Info Sheet - Martin H. Jenkins"
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Centaur Tour: 29 Jan thru 28 Apr 1969 - Chu Chi, Vietnam. Call sign: Centaur 14
Raised as an Army Brat by Special Forces Dad and traveled to Germany, Ft. Bragg, Ft. Benning, Okinawa, and finally Atlanta, Ga where I graduated from a High School in SW side of town.
Enlisted in December of 1966, whereupon I was identified as OCT candidate (Officer Candidate Training); and graduated OCS at Benning in November 1967. Five days later I married my wife Charlotte who I met on a blind date before I entered the service. I served two tours in Vietnam:
First tour 1969: D TRP ¾ Cav as Asst. Platoon Leader under Jerry Odom in the Scouts flying LOHs. I was shot down with a RPG in the Hobo Woods April 25, 1969. Whereupon I was evacuated to Camp Zama in Japan and assigned to United States Army Aviation Command in St. Louis.
While I was in St. Louis the Army gave me permissive TDY to take VA financed Fixed Wing school and I earned my Commercial Pilot, Instrument rated fixed wing land and Rotorcraft all FAA License.
Second tour 1971-72: assigned to the 17th Combat Aviation Brigade in Tuy Hoa and Pleiku in Central Highlands. I was the asst. S-3 Brigade Operations officer and flew OH-58s frequently to protect our base at Artillery Hill.
I rotated back to Benning to attend Infantry Advance Course and then was released from active duty (REFRAD) in July of 1973. Worked for Federal Reserve Bank and EDS (Ross Perot’s Co) till about 1978. I stayed with two Basic Sales Companies from 1978 till I retired in June of 2014. We also raised two girls and two boys (later 85 and 1987) in Columbia , SC and Hickory Flat, GA.
Invited and attended our 1st ¾ Cav reunion in 2000 and stayed in touch with the Observer, Jim Walt, who saved my life in 1969, and other friends through this reunion medium with 2016 reunion being the most attended and fun. We even did Segway tours there and at Harrisburg, PA, (Gettysburg).
I live presently in Woodstock, GA about 15 miles north of Atlanta just off I-575. We travel a lot to NC , Salt Lake City, and Palm Bay, FL where our children and grandchildren live, and we serve Church Missions.