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1,000 flight hours 1,300 missions 2,000 evacuated casualties Jim Becker was a medical evacuation helicopter pilot in Vietnam for three years. (Submitted photo) BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Becker was a college student in California in 1967, “goofing around like kids in college do,” he said, when he thought he found a better deal. “The draft was very active then,” said Becker, 66, who now lives in Lakeville. “The Army had a helicopter pilot program that you could get into before you enlisted. That sounded like a good deal to me.” After a year of basic and flight training, Becker was in the southern part of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, supporting the 9th Infantry Division from California. “I was a pilot in a Medical Evacuation Helicopter Unit,” he said. “My ‘Dustoff’ helicopter crew included a co-pilot, crew chief and medic. I flew 1,000 flight hours, on 1,300 missions evacuating 2,000 U.S. and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) combat casualties from the field to medical facilities.”

Becker’s decision to enlist in the Army followed in a long line of family members who had been in the service, he said. “Both my parents and all seven of my uncles were in the military in World War II,” Becker said. “My dad was in the Army Air Corps, his brothers were in the Navy (and) Marines, and my namesake was an Army infantryman killed in the Philippines. My uncles on my mother's side were in the Air Corps, Army and Navy. My dad, wounded in the Philippines, met my Army nurse mother while he recovered in a stateside hospital.” Becker’s brother was drafted and served in Vietnam the year after Becker did. After Vietnam, Becker was only in the U.S. briefly before going to Germany for two years, where he was in another Dustoff Unit supporting training exercises. Despite the unpopularity of the Vietnam war, Becker doesn’t recall any mistreatment or negative

comments directed at him when he returned home to California. However, he said, “After a long flight on my way home from Vietnam, I was in the San Francisco Airport. I had a layover and ordered a beer from the bar. Even though I was in uniform, the bartender would not honor my military ID card and refused me. Lucky for me, my flight's flight attendant was getting coffee at the same time. She presented me with a cold one immediately after takeoff. That beer tasted mighty fine. Other than that, I don't remember anyone paying me any mind. I will say that no one, outside of the military, asked or mentioned anything about Vietnam.” When he got out of the Army, Becker said, the police and fire departments in California had money available for hiring. Becoming a Los Angeles police officer seemed like a natural next step. PILOT - TO PAGE 4

Page 2 Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 16, 2014

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Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 16, 2014 Page 3

Monument Monument is is centerpiece centerpiece of of Richfield’s Richfield’s Veterans Veterans Park Park

The Honoring All Veterans Memorial monument is at Veterans Memorial Park, 6429 Portland Ave. S., Richfield. The centerpiece is an illuminated bronze statue of Chuck Lindberg, a 50-year Richfield resident who was one of four U.S. Marines who were part of the first raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. (Submitted photo) BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER Although he is not a veteran, Reed Bornholdt is chair of Richfield’s annual Memorial Day service at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 26, at Veterans Memorial Park, 6429 Portland Ave. S. “I grew up in a small town in Iowa where the Avenue of Flags was put up at the cemetery on the edge of town for Memorial Day,” Bornholdt said. “The high school band played and there was a speaker. That’s just what I’m used to.” One branch of the military is featured each year in the Memorial Day observance at Veterans Park. This year, the Merchant Marines will be honored. A veteran from the Merchant Marines will speak, the 34th Infantry Division Red Bull concert band will play a medley of songs from all branches of the service, a retired Navy chaplain will offer an invocation, and a rifle squad will perform before “Taps” is played. The ceremony is enhanced by the park’s Honoring

All Veterans Memorial monument, which includes a special honor for one of Richfield’s best-known servicemen. The Honoring All Veterans Memorial monument was dedicated in 2008 in honor of Americans who have served their country in the U.S. military. A nonprofit task force worked to build the memorial to honor the memory of U.S. military veterans from all branches and provide a place for people to reflect and thank those who have served, are serving or will serve. The memorial is funded by the sale of engraved names on granite tablets that face a bronze statue of longtime Richfield resident Charles Lindberg. One of the traditions each Memorial Day is to pass a wireless microphone around the audience and ask people to tell a story about someone whose name is engraved on the memorial, according to Jim Topitzhofer, Richfield’s recreation service director. “It’s an emotional and inspiring thing,” Topitzhofer said.

The centerpiece of the monument features an illuminated bronze statue of Chuck Lindberg and the American flag. Lindberg, a 50-year resident of Richfield, was one of four U.S. Marines who were part of the first raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. On the morning of Feb. 23, 1945, members of the 3rd Platoon, 28th Regiment, 5th Marine Division were given orders to climb and secure Mount Suribachi. Upon reaching the top, the Marines raised the first American flag on Japanese soil in the war. A native of Grand Forks, N.D., Lindberg moved to Richfield in 1951, worked as an electrician for 39 years, and raised two daughters and three sons with his wife, Vi. He returned to Iwo Jima for the 50th anniversary of the battle in 1995. When Lindberg died on June 24, 2007, he was the last survivor of the first flag raising at Iwo Jima. MONUMENT - TO PAGE 5

Page 4 Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 16, 2014

Pilot FROM PAGE 1

“The cultures were pretty similar, the discipline and management styles,� he said. The Los Angles Police Department has its own police academy, Becker said, and that’s where he trained for six months before going on the job. Out of 60 recruits in his academy class, only one did not have prior military experience. The early ‘70s were busy times for the Los Angeles Police Department. “There was a lot of gang activity and a high murder rate,� Becker said. “We were busy going from call to call to call.� One of the cases that garnered the nation’s attention while he was a Los Angeles cop was the Rodney King incident on March 3, 1991. King allegedly was beaten by Los Angeles cops, and four officers subsequently were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force. They were acquitted in a court trial, and that triggered riots in Los Angeles in April 1992, during which 58 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. “I had been working undercover then, but everybody got uniforms when the riots started,� Becker said. “We worked 12-hour shifts for three weeks straight. It was pretty hectic.� His 28-year police career also spanned an earthquake in California in 1994, and the O.J. Simpson case that same year.

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Becker served as a patrol officer, training officer, patrol sergeant and detective during his career. “I worked in narcotics from the street level to asset forfeiture,� he said. “The last five years, I supervised a special burglary detail that conducted undercover sting operations.� His job yielded one big benefit: he met his wife, Melinda, who also was a Los Angeles Police officer for 20 years before retiring. “It was a really interesting job,� Becker said. “There were a lot of high-profile cases.� But he also knew that 28 years as a cop was enough. “When you’re done, you’re done,� said Becker. Being a police officer in Minnesota would be a much different job from being a police officer in Los Angeles, he said. “There’s a lot of community service here,� Becker said. “I’m always amazed at how much service people here get from their police departments. You don’t get that in big cities. I’m amazed at how much help the police departments here are to the people.� After the Beckers retired from police work, they opted to move back to Minnesota. Becker was born in Minnesota, and his father’s family still lived here, he said. For the first time in more than 30 years, retirement has offered a new and different way of life for the Beckers. The Beckers’ four children are grown, so they’re experiencing an empty nest now. “We like living on Orchard Lake,� Becker said. “In the summer, we use the paddleboat, kayak and ski boat. I’ve become a fisherman. In the winter I ski every day and Jim Becker and his wife, Melinda, are enjoying retirement at go to the gym every day.� their home in Lakeville. (Submitted photo)

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Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 16, 2014 Page 5

“I’VE BEEN IN THE RECREATION FIELD FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, AND THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST REWARDING PROGRAM I’VE EVER WORKED ON.� -JIM TOPITZHOFER, RICHFIELD PARKS

Monument FROM PAGE 3

The Minnesota Legislature adopted a resolution in his honor in 1995. The Richfield memorial features six stone columns, each representing a different U.S. military branch: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marines and Navy. Granite memorial tablets display the engraved names of 120 veterans. Each engraving displays the veteran’s name and branch of service, and provides a symbol to recognize soldiers that were prisoners of war, killed in action or missing in action. Lindberg’s widow, Vi, has been at the Memorial Day ceremony each year. Unfortunately, Chuck Lindberg died the year before the statue was erected in the park. However, Chuck Lindberg’s daughter, Diane Steiger of Burnsville, said her father saw the spot selected for the monument three weeks before he died. “They had a dedication for that spot,� Steiger said. “Dad said he wasn’t a hero. Everybody we talked to who knew him said he was just a very humble, easygoing guy.� When the family came to last year’s Memorial Day celebration in Richfield, it was the first time they’d seen the entire finished product, Steiger said. “Richfield did a wonderful job,� she said. “It was really, really special. I’m so glad they took down the hill between the street and the monument.� Travis Gorshe designed the monument, serving as part of a committee chaired by Len Gudmunson. “Travis approached me in 2006 and showed me some sketches and said we should have a monument in the park,� Topitzhofer said. “He said nothing in the park signified the importance of veterans.� Gorshe, who lives across the street

from the park, says he’s a military historian and artist who has been collecting information about World War II vets since 1998. He joined the Richfield Arts Commission in 2005, and suggested a veterans’ memorial at his first meeting. Once he’d met Chuck Lindberg and heard his story, Gorshe was inspired to design the memorial. “I wanted the focal point to be on the first flag-raising at Iwo Jima,� Gorshe aid. “Chuck said, ‘Don’t make it about me; make it about all veterans.’� From there, a group “sat down and figured out how to do it,� Topitzhofer said. They wrote a grant, and received $100,000 from the state in 2008, enough to get them started. “Travis and I went to the VFW and American Legion and asked for (board) members,� Topitzhofer said. “We wanted veterans to be the chair and vice chair, and we wanted to get people from all the trades, since Chuck Lindberg had been an electrician. The trades have been really supportive.� The task force brought in specialists, and an architect donated his time to help get the concept from sketches to a design that could be bid out, according to Topitzhofer. The goal was to raise $750,000 for the project, and money is still being collected. The memorial, dedicated last summer, took five years to build, Topitzhofer said. “I’ve been in the recreation field for more than 30 years, and this is the single most rewarding program I’ve ever worked on,� he said. The veterans’ memorial is regarded as a regional attraction, not just something for Richfield, Topitzhofer said. The park is located centrally – near the airport, close to Fort Snelling and right next to the American Legion. “People come to visit and make an event out of it,� he said. “Half of the engraved plaques are from outside Richfield, some even from outstate.�

Page 6 Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 16, 2014

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Nursing degree led to Army service during Vietnam War BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

in Heidelberg, at all kinds of different posts around there. I was in charge, and I didn’t know enough to be scared. We If you ask Trisha Bach Robbins when were in the middle of a war, and they she decided to be a nurse, she talks about had to use the people they had. My sava photograph of herself at the age of 5 or ing grace was that the civilian nurses on 6, in which she wore a Clara Barton cape my unit were old enough, experienced and hat and carried a little medical bag. enough and kind enough to show me the “I was going to be a nurse; there was ropes by example without embarrassing no question about it,” said Robbins, 67, me.” who lives in Minnetonka with her husAs a result, Robbins said, “I learned band, Jim. more faster in my first year in the miliWhen she was 9, a cousin came to tary than I had in four years in college.” stay with the Bach family while she was She also had a chance to see places in nurse’s training. That while she was there that cinched it for Trisha. she wouldn’t have seen “If I wanted to be a otherwise, including nurse at 5, I was locked in France, Austria, England at 9,” she said. and Scandinavia. When Robbins was 12, After a three-year Eushe was a junior volunteer ropean tour in Germany, at Methodist Hospital; at Robbins was sent to a hos16, she’d become a nurse’s pital in Augusta, Ga., and assistant. Following gradassigned to teach Licensed uation from St. Louis Park Practical Nurses (LPNs). High School, earning a “I was teaching young degree in nursing at the men and women the baUniversity of Wisconsinsics, like how to take blood Madison was a logical next pressures and what high step. and low blood pressure The Vietnam War was mean,” she said. “In those well underway by then, Trisha Bach Robbins days, only doctors, resiand Robbins thought joindents and military nurses ing the Army would be a good way to could start IVs (intravenous therapy).” use her training and see the world at the In addition to teaching, she spent same time. part of her time on an orthopedic ward, “I decided to go into the Army be- where she came face to face with the ravcause they would send me overseas,” she ages of the war through the young GIs said. “I was young, and I wanted to do who had been wounded on the front lines something different.” and sent back to the states to recuperate. After training at Fort Sam Houston in “I remember one poor guy who had Texas, Bach was assigned to a hospital in picked up a grenade to toss it and it blew Heidelberg, Germany. She was housed up and took off both of his arms,” she in BOQ (bachelor’s officer quarters) off said. “The kid, who was 18-20 years old, base, which were similar to small apart- looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I’ll ments in a housing area. never be able to hug my girl.’ Captains The medical corps and nursing corps aren’t supposed to cry. I had to leave the were not typical military, she said. Nurs- room. I’ll never forget that kid.” ing and medical staff members all went From Georgia, Robbins was sent to into the Army as officers. Bach was a first Brooklyn, N.Y., where she was a nurse at lieutenant. an outpatient clinic for a time before her Today’s nurses wear scrubs at work, duty was completed. but in those days, they were required Would she do the seven-year military to wear white dresses, white nylons and stint over again? shoes, and a nurse’s cap. “Absolutely,” Robbins said. “I’m aw“I was fresh out of school but I was fully glad I did it. There was nothing the only military nurse in the unit I pulling me back home then.” was assigned to, so I became the head Her next assignment, had she stayed in nurse,” Robbins said. “We were provid- the military, would have been Vietnam, ing care for people who were stationed she said.

Trisha Bach Robbins’ early decision to be a nurse was illustrated in this photograph, taken when she was 6 years old. (Submitted photos) She is still in touch with friends who are now retired nurses and were stationed with her in Germany. Returning from her seven years of military service, Robbins found that having been a nurse and officer in the Army “made my resume look very good.” She had no trouble getting jobs as a head nurse or supervisor. Her career took off from there, leading to nursing jobs at Ramsey County Medical Center, and Lutheran Deaconess, Eitel and Abbott-Northwestern hospitals in the Twin Cities. She’s still working part-time as an IVteam nurse, and patients will sometimes ask her how long she’s been starting IVs. Her reply? “Oh, I started during the Vietnam War.” Jan Rabbers, a communications repre-

sentative for the Minnesota Nurses Association, said it’s difficult to estimate the number of Minnesota nurses who have served in the military. She notes that the Nurse Cadet Corps started during World War I. The state’s Women’s Vietnam Memorial was initiated through the efforts of Minnesota nurses, Rabbers said. While she was coordinating the association’s centennial effort in 2005 and researching some of its history, Rabbers said, “I fell in love with these women who came up through the years. Their voices came out, and I was so honored to have those voices go through me. “There are so many amazing, poignant stories of bravery and courage,” Rabbers said. “You would be in tears, I guarantee it.”

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Mature Lifestyles • Friday, May 16, 2014 Page 7

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