the ground might need. Sometimes, it might just be a flare at night to light up an area, but often, it was firing white phosphorus. That stuff was very nasty — it would burn everything and everybody it reached.”

Paul also said he would sometimes fire an HE (high explosive) mortar that was either point detonated or delayed if it was going into a tunnel — and he needed to make those calculations while on the radio with a “forward observer” soldier and then “fire for effect.”

When asked how he felt when he knew he would be heading for Vietnam, Paul said he “knew what was coming,” accepted it and took the attitude to “just get ’er done.”

Paul was also a member of the Groton Fire Department since he was 18, so when he returned from Vietnam, he returned there as captain of the ambulance squad and also as the assistant manager at VM.

“As soon as I got back, I took my uniform off, put my jeans and T-shirt back on, got involved in the things I left behind and joined the Groton American Legion,” Paul said.

Paul was given the manager’s position at VM in Cincinnatus in 1973, but in 1974, he joined the New York State Police as a trooper, a job he did for the next 11 years.

In 1985, Paul became an investigator for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) for another 12 years and then moved up to senior investigator — overseeing investigations in Cortland, Tompkins and sometimes Tioga counties. He retired after a total of 30 years in the BCI.

Since then, Paul remains busy and enjoys life with his wife of 12 years, Tammy (nee Mulhern), who taught at Groton Elementary School for decades before her own retirement.

Paul’s opinion of the Vietnam War is that “it was obviously political.”

“If you’re not going to plan to win it, don’t get us into it,” he said. “Lots of guys were killed or wounded for no reason. Politicians and the military should each do their own jobs and not get involved in the other’s.”

Reflecting on his own military service, Paul said the reason he rides in the Valor Tribute is, “It’s a tribute to those you think a lot about, especially those who didn’t make it back. You don’t want to forget it. I am glad I served and did what I needed to do. You learned a lot.”

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.  

In brief: 
 
Operation Recognition for veterans 

Military veterans who left high school for military service before graduating are eligible to be granted a New York state high school diploma.

Created by Section 305 of New York state’s education law, Operation Recognition recognizes the devotion and sacrifice of veterans who left school early.

For additional information, contact the New York State Education Department at (518) 474-8940 or acces.nysed.gov/aepp/high-school-diploma-veterans.

Labor Day 5K 

The 25th annual Groton Labor Day 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run will take place Sept. 5, beginning and ending at the Groton Jr./Sr. High School track at 400 Peru Rd. This popular and much-anticipated race is sponsored by, and is a fund raiser for, the Groton High School varsity cross-country program. All proceeds benefit the girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams.

Each year since the race’s inception, proceeds have been used to help fund trips to other competitions and to purchase team apparel or equipment that may exceed the school’s limited budget.

The fee, for those who register prior to Aug. 24, is $14 for students and $18 for adults. Race-day fee is $20 for students and $25 for adults. There is no fee for the fun run. There will be ribbons awarded to every finisher and plaques, medals and gift certificates for the top three finishers in various categories. Free T-shirts are given to the first 100 registrants.

Register ahead at tinyurl.com/2c2m9k9k. On-site registration will take place from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. The fun run takes off at 9 a.m., and the 5K at 9:30
a.m. There is ample parking available.

For additional information, contact Scott Weeks at sweeks@groton.cnyric.org.

Adult swim lessons 

Did you know the Groton Memorial Park pool offers adult swim lessons and they are 100% free? All lessons are given in a private environment before or after the pool opening and closing hours. Intermediate or advanced lessons are also offered to improve skills. Call (607) 898-9508 or stop by the pool on Sykes Street to schedule.