Doug was born in the early forties and raised on a dairy farm in Salt Lake County. He has attended both Utah State University and University of Utah where obtained degrees in: Wiring and Programing Computers.

 He joined the US Army in the early 1960’s, hours before he was drafted. After enlistment, he served his 1^sttour of duty in Viet Nam and obtained the rank of Sergeant E-5. He was selected for Officer Candidate School at Ft. Sill, OK.  After receiving his Commission in Field Artillery, he served 2 more tours of duty in Viet Nam. One of the tours he served was during the 1968 Tet Offensive, where he was Battery Commander of a twin 40, Quad 50 unit in direct ground support of the 25^th Infantry Division ground operation He was severely wounded and one of only 5 survivors of his battery during the major Tet Battle on Jan. 4, 1968.

In 1971, he was on General Abrams’ special staff for Presidential Drawdown of the units leaving Viet Nam. In this capacity, he met regularly with President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger to brief them on drawdown progress in Viet Nam.

Some of his assignments were: Instructor at the Field Artillery, Nuclear Deployment Training Center at Fort Sill, Ok; Ranger Training at Fort Bragg, NC; Viet Nam language School at Fort Bragg; and Jungle Warfare and Survival School in the Panama Canal Zone. He was selected as the Salute Battery Commander for President Eisenhower’s funeral in Abilene, KS. He retired after 24 years of service to his country as a Lt. Colonel. He is a past Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 1481.

Doug married the love of his life, Karin Foster, on Sept. 13, 2008. He has 6 kids, 15 grandchildren and 1 great granddaughter. He passed away at home, in Ogden, on the morning of April 23, 2020 from complications from COPD at 77 years young.

Doug has served the VFW as a Post Commander for 4 years at Post 1481 and help many veterans while belonging to the VFW. His Awarded Citations from the US Army include: Viet Nam Occupation Ribbon, Viet Nam Campaign Ribbon (with 6 major campaigns), Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palms both as an individual and as a unit

Two Army Commendation Medals

Two Purple Hearts

2 Bronze Stars

Soldiers Medal (for Heroism)

Presidential Unit Citation

Graveside services will be on June 20^th @ 11am  at Leavitt’s Mortuary 836 36^th St. Ogden, Utah. He will be honored with full Military Honors!