F E O W R G T E S T E L The IssaquahPress
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Fortunate son
Randy Harrison emerged from the Vietnam War unscathed, but with a new appreciation for life By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com Randy Harrison is fascinated by history. The well-read, 69-year-old Squak Mountain resident is especially interested in Homer’s “The Iliad.” “Everybody knows about Achilles, Ajax, Agamemnon and Paris. All the characters you hear about,” Harrison said. “Every now and then, if you read Homer, there’s one guy mentioned, one soldier who did something, not the big characters. “I thought maybe if I kept a good record of this, maybe in 500 years someone will stumble across this, in a safe somewhere, and say, ‘Wow, here’s a daily firsthand thing, by this guy.’” So, Harrison kept a journal during the Vietnam War. Never mind that was verboten for an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Group. It wasn’t the first time the brash, young man that Harrison was skirted the Army’s regulations. The son of a career Air Force pilot, growing up in a military culture, Harrison had always wanted to follow his father’s path. By David Hayes “He was my role model, my hero,” Randy Harrison hugs his dog Burfoot inside his Squak Mountain home. Over his shoul- Harrison said. der is a print commemorating one of Harrison’s missions that went wrong yet garnered Unfortunately, the Air Force Acada Congressional Medal of Honor for helicopter pilot James Fleming, who evacuated emy required perfect vision for pilots. Harrison’s squad under heavy fire from North Vietnamese. Harrison’s hovered around 2,400
Contributed
Randy Harris goes on patrol through the jungles of Vietnam.
uncorrected. The tip of the spear After years adrift taking college courses, Harrison decided to steer his life right and enlist in the Army infantry. “If I can’t be on the tip of the spear, I don’t want” anything else, he said. “The tip of the spear for the Army is the infantry.” He didn’t tell his parents until after he enlisted and he didn’t tell the secSee HARRISON, Page B8
German POW earned freedom, three degrees By Peter Clark pclark@isspress.com Col. William Geil has a great memory — though he says it’s hard to forget getting captured by Germans behind enemy lines. The 89-year-old Squak Mountain resident has seen his fair share of service in a career spanning more than three decades. He served over-
seas in World War II and two tours in Vietnam. His time in the United States Air Force is only made more impressive by the three degrees he earned outside the military. Still, he plays it humble. “I don’t like bragging,” Geil said about his time as a prisoner of war. Speaking plainly, he said he didn’t find it anything worth bragging about. “I had a cousin that finished 25 mis-
sions, while I finished my time in the war in a prison camp.” Now comfortably retired, Geil and his wife Fran split their time between an Issaquah residence and one in Phoenix, Ariz. Geil first See GEIL, Page B8
William Geil
“The whole damn town was coming out. When I saw their eyes, I knew I was in deep kimchi. I figured I’d had it.” — William Geil World War II and Vietnam veteran
Marine Corps, Vietnam shaped Jerry Pearson’s servant nature By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com In a small box that’s usually tucked away in his home library, Issaquah attorney Jerry Pearson has several keepsakes from his three-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps. Among the items are a set of dog tags made to commemorate three of his fellow Marines; a brass dragon head he found in a village; and the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for combat-related wounds in Vietnam. The dragon head, in particular, brings back a flood of memories for Pearson, who was born in Seattle before moving to Issaquah as a small child in 1951. He associates it with Ron Dexter and Lester Bell, two members of the Fifth Marine Division who were shipped to the jungles of Southeast Asia and never came home. “In some ways, you feel really proud of having served, and in other ways you feel all of these losses and confusions,” Pearson said. He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1964, when the Vietnam War was gaining traction in America,
By Christina Corrales-Toy
Dag Garrett holds a poster of newspaper clippings and photographs from his stranded-at-sea ordeal in 1947.
By Neil Pierson
Issaquah veteran recalls the sacrifices
Issaquah native Jerry Pearson, surrounded by legal texts at his Pearson Law Firm office, is more than 40 years removed from his duties as a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com
and his modest 2.6 gradepoint average reflected his disinterest in school. He dropped out of the University of Washington after one quarter, and didn’t last long at The Boeing Co. That’s when he found the Marines and a chance to connect with his family heritage, which has military connections dating to the Civil War. Pearson’s father was in the Army Air Corps during World
Dag Garrett knew he wanted to fly. It’s why during the tail end of World War II, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a fresh-faced 18-year-old. Over the course of a year, Garrett transformed into a well-versed navigator, more than eager to hit the skies in support of his country. He would have to wait though, because just as he was about to deploy, the war
War II. “The veteran thing, to me, is almost like a connective tissue kind of issue,” he explained. Among his memorabilia is a 1965 article from the Honolulu Advertiser. Pearson’s unit arrived in Hawaii aboard the USS Iwo Jima, and he and several Marines were walkSee PEARSON, Page B8
came to an end. “They gave up. They heard we were coming,” he joked. Garrett was rather disappointed he missed the bulk of the war, but the Timber Ridge at Talus resident would see his fair share of action during a 23-year military career. The aftermath He initially remained grounded, serving as an instructor in Louisiana, before See GARRETT, Page B7
Flintoft’s Funeral Home and Crematory is proud to honor our community’s veterans.