More detail on this person: Major Douglas V
Guentz, USAR (Ret.), Artillery, age 82, of Milton,
Florida, died Saturday, March 8, 2014.
He was born July 26, 1931, in Winona, Minnesota,
the first of three sons to Douglas Vernon and
Beatrice Loeding Guentz. Douglas was enrolled in
the local public schools there until early 1947
when the family relocated. The gentle discipline,
curriculum and teachers the Winona school system
provided were the foundation on which he developed
his civilian and military career paths. Boy Scout,
Troop Six, organized and supported by the Central
Methodist Church, were the cornerstone of his
early maturation. He achieved the grade of Eagle,
Bronze Palm, and was elected to the Order of the
Arrow by his peers.
Survivors include his loyal spouse, best friend
and companion in life for 55 years, B. June Usher
Guentz, widowed sister-in-law, Billie Yargus
Guentz of Lynnwood, Washington, and her offspring
Mrs. April D. Ebert and family, Everett,
Washington, Holly M. Guentz, Seattle,
Washington, and Matthew R. Guentz and son, of
Arlington, Washington. Brother and sister-in-law,
Gerald Lee and Joan Carpenter Guentz of
LaCrescent, Minnsesota, their offspring and
families, Gerald A. and Kathy E. Guentz, Onalaska,
Wisconsin, Timothy L. and Joan Guentz and family,
South Sioux City, Nebraska, Mrs. Carrie Jo
Hoffman and husband, Al and family, Henderson,
Nevada, Mrs. Suzan K. Hanson and family of
LaCrescent, Minnesota and Daniel T. Guentz and
daughter, Dodgeville, Wisconsin. Younger brother,
John L. Guentz, Billie's husband, predeceased
Douglas in 1999.
Douglas enlisted in the U.S. Army during 1948. He
served as a jumpmaster instructor with the 11th
Airborne Division at Camp Campbell, Kentucky. He
was later assigned to the 187th Airborne
Regimental Combat Team tactically engaged on the
Chorwon-Kumwha main line of resistance in North
Korea during 1952 and with whom he served
through to the ceasefire arrangements at
Panmunjom. He was commissioned as an Artillery
Officer during 1956. Douglas was a member of the
original U.S. Army Rifle Team competing for the
National Trophy, winning that award for the U.S.
Army at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1957. Stationed at
Ft. Benning, Georgia with the U.S. Army's
Advanced Marksmanship Unit, Douglas found a
Georgia peach, his life's mate, June. They were
married May 9, 1958 and life's adventures
commenced in a wonderful way for Douglas with
June at his side. A military life-style pleased
them both.
He completed primary fixed-wing flight training at
Camp Gary, Texas, during 1958 and rotary-wing
primary at Camp Wolters, Texas, during 1960. After
serving three years as a surveillance pilot with
the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment at the border
between (then) West and East Germany, Douglas
and June returned to Ft. Benning where he
participated in the tactical evaluation and
testing of the U.S. Army's OV-1 Grumman Mohawk,
a twin turbo-prop fixed-wing aircraft. He was the
unit's intermediate-altitude Instructor pilot and
flew the first in-flight refueling evaluations for
the Mohawk. He was also an air-to-ground gunnery
instructor pilot as well as his unit's Instrument
instructor pilot. Douglas later served two combat
tours of duty in Viet Nam flying in excess of
seven hundred combat assault-flying hours as a
helicopter gunship platoon commander with the
First Air Cavalry Division. Significant actions
participated in were the assaults on the Ia Drang
River Valley supporting the First and Second
Squadrons, Seventh Cavalry Regiment and later
was involved in precipitous actions during the
Bong Son campaigns escorting the troop-bearing
helicopters of the 229th Assault Helicopter
Battalion. During his second VN tour, Maj. Guentz
served as Plans and Operations Officer for
Aviation, G-3, XXIV U.S. Army Corps. Completing
twenty-one years of service, he retired from the
army and returned home to Florida during 1969. His
decorations are the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf
Cluster, the Air Medal with twenty-two (22) OLC
and the Army Commendation Medal. He is
authorized six campaign stars for his combat
service. Certifications include the Senior Army
Aviator Wings, Master Parachutist Wings, Glider
Wings and the first and second leg awards to the
Distinguished Marksman (Rifle) Badge. Unit
citation awards earned during combat operations
are the Presidential Unit Citation with Oak Leaf
Cluster, the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Korean
Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Viet
Nam PUC and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
with Palm.
Douglas and June resided in Destin, Florida, for
twenty-seven years prior to relocation to Milton.
In Destin, they were active in community and civic
affairs. He is a graduate of Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida,
with a B.S. in Aeronautical Sciences, Cum Laude,
and attained a B.A. in Accounting at the
University of West Florida, at Pensacola. He was a
licensed U.S. Coast Guard Sailing Master for
passenger-carrying vessels, any ocean, and was a
self-employed charter sailing vessel operator and
practicing celestial navigation instructor sailing
in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and the
Indian Ocean. He was a member of the National
Rifle Association, the Escambia River
Muzzle-loaders Association, and Robertson/Dent's
Florida Battery (Civil War re-enactment). His
amateur radio-sending key, now silent, N4RIV.
In keeping with Douglas' wishes he will be
cremated and a memorial service will be held at a
later date.
National Cremation & Burial Society of Milton has
been entrusted with the arrangements.
Express your condolences in our guestbook at
pnj.com/obits
Published in Pensacola News Journal on Mar. 12,
2014
This information was last updated 01/20/2014
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