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LT
JAMES (JIMMY) HUNTER
Forward Observer, 1/14th; CIDG
1968 - 1969
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FROM THE HUNTER FAMILY:
After
leaving the Army, Lt. Hunter
was
married, had six children, and
lived in San Jose,
CA for most of his life.
Throughout his time in California, he was a contractor and electrician. He
always had a love for tennis, Judo/any martial arts, soda pop, loved action
movies, Star Trek, loved debating politics, and had a passion for history. He
had a love for education and following a divorce,
he went on to get his nursing degree and another degree in computer science.
(He
had a love
for learning new skills).
He lived in San Jose until the last 8 years of his life. He then moved to
Idaho to be near his sister.
In the last year, he moved to Utah to
be near 5 of his kids.
Jimmy was a very private man and didn’t talk much about the army until right before his passing. He was asked, several days before he died. “what he was most proud of”. He lit up and said the time he spent in the Army. He shared a number of stories about the war and pride radiated off him as he was able to muster up energy to tell those stories in the last few weeks of his life. I think he was a little heartbroken and felt he and the platoons didn’t get much recognition back then, but boy was he proud of that accomplishment to serve his country. My siblings arranged a “last salute” for him the day before he died. He was barely alert but was able to sit up for the recognition. It was special.
Lt.
"Jimmy Hunter" passed away in 2016, in Utah.
TRIBUTE
FROM Sgt Joe Sleevi,
Recon Sgt for Lt Hunter:
Lt.
Hunter was a very dedicated Officer;
I really enjoyed working with him as a Recon Sgt. He always did his share of the
load, and then some. He was assigned to a company sized CIDG unit
(Civilian Irregular Defense Group)
before leaving Vietnam in July 1969. We did not see him for nearly 3 months. I
can attest, that he was not the same person when he came back in to the !st 14th
FO Party, Something changed, and he shared that some of time out there with the
CIDG's was pretty stressful, and he was very glad his tour was over. I
was extremely sad that could not find him after he left Vietnam. Part of the
problem was that I kept looking for a 'James Hunter', and should have been
looking for 'Jimmy Hunter'.
Joe
Sleevi