Dr. Bill Gaddis shared his experience of his service during the Vietnam war with the Kiwanis club, Tuesday, November 11th, Veteran’s Day.

Gaddis, upon graduating from LSU with draft number 25, completed four years in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), was commissioned as a lieutenant and then volunteered to enter the Army.

He was assigned to Darnell Army Hospital in Killeen, Texas, where he served nine months as assistant to the registrar. The job involved research and writing letters for the registrar to share with congressmen who were making inquiries about their constituents. He was not a dentist at the time but had been in premed at LSU.

He landed in the Central Highlands and spent 365 days in Vietnam, noting that he wasn’t in the line of fire often. He went on R&R after nine months, as the invasion of Cambodia was underway, and returned to learn that 12 of his aides had died in that invasion.

He shared the number of casualties from each war the U.S. has been involved in, including the Civil War (about 620,000) and the Revolutionary War (about 25,000).

After serving his 365 days in Vietnam, he returned to Jena, where he and his wife Jackie were married.

Gaddis ended his presentation with an update on the Veterans Memorial planned for Winn Parish at the site of the old U.B. Carpenter’s store on Main Street. He said it will be an open-air plaza, that the demolition has been funded and should take place in two weeks, and that donations are being sought to complete the remaining phases.

For more information on donating to this project he said to contact the Winn Veterans Memorial Association Board President, Michael Durbin at 318-623-7732 or mdurbinwvma@yahoo.com.