Goudzwaard's Army career short but meaningful

SEELEY LAKE – Jim Goudzwaard was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1969. Though he only served a year-and-a-half, and things never went quite the way he expected, he packed a lot of sights and experiences into that short time.

Prior to being drafted, Goudzwaard worked in a hospital, first as an orderly, then in the emergency room. It seemed logical then that after basic training he was sent to Ft. Sam Houston for medical training. He was assigned to the 32nd Surgical unit, one of the last Medical Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units.

It also seemed logical that after basic training, he would be sent to Vietnam, as the unit before his had been and the unit after would be also. The thought was not very appealing, given that he had married just before being drafted and given the high number of medics killed in action in Vietnam.

Strangely, his unit was sent to Germany. Even more strangely, they were put to work not as medics but as mechanics on the deuce and a half trucks. Having no desire to be a mechanic, Goudzwaard switched to a position as a mailroom clerk. As an aside, Goudzwaard said the lieutenant in charge of the mailroom turned out to be Jeffrey Parks, the son of Bert Parks of Miss America Pageant fame. Goudzwaard did not stay in the mailroom long. When the position of supply clerk for the 32nd unit opened, he switched to that and maintained that post for the rest of his military career.

Training for the supply clerk position took place in Oberammergau, Germany, noted for its famous Passion Play enacted every 10 years since 1634. Tickets for the play always sell out years in advance, so Goudzwaard was unable to see the performance, but he said he got to walk through the town, which he described as exactly what you'd think of as a quaint German town with the stores all painted in bright colors. Oberammergau is nestled at the foot of the Alps, so Goudzwaard enjoyed a lot of hiking.

In the late 1970s, civil war broke out in Jordan and Goudzwaard's MASH unit was sent to give medical assistance in an operation named "Fig Hill." Everyone in the unit was decommissioned out of the military and the unit became an American arm of the International Red Cross. So that they would not be associated with the Army or the military, they had to paint their deuce and a half trucks white with crosses on the side.

The entire unit was airlifted to Amman, Jordan. Though they could hear shooting and bombing all around, they were not permitted to carry any weapons themselves. Within six hours, they set up a MASH unit in a not-yet-completed hospital building. As supply clerk, Goudzwaard was in charge of obtaining all the needed medical provisions as well as toilet paper and other necessities.

The MASH unit treated anyone who came to the hospital. The doctors performed everything from a C-section baby delivery to major surgery. Though they were in Amman only one month, they completed 1,252 surgical procedures, 300 of which were classified as major surgery, and several of which required creative ingenuity to manufacture tools and needed implements on the spot. The Goudzwaards collected articles from newspapers with headlines reading: "Jordanians Pour Into U.S. Hospital," "Wounded Come From Miles Around: U.S. Hospital Is Jordan's Place of Miracles," "Leader Says Amman Relief Mission Best Ever." Upon the units return to Germany, one military newspaper even carried a photo of Goudzwaard being greeted by his wife Shirley and infant son Michael.

Upon completion of Operation Fig Hill, the unit received a Letter of Appreciation from the Commanding General of the United States Army Medical Command, Europe, which said in part, "Your efforts in this international humanitarian undertaking have again demonstrated to the world that as Americans we are ready to respond to the needs of our fellow men in an unselfish manner."

Some of the personal highlights of Goudzwaard's Jordanian stint included a one-day outing to the ancient desert city of Petra, which was later designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2007, it was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Another experience Goudzwaard values occurred when he had to fly to Athens, Greece, to pick up a bunch of supplies.

Goudzwaard said, "So I had an opportunity to go to the Acropolis and Parthenon and all those places that I probably would have never had a chance to see in my life. And I could walk up on top and stand right next to the stuff. But now I don't think they allow people to walk up there because there's been so much damage from foot traffic."

Shortly after the 32nd Unit's return to Germany, Goudzwaard mustered out of the Army to resume his schooling at Michigan State University. He switched his major from medicine to Fisheries and Wildlife and from 1973-1984 worked as a Fish and Wildlife biologist in Kansas. In 1984 he took a job with the Kansas City District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Once again he was in civilian clothes but working under military leadership.

A year later, Goudzwaard transferred to the Portland District, Ore. where he first worked as a Project Manager in the Regulatory Branch of the Corps. Specifically, he was involved with issuing permits to people who wanted to work in any kind of water areas within the U.S. From there he transitioned to become the wetlands specialist for the northwest district, a position he held until he retired.

Goudzwaard said, "Most of my entire career, although it's not been as an officer or an enlisted man, was spent working for the military."

In 2005, a week after Hurricane Katrina hit, Goudzwaard was sent with a special detail to Biloxi, Miss. to help with clean-up. His district was assigned to tree and shrubbery debris disposal, but he said it was impossible to sort the tree debris from building and other rubble.

The example Goudzwaard gave was, "If you had a big, big sheet and you took your whole house [and yard] and dumped it on the sheet and tied a knot and shook it all up then threw it down on the ground. That was sort of what we were dealing with."

They ended up just bulldozing and transporting tons of mixed debris out of the neighborhood. They worked at that for three months.

Goudzwaard discovered Seeley Lake when a friend convinced him to come up and go fishing. Like many other residents, Goudzwaard saw the area and said, "This is where I want to live."

He and Shirley moved up right after his retirement in 2008 and have been full-time residents ever since.