Kirk James:
CLASS OF 1958
New Utrecht High SchoolClass of 1958
Brooklyn, NY
Iona CollegeClass of 1978
New rochelle, NY
Kirk's Story
Workplace
Worked for Shearson Hammill, a stock brokerage, right out of high school, until March of '59, when I entered the Marine Corps. After being discharged in March of '63 I had several different jobs; stock brokerage, Wall St. bank, Sears warehouse, a trucking company where I delivered appliances, before entering the Army in Dec. '64. Apr. 66 to Apr. 67 as a Combat Infantryman in the 1st Infantry Division. Discharged in Nov. 67. Worked for an electric company in Stamford, CT until Apr. '68 when I became a police officer in Greenwich, CT. Married in '70, daughters in '73 & 76, divorced in '80. Graduated from Iona College in New Rochelle with a B.S. in Criminal Justice in '78. Joined Army Reserves in '77, 3 years as a Drill Sergeant in Fairfield, CT and 2 years in Special Forces in Tappan, NY. Vested my pension rights as a police officer (retired) and went back in the Army in Sep '82. At age 42 I had to go through Basic Training, Advanced Infantry Training, and Jump School, before going to the 2nd Ranger Bn. at Ft. Lewis, WA. After a knee destroying training accident I had to find a new Army job in Dec '83. Until my retirement from the Army in Sep '95 I was a Counterintelligence Agent in Military Intelligence. The same month, Sep '95, my police pension kicked in and I've been retired ever since, except my brother says I work full time at being a pain in the butt.
Military
Marine Corps from Mar '59- Mar 63. Parris Island, SC for bootcamp, Camp Geiger (Camp Lejeune) NC for ITR. Camp Pendleton, CA staging to go overseas. Camp Courtney, Okinawa Sep '59- Dec '60. Camp Lejeune, NC Jan '61- Mar '63, 81MM Mortars, 2d Bn 8th Marines, 2d Mar Div, FMF. Marine Individual Ready Reserve Mar '63- Dec '64. Oh, yeah two Caribbean cruises while on active duty. Went on alert for the Bay of Pigs fiasco and when the Berlin Wall went up. Heard Pres. Kennedy's Cuban Missile Crisis speech on the airfield on Vieques, PR (closer to Cuba than the US.) Joined the US Army 1 Dec 64, did not go to Army basic training. Replacement Det. at F...Expand for more
t Dix for a few weeks (promoted to PFC while there.) Entered as a PV2 (E2) after having been discharged from USMC as a CPL (E4), went to B Co 1st/29th Inf, 197th Inf Bde., Fort Benning, GA. Unit acted as demonstration troops for visitors (Million Dollar Minute) and as aggressors for OCS and Ranger School. Went to Germany Jul '65- Feb '66, C Co 2d/48th Inf, 3d Armored Div., Gelnhausen, West Germany. Spent time as Brigade Cdrs sedan driver (got to see SecArmy Resor's profile from about a hundred feet away, once.) BDE CO was Col Jeffrey G. Smith, later LTGEN and 1st US ARMY Cdr. Was also Bn CO's jeep driver for a while and the C Co CO's jeep driver for one CPX. Hated Germany so much I put in for VietNam. Sent to Bravo Company, 1st Bn 28th Inf Black Lions (2d squad, 2d platoon) 1st Inf Div, Phuoc Vinh. Still a PFC. Memories too numerous to mention here. Finally made SP4 and then Sgt E-5 four months later. Introduced Bob Hope at his Xmas show 25 Dec '66 at Dian, 1st Inf Div HQs. Later the same day I was awarded the Distinguished Servive Cross by the Chief of Staff of the Army, GEN Harold K. Johnson. Tour of duty Apr '66 to Apr '67. Until discharge on 30 Nov '67 I was in the Patrolling Committee, 1st AIT Bde, Ft Dix, NJ. Joined the active Army Reserve, Fairfield, CT in Dec '77 after finishing classes at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY. Went through Drill Sergeants' School for a year (two weeks summer camp at Ft Dix in '78) In '80 I joined Co B, 1st Bn, 11th Special Forces Group, Tappan, NY as the Armorer. Joined the Reserves as a Sgt E5, same rank I had when discharged in '67. Made SSG E6(P) as a Drill. Went to Ft Indiantown Gap, PA in ,79. Went to Ft Devens, Mass in '80, and Ft Dix in '81 & '82. Rejoined the Active Army (as a PFC E3) on 27 Sep 82, the day before my 42nd birthday. Went through Army Basic Training, Advanced Infantry Training and Jump School, all at the age of 42. On to Ft Lewis, WA, 2nd Bn 75th Inf, the 2nd Ranger Battalion, best unit and the best guys I ever met in the US Army. All downhill from here.
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