Humor has kept Desert Storm veteran in ‘today’

Photo by Paul Robeson, Reporter

PLANTS FOR FAMILYDale Streetman checks for tomato buds as he enjoys his newfound hobby of gardening. Streetman spends countless hours with his family and at the VFW working for veterans.

Dale Streetman is going blind, but it does not deter him from keeping an optimistic outlook on life. Streetman, 36, a Marine Corps veteran, and his wife, Teri, work as resident managers at the Anderson Mini RV and Boat Storage on Ravenwood Road in Anderson.

“There are many things I miss,” he said. “I used to be able to hunt and play baseball, but let’s be ‘realistic,’ neither of those activities are ‘safe’ for me to do anymore.”

“Actually, it has been a blessing. It has slowed me down and opened up another life for me,” he said. “My family has been a driving force in creating my values and my work ethic.”

The 16-year member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9650 in Anderson spoke about his involvement in “taking care of the veterans and the community” at the VFW. The two-time district commander puts in many hours helping veterans in a “fight for proper care.”

Streetman came from a family which “has had many members serve in the armed forces of the United States” so it was not unusual when he entered the service.

“I did want to be ‘myself,’ to be ‘unique,’ to ‘be me,’ so I went into the U.S. Marine Corps,” he said.

Streetman who attended Anderson Heights, Anderson Elementary and Anderson Union High School played baseball and football as a Cub before his graduation in 1989.

With a sense of humor he said that “after boot camp in San Diego, and infantry school, I was sent to a ‘water unit’ to learn amphibious military tactics — then I was sent to the desert.”

Streetman’s unit, the 1st Battalion 9th Marines, had been assigned to give visiting elementary and high school teachers from Chicago a military demonstration at Camp Pendelton. The “dog and pony show,” as he put it, was suddenly interrupted and his unit was quickly assembled. They were told of an impending conflict and volunteers were needed for a new unit. His entire company stepped forward and became the 1st Battalion 5th Marines. From Camp Pendelton he went to Twenty-Nine Palms Marine Base for gear and then to March Air Force Base. Within 10 days of the show for the teachers he was on a flight to Saudi Arabia. He said he boarded a FedEx 747 and landed at midnight in Bahrain where it was 101 degrees temperature and 100 percent humidity.

Streetman said that on one side of a road there was an airborne unit “which had three days of food and water and 30 rounds of ammunition” issued to each of them. On the marine side of the road each marine had a two-week supply of food with 270 rounds of ammo per person. He noted that the usual friendly banter and competition between the different branches of service ended and the “whole group” shared the necessary items and ammunition util reinforcements could arrive.

He said that for three days his reconnaissance unit “waited and made small advancements toward the Iraq-Kuwait border holding exercises with the British and Saudi Nationals” while honing their own battle skills. They were the first line of defense and the first line of attack.

His Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) unit was the first to see combat action and, on January 17, 1991, when it became clear that Saddam Hussein would not withdraw — Desert Shield became Desert Storm. Streetman said that was the day LAVs went across the border and took out radar stations so planes could begin their missions.

When Streetman returned to the U.S., and was finally granted leave, he called his parents, Glen and Barbara Streetman, in Redding. He told his mom he would be flying into Redding that day. His flight took him from San Diego to Sacramento to Redding. As he got off the plane, in civilian clothes, around 100 people were gathered in the terminal with “welcome home” signs. A stranger, walking with him into the terminal, asked if the people were there for him. He embarrassingly replied “I think so.”

The man said, “Well then, let me be the first to welcome you back.”

Many of the welcoming committee had served in Vietnam and they said they “would never let what happened when veterans came back from that war, to happen again to a veteran of the United States.”

While spending nine months in the desert, Streetman said that he could have “possibly” been exposed to “anti-nerve agents” or “Saudi disease” or something in the smoke from “burning oil wells,” which he believes has caused him to have disabling medical problems. Streetman also suffers from Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease, which no else has in his family, and he is considered, by law, to be legally blind.

When asked about any awards or commendations he said “I know what I have done in the past — but it doesn’t take care of what has to be done today.”

His love for the military has not changed and he said the military gave him self-assurance and pride and it was an honor to serve. He said he went into the service as a “scared boy and came out as a scared man.”

“I have seen what no man should ever see,” he continued.

Streetman said that he refuses to give up. “I am not going to crawl into some corner and shake and cry.”

“I am having fun with my wife and family and life doesn’t get better than that.”