ASHTABULA — As a member of the U.S. Army, Sgt. Terry Vannoy has discovered that our nation’s enemies know no boundaries.
Vannoy, 23, says he received a Purple Heart for injuries he received from the explosion of a pipe bomb along a roadside in Brazil.
Yes, Brazil.
The incident occurred at a U.S. Naval Base in the South American nation. Vannoy and about three dozen others from his unit, 552 of Fort Bliss, Texas, was assigned to the base to provide security as the U.S. Navy assisted Brazil in its anti-piracy offensive. The explosion occurred July 19, 2007, as Vannoy was opening the gates for oncoming vehicles.
“It was alongside the road,” he said of the explosive. “It was just a simple pipe bomb sitting there on top of the berm.
“I heard the explosion but I was unaware of the situation until my buddy told me I was bleeding from my side,” Vannoy continues. “I felt the sharp pain and figured it was because of all the gear I was wearing.”
Shrapnel from the bomb cut a 6-inch slice in his abdomen, a wound that took about two weeks of medical care to recover from. He says the source of the bomb was never determined.
The 2004 Geneva High graduate enlisted after becoming disillusioned with the local job market.
“I kind of ran out of job ideas and there wasn’t much around here,” he says. The recruiter told him computers were a good field to get into, and, acting upon the advice of the recruiter, Vannoy chose the field of air-defense artillery, which includes the Patriot Missile System.
It was a good choice. Vannoy has flourished in the military, making sergeant in just four years, whereas it takes most six years or more, he said.
He is responsible for an Engagement Combat Station that would be used to deliver a missile strike. There are seven troops under his command and training.
Although he’s never had a situation where they performed a defensive strike, the unit has launched some tests.
“It was pretty fun,” he said.
Aware of the importance of education in both his job and future, Vannoy volunteered for military schools and enrolled in college online. He already earned his bachelor’s in psychology and is working on a second bachelor’s in criminal justice. The government is picking up the tab under the Army’s Tuition Assistance program.
He downloads his assignments on Monday and has disciplined himself to get his work done by Wednesday so he has the entire weekend free.
That’s given him time to get to know an El Paso resident, to whom he is engaged.
Vannoy plans to make a career of the military, after which he’d like to work for the FBI or CIA. In the meantime, however, more deployments are on his schedule. Earlier this year, he was deployed for several months in the United Arab Emirates. His next deployment, in February, will be to Kuwait for 12 to 18 months. His work there will be to provide protection for the U.S. Air Force base.
He said the hardest part of being deployed is being away from his family and not having regular communication with them. About 1 1/2 months passed before his family learned that he’d been injured in Brazil.
His parents, Terry and Cathy Vannoy, live in Ashtabula. He also has two brothers and a sister, but is the only one of the immediate family to serve in the military.
His advice to any young person thinking about military service is to make sure they take advantage of Tuition Assistance while they are enlisted and save their GI Bill benefits for their post-military education.
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