By John Montesano
The Veteran of the Month for February is Cliff Oleson.
Cliff Oleson, born June 12, 1948, was raised by his grandparents on a farm outside of LeRoy, 15 miles southeast of Bloomington. He drove his first tractor at age 10.
After graduating from LeRoy High School in 1966 he moved to Louisville, Ky. to go to school. He worked at a Winn Dixie grocery store and at the time, was worried about being drafted into the U.S. Army. Consequently, he signed up for the Air National Guard, but didn’t get his acceptance until his third week into basic training, because he was drafted into the Army before hearing from the Air National Guard! It was April 1968.
Before his basic training, Cliff requested a change in assignment. If he was going to Vietnam, he didn’t want to go into the jungle as an infantryman, so he was sat down in a chair where he was discharged as a draftee and was reenlisted as “Regular Army.” His new designation was radio operator. Following his basic and advanced individual training, he was sent to Fort Hood, Texas. He was assigned to drive a Deuce and a Half (2 1/2 ton cargo truck), hauling radio equipment and a generator trailer.
In July 1969, Cliff was sent to Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam. He was with the 1st Signal Brigade, 36th Signal Battalion, Company 595. He was in Lai Khe and then Di An. He was at the radio sight or on guard duty. One night he volunteered for guard duty, so he could see Bob Hope the next day. It was a dangerous place with artillery and mortar fire being frequently dropped into his location. He did lose three individuals from his unit who had been ambushed while on a road that hadn’t been secured. His total time in Vietnam was one year, four months, and 12 days.
He came home December 3, 1970 at O’Hare Airport and went home with his father to Yorkville. He lived with his father for a short time before returning to LeRoy to stay with Grandpa Roy. Unfortunately, Roy was killed in a car accident in 1971, and Cliff returned to Yorkville. He went to work for Caterpillar, Inc. in Aurora. He was trained as a welder which he did for 41 years, and retired January 31, 2014.
Cliff has been married to Linda since June 1984. They have two sons. In retirement, Cliff participates in the household chores, because Linda works at Plano High School. He tries to get on his motorcycle every day. He enjoys riding so much that a five-mile round trip to a store might turn out to be a 100-mile ride. He can do that because he is retired.
He and Linda have participated in the Annual Sturgis (South Dakota) Motorcycle Rally since 2012. Cliff does all the driving on his Can Am Spyder motorcycle with Linda on the back.
In 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, Cliff saw on television a plea for help from the Jackson County, Miss. sheriff. Cliff and Linda went to their Plano Methodist Church and loaded their pickup truck and a U Haul trailer with donated school and household supplies. They drove to Ocean Springs, Miss. on the Gulf Coast and delivered the supplies to the Van Cleave Methodist Church. Their kindness came full circle when he found out that a fellow Caterpillar employee’s grandchildren received some of those supplies.
Cliff has been an auxiliary sheriff’s deputy for Kendall County for 20 years. His duties include traffic control and search and rescue in the area.
He is a life member of both the VFW and American Legion, with whom he has been a member for 39 years. He is a member of the American Legion Riders. He is frequently involved in motorcycle escorts of the Vietnam Moving Wall and was part of the escort of the Middle East Conflicts Wall in Marseilles.