By John Montesano
The Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club named Donald W. Gatske the May 2022 Herschel Luckinbill Veteran of the Month.
Don was born June 25, 1946 and grew up in Aurora. He played in Boys Baseball of Aurora and Aurora Pony League baseball. He was a sousaphone player in the East Aurora High marching band. In June 1964, after graduating from East High, he enlisted in the Navy. In January , he went to USNTC Bainbridge, Md. for Radioman Class School. In 6/65, he was assigned to the USS Ajax AR-6, a repair ship, home ported in Sasebo, Japan. The Ajax was the flag ship of Commander Service Group 3, the service fleet of the western Pacific. At all times, there were oilers, ammunition and refrigeration ships off the coast of Vietnam in support of the fleet’s combat units. Don would sit at a teletype machine for eight hours typing (mostly) ammunition orders. He was on Temporary Additional Duty (TAD) in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam: in late 1966,on the USS Kawishiwi AO-146, a fleet oiler; and in early 1967, assigned to the USS Sacramento AOE-1, a fleet oiler, ammunition ship and refrigerated stores ship.
August 1967, Don was back in the Gulf of Tonkin on the USS Mount Baker AE-4,an ammunition ship. In early 1968, he became a shellback when the Mount Baker sailed back to Port Chicago, Calif., for sea trials. In September 1967, the Mount Baker returned to the Gulf of Tonkin. April 1969, she sailed to Subic Bay, Philippines for refitting. Because Don’s enlistment ended at that time, he was flown to Treasure Island, Calif. to be honorably discharged as a Radioman 2nd Class. He returned home to Aurora.
August 3, 1969, he became a police officer for the Batavia Police Department. He was put in charge of radios and helped with the State Police teletype. In 1973, when they went to Tri-Com Central Dispatch, Don helped with the development of the program, going from car radios to walkie-talkies. In May, 1977, tired of working weekends and holidays, he left the Police Department and went to work for the Public Works Department as a building inspector. In late 1979, he was made warehouse manager in the Electric Department, to set up and computerize the centralized warehouse. He drafted the utility maps. In late 1984, Don Gatske was named assistant to the director of Public Works. He retired in August 2009.
Don collects Santa figures. He has approximately 700; 350 of which are on display. He was in Scouts for 40 years, as a scoutmaster and cubmaster, and a district commissioner.
July 31, 1971, Don and Patricia were married. They were married for 49 years and had two children and five grandchildren. Sadly, Patricia died in December 2020 of Alzheimer’s. The last eight months of Patricia’s life, when the disease progressed, were especially difficult for Don. He likened it to: “At some point, I stopped being husband and became strictly caregiver. She may look like Patricia, but she was no longer in there.” He added: “That’s a disease I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”
In 2019, he started playing the mandolin and already has a collection of six mandolins, two guitars, a banjo and a fiddle. He sings and plays mandolin at his church. He frequently attends blue grass festivals. Recently, April 13, Don went on Honor Flight Chicago 100, the 100th Honor Flight Chicago trip.
When asked how he feels about life, Don said: “I’m content.”