Richard Denessen:
CLASS OF 1967
Oregon City High SchoolClass of 1967
Oregon city, OR
Richard's Story
STUTTERED EXTREMELY..To the point of Total Seclusion .. - MADE FUN OF/AT THROUGHOUT JR HIGH (Thoro B. Gardner), and Oregon City HIGH SCHOOL - Left school/home/life...Then Quit Stuttering... Enlisted US Army - July 11, 1967 - March 26, 1976, Berlin, Germany, 1 yr, West Germany, 6mo, Vietnam 2-1/2 yrs..Ended up here in South Florida in Radar Missle System that was out dated while in training for 2yrs in El Paso, Tx. (on Mexican Border - White Sands Missle Range/Ft Bliss)....hahahaha.. somewhere along the way 1972, married, divorced within a year..Child was born(haven't seen), Married again 1983(about) Divorced 2 children, Talk to son after missing them for 11yrs..Married again 1993(about) Divorced Again, Have 14 yr old Daughter who lives with me..Mother left her, and after 9 yrs of daughters life, Courts Got tired of mother taking me to court for the same thing.. Final judgement was July 12, 2011, Child Stays with me and mother pays Child Support Again... got out of it after owing the child $64k back in 2008.. now has to pay state.. and back child support only back to 2009... SOME SYSTEM WE HAVE HERE... Been struggling like we all have,,,, with life.. Not a lot of Happiness Going Around.. These Days.. For My Family (daughter and I ) things are just Fine as long as people around us can keep there noses out of my (our) business..
I have had Many compliments on Being a Very Good Parent, Especially since I Won in Court... mother Gave up child.. I was not going to quit... THIS MUST BE MY LIFE MISSION, and I AM NOT GOING TO FAIL... Never did in Army, plenty with the ladies (girls) growing up as some of you may Recall...
Daughter is Happy and Starting High School In August... with a Strong ' B ' Average GPA.. Yes I am Proud.. She has had a Difficult time Dealing with The Divorce and Separation of Family and a brother she has that is not from me...She is Growing up Fast and I still want her to be 7-9 yrs old (aint gonna happen) ...
We Get Complimented Every Where We go...on How Well I have done Raising Her By my self as a Single Parent..
All this sorta brings everything up to date...
Was Diagnosed with PTSD in 1979 - our Government or ANY OTHER AGENCY... DID NOT ACCEPT - PTSD AS SOMETHING SERIOUS TO DEAL WITH UNTIL 1984-1985...
The Men coming Back since then - when apply for Benefits are getting 100% almost immediately... Vietnam Veterans (like myself) are still being Denied Benefits.. to this very day.. July 14, 2012... so do the Math.. I have applied more than 25-30 times for Benefits..
Last Letter From Government - I never served in Combat... look up the unit i was in.. 167th Helicopter Company (Vultures/Copper Heads) - 1968-1969 - then you will know ... received numerous Ribbons for Service in 1968-1969 and was part of ALL 8 TET OFFENSIVES Against us, received 5 bronze = 1 Silver service Star etc.. for those years..
WHO ME- NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS - EXTREMELY TRUE !! (to put it in nice words)
Just Last Year - Someone came up to me and...Expand for more
Said, " Thank You For Your Service ".. I don't know to this day HOW TO TAKE THOSE WORDS IN CONTEXT .... NEVER HEARD THOSE WORDS DIRECTED AT ME - ESPECIALLY BEING A VIETNAM VET... ????
Was I wounded, Yes, Cut my Finger - They wanted to Give me Purple Heart..hahahaha... put a bandaid on it and some tape and Told them what to do with their Purple Heart..hahaha.. made me feel good to do that at the time...
YES - I volunteered (enlisted) on 17th Birthday July 11, 1966...
Went to College for 6 yrs, after Military Service, (not all at one time)
Worked in South Florida , as Director of Data Processing, for the last 8 years of my Working Career...until March 23, 1993, when second Wife left with Children..had some sort of breakdown.. could not work any longer...PTSD Became to Strong with the loss of Family/Home/Career/Few Friends...
Lived on the Street and Beach under Bridges.. No Help except the Dumpsters behind Denny's and IHop and other Resturants and Grocery Stores.. Here in Florida from March 1993 - 1998, when someone Filed Papers for SSI.. which is what My Daughter and I live on...
So with all of this stuff from the past - I hope you will Forgive me for not attending any Reunions in the past...
I remember many of you - some in good ways and some not so good - Wanted to make this Reunion but not going to be possible ... Funds are Quite Limited..
People I Remember:
Forest Green, Bill Freeman, Kip Parrot, Linda Blakely, Nancy Ury, Larry Salsburry, Goose(nickname) - just to name a few...many others but I would have to look at the list...
This is to the Girl that Wrote in My Year Book, Junior Year, THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS - she wrote ' ... Stay the way you are, you are a very kind and caring... ' I Do Not Remember Who She Was - But Thank You.. I have lived by those words you wrote to me, and Still Do.. I have Taken Lives and Saved Many More.. so I would like to think..
My Daughter Is Quite Happy now, but still struggles with her (our) past from the day she was born... We have a Great Relationship (Father Daughter) .. IT is AMAZING how Many People said " YOU WILL FAIL - YOU ARE NOT CAPABLE - YOU ARE CRAZY MAN - YOU WILL NOT LAST A WEEK, (then it was a) MONTH, (then it was) 3 MONTHS, (then it was a) Year, - FUNNY, HUH - IT HAS BEEN 14 YEARS NOW..and We Are Still together... LOL
A Mission is a Mission ... I have no reason for doing what i am doing... just Something I do and Do Well - With the Help Of Our God ... and He Knows It...
Enough ..... Don't want to bore you.. If you have taken the time to read all this stuff...
Should Anyone Care to Contact me - rwd0749 at live.com - There is a Lot of you (most) if not all of you that I MISS and Missed a Lot when I was in Vietnam...
God Bless Each and Every One of You, Your Families, Careers, Your Lives, I Know Life is Not Fair most of the time.. But you all Deserve the Best that God Has To Give.and has Given...
NO REGRETS !!
Richard (used to call me Dick or Rick - remember)
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