Veterans Voices: Friendship between veterans began after military service

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Two Sioux City veterans served in the Vietnam War with the National Guard, but their long friendship didn’t blossom until after they returned home.

Jim Foix was stationed as a security officer during his service.

“I was stationed in CARAT Thailand my first session, and then I got transferred down to the security police in U-Tapao where the B-52s came out,” Foix said. “CARAT had F-4’s at the time, and then I went down to CARAT where the B-52s flew out, and at one point if I remember right, I think I seen 30, 35 of them take off one right after another going to Vietnam to do their bombing missions.”

Sergeant Gary Carlson was stationed in Vietnam.

“I refueled aircraft,” Carlson said. “I was with the 185th, they got activated over the Pueblo incident and then we went over to the Phù Cát Air Base in Vietnam in May of 1968, was there for a year with the unit.”

While Foix and Carlson did not meet during the Vietnam War, they worked together at the U.S. Postal Service.

“I started working at the post office as a letter carrier, and then Jim, of course, he was a clerk at the post office, so we got to know each other back then,” Carlson said. “And then our friendship has grown quite a bit since then.”

While Carlson started as a letter carrier before his duty in Vietnam, Foix began his employment after the war, when he lost his arm.

“I just looked around and looked around,” Foix said. “Finally, I got a job at the fire department for a while doing alarm work in the alarm board sending fire trucks out within the city of Sioux City, and then eventually I got married, and then I needed a little better job and I applied for the post office.”

The two worked together for 23 years but have maintained their friendship for more than 30 years.

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