ROCHELLE — Mike Kreider of Rochelle served in the United States Navy from 1969-1973 during the Vietnam War. He served on the USS Shelton and went to Vietnam on deployments three times. 

In late 1968, Kreider was classified 1A for the draft after passing his physical. He decided to enlist in the Navy for a four-year enlistment in March of 1969 to avoid the Army and serving in Vietnam. Kreider did 10 weeks of boot camp at Great Lakes, and was later sent to Newport, Rhode Island for quartermaster school. A quartermaster is a navigator’s assistant.

After graduation, Kreider received orders to the USS Shelton (DD 790), homeported in San Diego, California. Upon Kreider’s arrival in San Diego, the ship wasn’t found, it was later realized it was in drydock in Long Beach, California being rebuilt. Shortly after joining his ship, Kreider and the Shelton sailed for San Diego for sea trials and training. 

The year was 1970 when Kreider saw his first deployment to the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam. His ship kept busy providing gunfire support with five-inch guns or doing lifeguard duty for aircraft carriers as they launched air strikes. If anyone went overboard, it was on the USS Shelton to recover them. 

When the Shelton wasn’t firing or on lifeguard duty, it was next to supply ships loading food, fuel and bullets. Kreider worked 18–20-hour days on the ship. 

“The only bad thing about it was not getting much sleep,” Kreider said. “My job was to know where the ship was all the time and where we were on the planet. I was a helmsman when we went alongside another ship for fuel or food or bullets. I would steer and keep it within a degree or half a degree of the course or there'd be danger of running into the other ship. I talked to the spotters a lot, locking in the gunfire support. We fired a lot of rounds at times and got fired back at. Pieces of shrapnel would hit the ship. It was very scary. We went way north in Vietnam.”

Kreider entered the Navy as a newly married 19-year-old. His wife, Jane, joined him in California after he got there. She drove there with everything they owned in a car. Kreider was in the Subic Bay in the Philippines when he got a message that their first child had been born in May 1970. He met his daughter for the first time four months later. 

“My wife was there through it all,” Kreider said. “She's as much a veteran as I am. It wasn't easy.”

In between cruises to Vietnam, Kreider and company were kept busy training, and he got occasional leave to come home to Illinois. After his last deployment, Kreider and others were given a three-month early out. He was honorably discharged from the service on Jan. 25, 1973. He and Jane packed up the car and headed home. 

Kreider’s medals include National Defense, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal with one silver star, RVN Campaign Medal and the RVN Gallantry Cross.

Kreider described the Vietnam era in America as divided, similarly to how it is now. He recalled seeing combat footage of the war on the local news. Kreider never experienced any of the anger towards Vietnam service members that others did. He recalled the fear of being drafted. 

“Being drafted was scary,” Kreider said. “I had a job with a finance company in Dixon. I was transferred to Belvidere and was there about two months and I got my draft notice. The first thing I wanted to do was not go to Vietnam. So, I joined the Navy, and I went to Vietnam three times. That plan didn't work out too well. We got fired at, but it wasn't what I considered dangerous.”

Kreider was one of 240 Navy sailors on his ship. He made lifelong friends in his four years.

“I grew up in my time in the service,” Kreider said. “It taught me to have other people's backs. It teaches you to be responsible for yourself.”

After he was discharged, Kreider moved to Mt. Morris, where he was offered a job at a printing company. He worked in that industry for 25 years. He and Jane moved to Rochelle in 2008. Kreider finds it hard to believe that over 50 years have passed since he left the service. 

“Like anything, it's like, 'Where has the time gone?'” Kreider said. “A lot of it I can't remember. I think a lot of it is selective memory. Maybe I try to avoid some of the hard memories. I had forgotten we literally wore out the barrels of the two guns on the ship. They wouldn't fire anymore. We had to get barrels from a different ship. It was a long four years, but it was short too.”

Honoring Our American Hero is a series that will print twice a month in the News-Leader. If you know an American Hero you would like to have featured, contact Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@rochellenews-leader.com or call 815-561-2151.