Our volunteer profile is on Dr. "Chip" Biernbaum, who was born on Pearl Harbor Day (07 Dec) 1946 in Woodstown, NJ, 15 miles from Wilmington, Delaware. He spent as much free time as he could investigating curious creatures and beasts that lived in the streams, lakes and forests around his home. His interest in World War II naval history originated in the stories of his father, an XO (executive officer) on a submarine chaser in the Pacific during the war. An acorn never falls far from a tree! Below are two sub chasers at Charleston Navy Yard in August 1942. My grandfather served on a sub chaser out of Charleston during the war, possibly one of these below, and the inboard sub chaser 669 was later sent to the Pacific, maybe Chip's dad was its XO. SC-669 sank a Japanese submarine, RO-107 on 29 May 1943 (there is some debate about that).
Chip received his BS in biology from then Wake Forest College (now University) in 1968 and went on to pursue his Ph. D. at the University of Connecticut. After his first year at UConn, he received an "invitation" from the President to serve the country for two years in the United States Army. Chip had Vietnamese language training (our resident Vietnamese linguist) and was sent to Qui Nhon for service with the 18th Military Police Brigade, 93rd Battalion.
After his Army honorable discharge as an E-4, Chip returned to UConn and received his Ph. D. in 1974. He was offered a position as Professor of Biology at the College of Charleston and taught there for 31 years until his retirement in 2005, now Professor Emeritus at College of Charleston.
Chip has been an active and superb volunteer since 2007. His energy, enthusiasm and intellect are welcome assets to our Volunteer Corps. Bạn là một cái nhìn tốt GI!