Dennis Barker Named Jefferson County Veteran Of The Month For March

Written by Dianne BarkerDennis L. Barker was honored by county commissioners as Jefferson County’s March Veteran of the Month Tuesday morning, March 12, 2024. He was also presented with a patriotic wall hanging by Marley Rosener. Barker was born December 18, 1943, and grew up on the family farm near Pender. He attended K-12th grade, Pender Public Schools, graduating in 1962. While in high school he helped on his dad’s farm, played basketball, football and track, qualifying for the state track meet in 1961 and 1962. He went to Dana College at Blair in the fall of 1962, with a Physical Education major and a Business minor. Barker was a member of the Dana Track Team all four years lettering in hurdles and pole vaulting. Barker worked numerous jobs while in college and upon graduation on May 29, 1966, he worked for the Platte Valley Pipe Line in Iowa before enlisted for two years in the U.S. Army in Omaha on September 16, 1966.Private Barker spent both his Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, training with M60 tanks and graduating with a Military Occupational Specialty as a 11D40 Armor Recon Specialist. On July 1, 1967, while on military leave, Barker married his college sweetheart, Dianne. One month later, August 1967, Barker flew into Da Nang Air Base, the primary entry point for American members flying into Vietnam, where he received a two day indoctrination welcoming him to Vietnam. Barker transferred to a Caribou, a specialized cargo aircraft and was flown into the 11th Armored Cavalry base camp, known as “Blackhorse.” After checking his duffle bags into the hooch, a tin roofed barrack, he got into a Chinook helicopter loaded with mail and meals for the guys already in the field. As he landed, ricocheted bullets were flying everywhere; the “new bees” took cover, while everyone already on the ground weren’t even paying attention to them. Barker’s first assignment was to a M113 Tracked Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) designed to transport combat infantry personnel and equipment into combat zones and also as security for other operations. Armored Personnel Carriers were used to break through heavy thickets in the midst of the jungle to attack and overrun enemy positions. The APC moves on tracks, effective for cross-country mobility, which went about 25-30 miles an hour. Most of the time they were a crew of four: driver, track commander and two gunners. Barker was mostly a driver or gunner. They all carried M16 rifles, there were two machine guns with the tank and a 50-caliber machine gun on top for the track commander. Once, after the platoon leader’s track hit a mine, Barker became the track commander, known as the acting “Jack,” replacing the senior officer. They weren’t always in the track. Sometimes they dismounted and became field infantry, moving on foot through heavy thickets in the jungle always on the lookout for the enemy and an occasional tiger. They lived in the APC tank while out in the jungle. All Barker’s letters that went home had red mud or dirt on them. They slept in the track, lived in filthy fatigues and stunk to high heaven, didn’t wear underwear because of the heat and humidity, ate C rations, sometimes getting one hot meal a day. It rained twice daily; hard rain in the a.m. and again at night. They showered with soap in the rain; sometimes taking baths while swimming the Saigon River. They rotated from being in the field to “Blackhorse” base camp, running day and night road security to keep the Viet Cong from setting road mines. They were supported by Cobra combat helicopters. It was on one of these missions that Barker’s hearing was damaged.Sergeant Barker was honorably discharged on July 19, 1968. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign medal, Vietnam Service medal and Combat Infantryman Badge. He is a life member of the Golden Spur, having served with the 11th Armor Cavalry Regiment of Vietnam.After returning home from Vietnam in the fall of 1968, Barker went back to Dana College to earn his Teacher’s Certificate. In the fall of 1969 Barker and his wife moved to Fairbury, where he began his teaching career with the Fairbury Public School system as an Elementary Physical Education Teacher, K-6th grade. He coached high school wrestling, high school cross-country, Junior High wrestling and track. Under the GI Bill, he earned a Master of Education Degree from the University of Nebraska on August 19th, 1977. During the summer’s he worked as a painter and did various construction jobs. Barker has three children; Darren of Waukee, Iowa, Derrick of Richmond, Virginia and Dayna of St. Libory, all graduated from Fairbury. He is a member of the Fairbury VFW, a member of the Honor Guard, a past Quilt of Valor recipient and has been on the Honor Flight to Washington D. C. He retired from teaching on May 22, 2003, then drove as a substitute bus driver for the Fairbury Schools for a few years while building a home on an acreage east of Fairbury, where he currently lives with his wife, Dianne, of 56 years.

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