By Cyrus Guccione
Mail

Air Force Veteran Dean Clayton Neumeyer of Fountain Hills was recently notified that his Korean War service story, as written by Cactus Shadows High School student Kayla Muranaka, has been entered into the Library of Congress.

Neumeyer’s story will join other veterans service stories as told by students in “Since You Asked,” an interview series by the Library of Congress Veterans Heritage Project that aims to preserve and honor the contributions of veterans by providing a platform for them to share their narratives with the youth and archive them for educational and historical purposes.

Muranaka’s story of Neumeyer is entitled, “Heart Of a Noble Soldier,” and will be accessible at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

From fighter pilot to radio intercept operator

Neymeyer enlisted in the Air Force out of high school just before the Korean War broke out in the summer of 1950 and trained to be a fighter pilot.

As part of his pilot training, Neumeyer was sent to radio school where he learned to copy Morse code at 25 words per minute, according to Muranaka.

On his Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery military placement test, Neumeyer was highly gifted with an IQ of 148.

“When they found out I could copy Morse code, they asked if I would give up going to flight school, give up flying and become a member of this radio squadron,” Neumeyer said.

Neumeyer agreed and spent four months learning the small differences between Chinese, American and Russian Morse code before joining the famous 29th Radio Squadron Mobil (RSM), whose mission was to intercept and analyze enemy communications and relay vital information to shape U.S. military and strategic planning.

Because of the classified nature of his work, Neumeyer was located in South Korea but was never assigned to a base and was “self-protected,” reducing the risk of leaks.

“We were intercepting messages at midnight and finding out where they were going to bomb and spray the next day,” Neumeyer said. “We would inform our fighter pilots if a convoy was coming down the road in the middle of the night with their lights on. Suddenly, the lights would go out and we would wipe them out.”

Neumeyer served through the end of the Korean War and was assigned to the Philippines, keeping watch on military activities in Southeast Asia before completing his military career at the Air Force Security Headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.

Neumeyer met his late wife, Joyce, and moved to Omaha, Neb., where he was hired by Campbell Soup Company as a clerk in the transportation department. Neumeyer worked his way through the company, spending a nearly 40-year career at Campbell Soup, eventually retiring as vice president of ingredient operations and president of the poultry division.

With his GI Bill, Neumeyer attended night school, completing his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.

Looking back on his career and time in the military, Neumeyer says there was nothing he disliked about his time abroad.

“Oh, I loved it,” Neumeyer said. “To this day I still belong to the VFW just to keep in with some of these old military guys. They all have some great stories to pass on.”

Neumeyer moved to Fountain Hills with his wife Joyce in 1999. He lost her last year after 75 years of marriage. He lives near his two children, Cindy and David and his two grandchildren, Dan and Eryn.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Cyrus Guccione can be reached at cguccione@iniusa.org.