Kenneth Stoddart, 78, of Milton Township, voluntarily joined the Air Force in 1966 knowing he likely would be sent to Vietnam. He did an 18-month tour of duty in Vietnam during the height of the war. Staff photo / Brandon Cantwell

MILTON TOWNSHIP — When Kenneth Stoddart joined the Air Force in 1966, he was aware of the possibility that he’d be sent to Vietnam.

“The war was going on and in 1966, it wasn’t a big deal when I went in. But our drill instructor said, ‘a lot of you are going to be going to Vietnam,” Stoddart said. “I said, ‘well, I’m in the military, I want to serve my country.’ Not everybody is going to go there but he said ‘a majority of us were.’ It’s not permanent yet.”

Origin-ally from Niles, he graduated from Howland High School in 1964 and lived in Warren until 1985. Stoddart said he joined the Air Force because of his love for airplanes and his decision to heed his dad’s warning to avoid the Marines, as a former Marine Corps member himself.

However, he admitted he originally wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps up until that point.

Stoddart said his 18-month tour in Vietnam came during a time when the U.S. was experiencing the most casualties.

“I was shot at constantly and we had some missions that were volunteer missions that you didn’t have to do, but I was on super crew — five of us, pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, and I was the loadmaster,” Stoddart said.

He explained he received one of his service medals when his crew provided cargo support in an area devastated by artillery.

“We flew to Khe Sanh, when we flew in there, you were still able to land there and it was a dangerous situation then, but it got even worse as the month went on and it got to the point where we couldn’t land there anymore because they had so much incoming shells that destroyed the runway and everything around it,” Stoddart said. “Since we’re super crew, they decided, ‘you guys are going to take the cargo and you’re going to air drop it in there and you’re going to take some runway materials and you’re going to drop it, you’re going to get down on the ground, you know, not stop.”’

Stoddart said while they were shot at by Vietnamese forces, they also had their own fighter support. They were lucky to escape with small holes in the planks, he added.

Stoddart vaguely recalled some of the Tet Offensive’s horrors, when his base was overrun, as well as the shocking, unspeakable aftermath that followed it. And limited civilian support was provided when he returned.

“It was a situation where you don’t understand that the people are upset with the war here in the United States; they didn’t support the soldiers,” Stoddart said.

Like other Vietnam veterans, he echoed the warnings from his first sergeant to not wear his uniform in public. Stoddart would reenter the workforce as soon as he returned, as an employee for General Motors, as any airline jobs he aimed for were full.

Stoddart recalled escaping a citation in a Chevrolet Camaro he purchased prior to leaving the Air Force in 1970, thanks to his uniform hanging in his car’s back seat.

While the car was abandoned in a Newton Falls barn briefly, it was found and restored, resulting in a trophy in Chicago from the Veterans Association.

Stoddart engages in two of his biggest passions now, following his retirement. He’s a bowler and avid golfer, playing in several leagues.