Havasu Veterans | Dave Gunderson

“I was a kid from Minneapolis that wanted to serve my country,” the now retired 68-year-old said.

He also wanted to learn to be a jet mechanic, and signing up for four years of service guaranteed the training.

“I envisioned myself as working on the latest technology, being the venerated F-4 or A-4 jet aircraft,” he remembered. “Funny what you plan as a kid. When the time came, they sat me down and said, ‘Kid you would be much better off working in electronics.’ Well, I took the advice and opted for training in Avionics.”

He excelled at it. Based on his grade placement, he was offered advanced training in flight simulator support.

After training, it was time for his assignment. Luckily, he didn’t end up in the Vietnam warzone. Instead, he jokes, he was sent to a different kind of terrible place — the middle of the Arizona desert.

“Off to Yuma I went,” he said. “I actually loved working on flight simulators, as my duty was both as support and as a trainer with the pilots. It gave me opportunities to fly in the actual jets. Probably the best assignment I could have asked for.”

Those flights also gave Gunderson a glimpse at his future home of almost 30 years — Lake Havasu City. His first look at the budding town came in 1973.

“I got to fly over the city a couple of times in the backseat of a TA4-F jet aircraft,” Gunderson said. “Imagine seeing Lake Havasu City from a Marine Jet. I ended up driving up to Havasu on a long weekend in 1974. My initial impression was, ‘Who in the hell would live in the middle of nowhere?’”

As with all good things, Gunderson said, that assignment only lasted for a year. He was then reassigned to Air Traffic Control support until the end of his enlistment.

In September 1975, his tour of duty was complete, and he returned home “older, wiser, and better off.”

“I also longed for the native temperate weather of my home in Minnesota,” Gunderson said. “I vaguely recall saying that I had seen the last of the desert.”

In the spring of 1992, Gunderson returned to Havasu — this time as a resident while he worked for the Department of Defense working with military units overseas for extended lengths of time.

“You’re not home and isolated by the local culture,” Gunderson said about the units he worked with. “It’s a tough life, and I absolutely respect the sacrifices made by the families. Most Americans cannot fully appreciate the void that military families endure.”

For Gunderson, being in the Marine Corps was the first time he was a member of a team.

“I remember being stripped of my civilian life and being rebuilt into a military lifestyle,” he said. “My biggest memory wasn’t the training, but being isolated from watching TV or listening to the radio. You were completely cut off from life as you knew it. The only perk was later in training, we were allowed to read the Sunday paper.”

If you ever want a 70% accurate idea of what boot camp is like, watch the movie “Full Metal Jacket,” Gunderson said.

“Nearly everything R. Lee Ermey said in his scenes I actually heard firsthand,” he said. “Looking back, it comes off as comedy. However, it wasn’t funny at the time.”

But overall, his experience was “all good.” Gunderson said.

“Tough times? None for me,” he said. “As the saying goes, ‘I was in the rear with the gear.’ My assignment was stateside, and I was in a support role. The interesting fact is most people in the military are not on the front lines but are supporting the guy in the field. I once heard that the support ratio was six to one during the time I was in. It has probably changed over the years.”

The Marine Corps gave Gunderson a sense of purpose and structure.

“I can simply say that it was a learning experience that forged me into a more experienced person,” he said. “The same could be said about leaving home and going to college, except that in this case, it was more hands-on. The experiences I had in the military prepared me to deal with life straight on.”

Gunderson retired from his career in 2018 after working for the federal government for more than 41 years and now assumes a “snowbird status,” spending the summers in Oregon. He has two poodles that are an extension of his core family.

Especially around Veterans Day, he feels a strong camaraderie with his fellow men and women who have served.

“We all have something in common,” he said. “We all made accommodations in our lives to serve our country. All of us gave our time. Some paid with their lives… Think about that person in your life that is or was a veteran and thank them. It was my pleasure to serve.”