Photo by Erin Nelson.
Brian Davis, a U.S. Army Reserves and National Guard veteran, sits in front of a display of items from his time in the armed forces at his office in the public works division at Vestavia Hills City Hall.
Each year, the city of Vestavia Hills hosts several events to honor veterans in the city and surrounding area.
For the past several years, the Vestavia Voice has sought to tell some of these veterans’ stories to honor them and remember their service to the country.
Brian Davis
Growing up in the shadow of his grandfather — one of Merrill’s Marauders, who fought deep behind Japanese lines in World War II — Brian Davis spent many a day at World War II reunions.
After the third trip, he began tuning in more closely, relishing the stories of brave soldiers and their work defending their country.
So when a delivery job he held as a student at the University of Alabama took him into a military recruiting station, Davis signed up to join the Alabama National Guard, initially as a company clerk.
But when he came back from training, he was trained on driving vehicles. After six years with the Alabama National Guard, Davis transferred to the Army Reserve when he and his family moved to New Orleans.
Davis and his wife, Tracy, welcomed their first son in 1999. Two years later, Sept. 11, 2001, happened.
Davis called his grandfather and asked, “What do I do?” His grandfather told him to sit tight and the military would call him.
Sure enough, in January 2003, Davis was told to report to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Three weeks later, he was sent to Bagram in Afghanistan. His family had just purchased their home in Vestavia Hills and still had a house in Hoover. They had a 4-year-old son and another child on the way. He had been working for the city of Vestavia for about 15 months.
Davis said his time away showed him that his family could be independent and how strong his wife really was.
“She had a full-time job, raised two boys. … I had the easy job,” Davis said.
Davis was in Afghanistan from April to December 2003 and handled a variety of jobs, including leading the daily situational report for the joint operational center and working with multinational militaries to combat U.S. enemies in the area. He made supply runs to Kabul, helped on humanitarian aid missions and served as security for financial missions involving locals.
When Davis returned to the States, he got out of military service, ending a more-than-10-year career in both the National Guard and Reserves.
When he returned from his time overseas, Davis shared stories with his grandfather, who had served decades before. He found there was no generational gap between veterans.
“We could just sit around and have this bonding,” he said.
Davis said he also served with a bunch of great men and women, including Col. Michael Steele of Black Hawk Down fame.
In 2021, 13 U.S. service members were killed during the final withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the country, which was met concurrently by the Taliban’s second takeover of the nation.
Many criticized President Joe Biden’s administration and their handling of the evacuation.
“It was frustrating,” Davis said of the way the war ended.
While people asked over the years when troops would leave Afghanistan, Davis pointed out that the military still has troops in Germany, Korea and other countries.
The withdrawal, he said, was a “gut punch.”
Davis said that in 2003, it was still early in the war and the military were still actively trying to clear out “bad people.”
“There were battles and casualties … it just kind of dragged on,” Davis said.
Still, Davis thinks fondly of his time in the military.
“I wouldn’t trade it,” Davis said. “I learned a ton.”
Davis credits his time in the military with helping him learn about leadership and how to be part of an organization, as well as teaching him patience and focusing on the task at hand.
Charles Thompson
Following three years at the University of Montevallo, Charles Thompson entered officer training school, scoring “extremely high” on the Marine IQ test. He then received his commission in basic training.
In 1967, following supply school, he was sent to Vietnam for 23 months, coming home in October 1969.
Thompson and his battalion supplied the infantry by helicopter, taking care of logistical support and ensuring they had what they needed to fight successfully.
“It was fulfilling knowing that everything I put on helicopters was going to the infantry,” he said.
He also served as a logistics officer for a reconnaissance battalion. Once, while monitoring the enemy’s location, a tiger came out from the jungle and bit a Marine on the neck, dragging him into the woods.
The Marine fired 18 shots at the beast, but only struck it twice, Thompson said. Thankfully, that was enough to kill it.
When he got back to camp, the Marine bore the brunt of jokes and questions of how on earth he missed such a large animal, Thompson said.
The tiger hung on a chin-up bar, allowing a doctor to cut out its brain to ensure it wasn’t rabid, he said. Afterwards, the tiger was made into a rug and sent to the soldier.
Thompson’s time in the military and service to others carried over to his time in Vestavia Hills, especially when the infamous 2011 tornado struck Cahaba Heights. Thompson helped keep a main road clear and made it a double lane so people could pass through. That helped bank personnel open a bank nearby, which was vital during the event, he said.
Thompson has lived in the home he and his dad built since 1971.
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Alan Dane, a U.S. Air Force veteran, at the New Merkel Senior Center in Vestavia Hills.
Alan Dane
Alan Dane, a retired lawyer, got notice of being drafted into service in Vietnam during his senior year of college at Auburn University.
Deferring until graduation, he then went to officer training and then communications school.
Dane then went to what is now Joint Base Andrews for a year and a half, serving as a basic communications officer, before transferring to what is now Joint Base Cape Cod, but was then an Air Force base. Dane was the chief of maintenance for communications and managed all the air traffic control devices.
As a communications officer, Dane was responsible for sending messages to any military unit around the world as needed. It could include sending plane parts to Germany or switching messages between officers. With computers in their infancy, Dane was responsible for taking messages on tape and feeding it through computers, all the while making sure the messages were encrypted.
Being in the military not only allowed him to meet his wife and pay for law school, it taught Dane how America really is a “melting pot.”
He had a Puerto Rican roommate and a Black captain, and he said it’s a shame to not have those same opportunities in other walks of life to meet such a diverse group of people.
“We all want the same things for ourselves and our families,” Dane said.
