Jim Youlen

Senior Vice Commander

VFW Post 951

I am a retired Army Captain, born and raised in Utica, New York.  After graduating from Whitesboro High School, I enlisted in the U. S. Army and completed my basic combat training at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  After basic training, I continued on to advanced training in a foreign language at Monterey, California with additional training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts as an intelligence analyst.  Following that I was assigned to the Berlin Brigade in West Berlin, Germany for two years (1975-1976) as a special intelligence analyst.

After my enlistment in the Army, I attended college and earned a four year degree in Construction Management from Syracuse University.  I then started a civilian career working for a large construction company in the Washington D.C. area.

After a few years of advancing my professional civilian career, I then obtained a commission as a Naval Reserve officer.  I served in the Naval Reserve for a period of over 10 years with duty assignments to various countries throughout the world.  After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, numerous reserve units were closed.

I was then fortunate to transfer into the Army National Guard to finish off my military career.  I was assigned to the 27th Infantry Brigade headquarters company right here in Syracuse.

I have lived in Liverpool with my wife Teresa since 1981.  We raised two children and are now proud grandparents of three granddaughters. I retired from the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant after 33 years of service.

In closing, I would like to encourage all veterans to join the VFW.  The VFW promotes patriotism within our community and brings family and community members together for worthwhile projects. Membership gives us the voice to conduct programs and promote legislation for the needs of veterans. Being a member has made a difference in my life and it is an honor to serve.

 Another one of us - Junior Vice Commander Daniel H. Livingston

 I grew up in Schenectady, NY and joined the US Air Force (AF) right out of High School. I went to Radar maintenance school in Mississippi and on to Korea for a year where I taught ground to air communications equipment maintenance on a Republic of Korea AF base at Suwon. On my return to the US, I was stationed in Rome, NY and was a member of a radar installation team on the east coast.

 Upon discharge from the USAF, I went to work in the Defense Department of General Electric and spent the next 2 1/2 years on a missile tracking station in Trinidad, West Indies operating and maintaining the tracker during the Atlas and Titan shoots from Cape Canaveral. I also got to run the tracker during the 1st communications satellite launch in 1959.

 After Trinidad, I worked on an air weapons control system which tied radar sites together to cover a 2000 square mile area. We sold systems to the German AF and I spent several months in Germany at a number of sites modifying equipment.

 I spent the next 20 years in a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)  Department at Electronics Park and spent 6 months in Shanghai installing the CRT plant which we sold to the Chinese after we shut down in Syracuse.

 Then, I left General Electric and lived in Hong Kong for a year working at a CRT plant. Finally, I returned to GE and worked as a supervisor for 2nd and 3rd shifts in Radar and Sonar testing  from which I retired in December 1991.

 I am proud of my three sons who graduated with chemical or mechanical engineering degrees.