In September 1965, Leonard W. Whiteing enlisted in the US Army at the age of 19.
Following basic training, he trrained and served as a lineman until recruited to attend Officer's Candidate School in 1966. In February of 1967, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He then attended Airborne training and was awarded his wings as a paratrooper. Flight school followed and he became a helicopter pilot in 1968.
In January of 1969, he was deployed to South Vietnam, one of a 14 member advanced party to establish D Company, 158th Aviation Battalion at Camp Evans, which was 21 miles from the DMZ. Camp Evans was an air attack base camp of the 101st Airborne Division.
As a Cobra gunship pilot and platoon leader, some of his missions included A Shau Valley, Hue, Hamburger Hill, and flew cover for Bob Hope's Christmas show. During the year in Vietnam, he was awarded several medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross, 17 Air Medals with a "V" device, National Defense Service, Bronze Star, Vietnam Service Medal w/ 4 Bronze Service Stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign ribbon w/device, Army Commendation and Good Conduct medals, and was promoted to Captain.
He returned to the United States the end of January 1970 and was assigned as Company Commander of Basic and Special Training Companies. He attended Advanced Officer training, completed his college degree and was assigned to the CADA unit at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
He was honorably discharged in October 1975 due to Reduction in Force (RIF) requirements.
After discharge, he worked at the US Postal Service. First as a carrier, then manager of several stations, and finally retired as Manager of Customer Service in Omaha, Nebraska in 2006.
