July 2022 Veteran of the Month – Clyde Griffin
Clyde N. Griffin was born in July 1943 in Henderson, NV. At the age of nine years old, his mother and siblings moved to China Lake Naval Base in Ridgecrest, CA to be close to where his father worked. Clyde continued to live there until he completed High School and received his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Bakersfield College. In 1963 he married his High School sweetheart, Patty, and they have one son, Jeffery.
In 1966, he was notified that he was being drafted. He immediately went to the local recruiting station and enlisted in the Army to be Military Police (MP) Officer. He attended Basic Training at Fort Bliss, TX and completed his MP training in Fort Gordon, GA. After he completed his training, Clyde was assigned as a permanent party member at the Fort Gordon MP training school. During his time there, he became an instructor for MP trainees until he was approached by his Company Commander. His Commander, who saw potential in him, asked if he would consider Officer Candidate School (OCS) and continue his career as an Army Officer. Even though Clyde was a newly minted active-duty member to the Army, he did not really know what OCS was about. However, after looking into it and seeing the career potential, he agreed, and applied to OCS. He was accepted, promoted to Sergeant/E-5, and shipped off to Ft. Knox, KY for OCS. In March of 1967, he graduated OCS, was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, then was given orders Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was assigned as a platoon leader of a training company until he received orders to Vietnam. When he arrived in country, he was assigned as Armor Calvary Officer with the 1st Infantry Division, 1st of the 4th Armor Calvary, a Ready Reaction Force. He completed his first Vietnam tour in February 1969 and was sent to Fort Ord, CA. Clyde was assigned as a Company Commander for an Infantry training school until 1971. He was then given orders to return to Vietnam and was assigned as a Commander for the Mobile Advisory Team for the Vietnam Army Rangers. He served his 11-month tour alongside his counterpart, MAJ Theu, who was a Vietnam Army Ranger Officer. Unfortunately, upon the return home from this tour, it was one of the hardest times in Clyde’s life. At the end of the tour, he had the honors to escort one of his best friends back home, but as a Casualty Assistance Officer. When Clyde enlisted, he was one of three best friends who entered the service together, however only two of them made it back home. Once home, Clyde was reassigned back to Fort Ord, CA as a Company Commander for a training unit and also continued serving as a Casualty Assistance Officer. Eventually, Clyde left Active Duty in 1974. After a three-year break in service, he signed up with the Army Reserves in California in 1977. During this time, he served in multiple different roles which included: COSCOM Transportation Officer, Company Commander of an MP unit in charge of military stockades and was a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) Officer, and Operations Staff Officer. During these assignments he was promoted to Major and attended and graduated the Command and General Staff College. Eventually Clyde completed his Army Reserve service in 1988, then transferred to the National Guard and served as a Transportation Officer. He supported many military exercises, such as Team Spirit, and multiple other missions. It was in 1999 that Clyde applied for retirement and completed a total of 24 years of service in the Army. Some of his awards include two Bronze Stars, one with a V-Device, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Commendation Medal, Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/Palm and multiple other awards and service ribbons.
After service to his nation, Clyde went into public service working as Deputy Sheriff with the Kern County Sheriff Department in Bakersfield, CA. His career as an investigator working at the Sherriff’s office ended when he medically retired after 17 years. He then worked as a Police Officer for the Department of Veteran Affairs for 10 years and finally decided to retire from the workforce all together. He continued living in Bakersfield, CA until two years ago when his son moved from California to East Tennessee. In 2020, Clyde and Patty then decided to leave California and move to Tellico Village to be close to his son and continue to be a presence in their son and grandkids’ life. Clyde is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #12135 and serves as the Post Chaplain.
The Tellico Village VFW Post #12135 General meeting is held at 7:00 p.m. in the Tellico Village Yacht Club every third Wednesday of the month. Further information can be found on the Post website athttps://www.tellicovillagevfwpost.org/
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