South Dakota Veterans Commissioner to Speak on July 11
Current South Dakota Veterans Commission chairman Michael L. Birnbaum will talk about his combat experiences with the US Army’s 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam during 1967 and 1968.
He later served as only the fifth Command Sergeant Major (ret) in the South Dakota National Guard history.
Sponsored by the Black Hills Veterans Writing Group, the event will take place Saturday, July 11, at EAFB’s South Dakota Air and Space Museum, 9-1130 am (below).
“I was drafted in to the Army in June of 1967. I did basic at Fort Leonard Wood and AIT at Fort Polk. I had about three weeks leave and arrived in Vietnam on Thanksgiving day of 1967. I spent 14 months in Vietnam, serving with the 9th Infantry Division. I served eight months at Bearcat and then six months at Dong Tam in the Delta. My MOS was 11C, Indirect Firecrewman on the 81 mm Mortar. After leaving Vietnam four years later, I joined the South Dakota National Guard and served until retiring in February, 2006.”
