Jeff Stam

Jeff Stam was born in 1951 and grew up in Holland, Michigan. He graduated from high school and followed the path of his two older brothers and enlisted in the Army in January of 1969. Jeff did his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Jeff then trained for his selected RTO (Radio-Telephone Operator) MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Georgia. Next, he did advanced training in teletype. After advanced training and a month-long leave, Jeff went to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he waited for further orders. Jeff was then sent to Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay where he did field P-training and waited to be assigned to a unit. Jeff was next assigned to the Headquarters Company 1st Battalion of the 501st Regiment at LZ Sally where he worked in communications. Jeff had a top-secret crypto clearance and was assigned to a village in the Quang Tri area where he was the only American. Jeff traveled frequently between the village and the Army bases. At one point Jeff’s unit moved from LZ Sally to the larger Phu Bai base where he worked more with crypto. He spent his time delivering codes to different units and would be out a couple of weeks at a time on a firebase. Then on June 7, 1970, Jeff was wounded when the helicopter he was riding in to deliver code to another unit was shot down. Miraculously, the helicopter was found by his unit and all six men were air-lifted out in pairs by a smaller loach helicopter. Jeff was wounded with shrapnel in his leg and the back of his head, but he was able to save and deliver the code to the base. However, due to the extensive nature of his wounds, he was air-lifted to Danang for surgery. Subsequently, Jeff got an infection in his wound and was shuttled around to 14 different hospitals for treatment. He also had malaria at one point. Eventually, Jeff returned to Fort Lewis, Washington, and was released from the Army November 1, 1971. Jeff returned to West Michigan where he graduated from Kuyper College and pursued mission work in Central America for eight years. Jeff returned to West Michigan once again and started his own faith-based nonprofit organization which became an international organization specializing in Biblical Counseling. Jeff does not regret his time in the Army, stating that it helped him grow up.

[@garyluck8502]

Thanks for your service!

[@WmGood]

Chose the army??? What a mistake.