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Freddy Nelson and I went through school together almost from Day One. The only difference was he attended Kindergarten at Hemmerling, and I went to Hoffer (my family moved to our home on North Woodland Avenue during the summer of 1962, after living at 1545 North Almond Way for about three years).
Fred and I weren't exactly bosom buddies, yet we weren't hostile toward each other, either. We maintained a somewhat casual acquaintance throughout our years in the Banning school system.
The period after we graduated from high school was supposed to be a time of peace in the world. The Vietnam War was, for all intents and purposes, over … and then-President Richard Nixon had abolished the draft shortly after.
Fred Nelson and I signed up for the Army shortly after graduation, just a few days apart. We never saw each other while in the service. I wound up taking my Basic Training at Fort Jackson, SC … he went to Ford Ord, California.
Only one of us would come home alive … just barely. I suffered through a severe battle with double pneumonia and toxic vertigo (an inner ear infection) while at Fort Jackson, and came oh so near to death's door in August (I was in the hospital when President Nixon resigned), and was sent home permanently with an Honorable Discharge in September.
Fred wasn't as lucky. He was shot and killed January 21, 1976, while serving our Country in Germany, three months after his 20th birthday.
My biggest regret was that I didn't get to know him better.
--Duke Vernoy
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