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Coast Guard vet served his country for nearly 30 years
By RYAN HICKMAN
The images of veterans who served the country in wars around the world tend to conjure up specific scenes: camouflaged soldiers heading up out of a trench bayonets piercing forward, jets screaming above a foreign landscape dropping bombs and ocean trolling war ships pumping out long range missiles toward the enemy.
For some veterans, though, serving country wasn’t about mortar shells or foxholes, high-altitude bombing missions or around-the-world deployments on aircraft carriers.
Ralph Bartels, a Kingwood resident, put in nearly 30 years of service for his country without going into a war zone as a career member of the United States Coast Guard.
And his non-battle experiences don’t make Veteran’s Day, a time when war torn servicemen usually get the spotlight, any less for him.
“I think it’s great that there’s a Veteran’s Day so that all veterans get some recognition because they devoted a fair part of their life in the service of their country,” Bartels, now 77, said last week.
His service in the Coast Guard began shortly after his graduation from Rutgers University when guys in their early 20s were being scooped up to serve in Korea.
“Young men my age were being drafted into the Army and I didn’t want to be a grunt,” he said. “I looked into what the Coast Guard did.”
It was something that he was more intrigued by.
“Their mission was to be prepared,” he said, “protect safety of and property at sea. That mission was much more appealing to me than going to war.”
Bartels, however, didn’t think the Coast Guard was going to be a long-term thing.
“But that’s not how it turned out,” Bartels recalled, a hint of his native Brooklyn accent still evident in his words. “But I never regretted it.”
His time in the Coast Guard had him hopscotching to ports around the country. After joining officer school in New London, Conn. in 1957, Bartels was stationed in places like Staten Island, N.Y., Yorkstown, Va., San Pedro, Calif., Buffalo, St. Louis and Houston. He married his wife Wanda in 1960 and the two had five children in five different states (three live in Houston currently, including two in Kingwood).
At his Kingwood home now, Bartels has a glassed in display of the 14 different assignments he had throughout the nearly three decades signified with a small plaque for each outpost.
Although he had numerous positions - commanding officer, branch chief, group commander - the direction of his duty most of the time was straightforward.
“We would patrol the area and look for any vessels who needed assistance,” he said.
In his service display Bartels has also got various insignias he would have worn on his Coast Guard uniform’s collar. He’s got one for being an officer’s candidate, another for lieutenant commander and an insignia for all his positions all the way up to captain, the rank he retired with on June 30, 1986.
Now, when he looks back at what he liked most and took from his long service in the Coast Guard, Bartels’ answer is simple.
“Going to sea,” he remembered.
And after some prodding he allows the pride in his service to come out.
“Responding to distresses... being able to be assistance to people in distress,” Bartels said about the aspect of serving with the Coast Guard that he cherishes most. “For me it was very rewarding. Doing what I was doing, people were being helped.”
For some veterans, though, serving country wasn’t about mortar shells or foxholes, high-altitude bombing missions or around-the-world deployments on aircraft carriers.
Ralph Bartels, a Kingwood resident, put in nearly 30 years of service for his country without going into a war zone as a career member of the United States Coast Guard.
And his non-battle experiences don’t make Veteran’s Day, a time when war torn servicemen usually get the spotlight, any less for him.
“I think it’s great that there’s a Veteran’s Day so that all veterans get some recognition because they devoted a fair part of their life in the service of their country,” Bartels, now 77, said last week.
His service in the Coast Guard began shortly after his graduation from Rutgers University when guys in their early 20s were being scooped up to serve in Korea.
“Young men my age were being drafted into the Army and I didn’t want to be a grunt,” he said. “I looked into what the Coast Guard did.”
It was something that he was more intrigued by.
“Their mission was to be prepared,” he said, “protect safety of and property at sea. That mission was much more appealing to me than going to war.”
Bartels, however, didn’t think the Coast Guard was going to be a long-term thing.
“But that’s not how it turned out,” Bartels recalled, a hint of his native Brooklyn accent still evident in his words. “But I never regretted it.”
His time in the Coast Guard had him hopscotching to ports around the country. After joining officer school in New London, Conn. in 1957, Bartels was stationed in places like Staten Island, N.Y., Yorkstown, Va., San Pedro, Calif., Buffalo, St. Louis and Houston. He married his wife Wanda in 1960 and the two had five children in five different states (three live in Houston currently, including two in Kingwood).
At his Kingwood home now, Bartels has a glassed in display of the 14 different assignments he had throughout the nearly three decades signified with a small plaque for each outpost.
Although he had numerous positions - commanding officer, branch chief, group commander - the direction of his duty most of the time was straightforward.
“We would patrol the area and look for any vessels who needed assistance,” he said.
In his service display Bartels has also got various insignias he would have worn on his Coast Guard uniform’s collar. He’s got one for being an officer’s candidate, another for lieutenant commander and an insignia for all his positions all the way up to captain, the rank he retired with on June 30, 1986.
Now, when he looks back at what he liked most and took from his long service in the Coast Guard, Bartels’ answer is simple.
“Going to sea,” he remembered.
And after some prodding he allows the pride in his service to come out.
“Responding to distresses... being able to be assistance to people in distress,” Bartels said about the aspect of serving with the Coast Guard that he cherishes most. “For me it was very rewarding. Doing what I was doing, people were being helped.”
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