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Bakowski honored as February’s featured veteran

Robert (Bob) Bakowski, a Vietnam War veteran from Canton, was honored as the February 2018 Veteran of the Month by the Sons of the American Legion, Squadron 32, of the Myron H. Beals American Legion Post 32 in Livonia.

Bakowski served in the U.S. Army from 1965-68. He was born and raised in Lackawanna, N.Y. He graduated from Lackawanna High School as the war in Vietnam was escalating. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson called for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month. Bakowski was watching the news in August 1965 as 5,500 marines made the first major offensive in Vietnam known as Operation Starlite or the Battle of Van Tuong. This was the first major offensive regimental size action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War.

At the same time, the 1st Cavalry Division was arriving and began using helicopters in combat. Bakowski was 19 and decided it was time to get involved. As a child, he would play army games and always envisioned himself as a paratrooper, like his uncle, so he went down to the recruitment office and enlisted in the U.S. Army.

In December 1965, he was sent to Fort Dix, N.J., for eight weeks of boot camp and then to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for eight weeks of training. Bakowski had taken a lot of high school classes in industrial arts and, as a result, was assigned as a combat engineer. He let it be known that he had always wanted to be a paratrooper and was surprised when they told him his request had been granted.

He was sent to Ft. Benning, Ga., for four weeks of training as a paratrooper. His next stop, June 7, 1966, he landed in Vietnam just outside of Saigon. He was then and sent to Camp Radcliff in the An Khe District of central Vietnam for three weeks of combat training. “We spent the first week learning air assault tactics,” he said. “We did a lot of repelling from towers to mimic repelling from helicopters, then more specific combat training.”

Bakowski was assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry, 8th Engineering Battalion, A Company, 1st Platoon. His specialty was demolition. Many times he would be sent out with two other engineers to heavily wooded areas to clear the trees so helicopters could land and bring in troops as a temporary base for defense and offense.

“We were always the first ones on the ground and never knew what we would run into,” he said. “We always had to keep on guard. We also had to go into these areas after they were treated with Agent Orange. We had no idea on how it would affect us later in life.”

Bakowski was involved in many skirmishes, during which they blew up bridges and tunnels and cleared forest area. “Sometimes we would go for a month or two with no action, then for the next few weeks, there would be no let-up,” he said.

When asked if he lost any buddies during his time there, Bakowski lowered his head and said, “Yes, I did.” One year from the day he set foot in Vietnam, he boarded a plane for the U.S. “I remember when I got down to a few days before shipping out, I would walk behind other soldiers in their footsteps to make sure I didn’t step on something,” he said. “I was ready to go home.”

He was then sent for nine months to Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was involved in an experimental program to build temporary airstrips. Their goal was to helicopter a crew into a place and build a landing strip capable of handling small planes within 24 hours, transport planes within 48 hours and jets within three days. Bakowski was then sent to Anderson Army Base in Dexheim, Germany, for eight months. In June 1968, Bakowski was sent back to Fort Hamilton, N.J., where he was discharged.

Bakowski went back to his hometown of Lackawanna and civilian life. He met his wife Irene in 1971 and they were married in 1973. Bakowski took a civil service test for the Federal Protection Service and was hired and sent to Albany, N.Y. He was promoted to supervisor and spent four years there. He was then sent to Southern California for five years before being transferred to the Detroit Border Patrol Sector as a border patrol agent in 1982.

He worked his way up to intelligence agent then agent in charge of the Trenton and Grand Rapids office. Bakowski retired in 1999 as assistant chief patrol agent at the Detroit Sector of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Headquarters at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Bob and Irene bought their home in Canton when he was transferred to Detroit and have lived there since. They have a daughter and a son and four granddaughters. He is a long time member of Post 32 in Livonia and has served the past 19 years as the post Santa for the Christmas party.

Bakowski was interviewed by members of S.A.L. and a DVD was made of the interview and shown at the S.A.L. February membership meeting. He and his daughter’s family were also present at the meeting. A plaque was presented to him from Livonia Trophy with his picture and service information. An additional plaque was also put on display in the vestibule of the American Legion Hall. The S.A.L. invites local residents to attend their monthly meetings to listen to the Veteran of the Month. The public is also encouraged to nominate veterans to be honored at its meetings. Nomination forms can be picked up at the American Legion Hall, 9318 Newburgh Road, Livonia, MI 48150.