US Army SGT, US Air Force MSGT

Rochelle Berardini and Lorena Villalobos

Period 3

Travis Gammill

US Army SGT, US Air Force MSGT

Years in Service: 1949 – 1970

Master Sergeant Travis Gammill

Travis Gammill was born in Oklahoma. As a young child, he lost his mother and was raised by his father. At the age of sixteen, Gammill dropped out of high school as a sophomore. He became a migrant worker with his father. During this time, two of Gammill’s good friends encouraged him to enlist into the Army. When enlisting his father signed forms stating Gammillwas eighteenwhen in reality he wasn’t.

For many, boot camp was a challenge, but for Travis Gammill it was child’s play. All the tough work Gammill had done working on the field made all the work at boot camp fairly easily. For example, when the men were lifting heavy objects in boot camp, Gammill had already been lifting heavy sacks. Once he completed boot camp, he went to Camp Lee for eight weeks, where he trained as a basic supply clerk. At supply school he was taught how to type fourteen words per minute. Through all the continuous work, he became a supply sergeant.

In 1950, Travis Gammill was in Korea fighting alongside with United Nations. He was an ordance supply man in the army, where he provided arms, ammo, and support for the Third Infantry Division. Within two years at the age of eighteen, he was promoted to supply sergeant in the US Army in Korea. Life in Korea was challenge for Gammill and all the soldiers. There were no showers, very little hot food, little clothes, extreme cold weather in the winter, and really hot in the summer. They were constantly on the move with no time off. He never knew what day it was, just hoped to return to the “real world” as soon as possible.Gammill fought in three major battles’ one in the winter, another in the spring, and also in the summer. Free time was abundant so Gammill and his buddies would pull pranks on each other and test new weapons. One common prank was short sheeting. It involved folding the sheet in a certain way so when someone would lie down and pull it over them they would fall off the bed. However, some pranks went too far. Once,Gammill’s friend shouted a false alarm of grenades as a joke for those who were sleeping in the housing unit, which caused the men to panic for no reason. Testing weapons was another common activity. Rocket launchers and new guns always rose the curiosity to the men. One vivid memory Gammill has is when him and his friend failed at launching a rocket. Instead it fell to the ground damaged the gravel and the windshield of an army truck.In 1951, he returned home on an extended leave. In 1975, Gammill entered the Vietnam War as a US Air Force management analysis tech. He was soon promoted to Master Sergeant. He went two times to the Vietnam War. During the war he was station in Thailand and Guam for a period of time. In Guam, he was involved with B52 bombing. Throughout his time in combat, Master Sergeant TravisGammill always made sure to do his best on his duty and make sure the troops had what they needed to do their own jobs.

In 1970,Gammill returned to the U.S. When he landed he was immediately pulled to the side by his friend to escape public discrimination. Gammill was not aware of the public’s anger towards the Vietnam War until his friend informed him of it at a bar. Numerous times veterans was spit on and called “baby killer”. All the discrimination he received never got to him instead rolled off his back.

After twenty- one years of service, Travis Gammill retired at the age of thirty-seven.Gammill was determined to do something else with his life. With the college degree he earned while in service, he decided to go further with his education. Gammill enrolled in the first graduate school of administration at the University of California Riverside. His education was supported by the G. I. Bill. Gammill obtained his Masters of Business Administration degree and went into real estate investments. He moved on to get his teacher credentials and has a passion for learning history. Although he had the credentials to teach, he never really taught. Gammill believes knowledge is powerful. He provided a college education for his four children. Now he spends his days going to Flabob Airport every day, where he works on his airplanes and old cars. He enjoys every day and his family. He also loves to spend his time reading good books.

To this day Master Sergeant Travis Gammill lives a life he is proud of. He is proud of his military service, but wouldn’t do it again. The two most memorable events for Gammill were joining the service and retiring. He entered a different world with excitement and left it with a positive experience. Throughout his life, Gammill learned a key concept: to always be honest and to do the right things.