Today, I salute Wichita Navy Veteran Larry Wise.
Wichita native Larry Wise joined the Navy in 1972 to avoid going into the Army, serving on the USS Ranger near Vietnam. After a brief departure from service, his father’s encouragement led him to reenlist.
Wise spent years aboard multiple ships, including the USS Blue Ridge, handling amphibious craft. Later, stationed on Coronado Island, he operated landing craft capable of hauling hundreds of Marines or tanks. Before retiring in 1998 as a senior chief boatswain’s mate, he trained drug and alcohol counselors. Returning to Wichita, Wise found long-overdue appreciation for his Vietnam-era service through a Kansas Honor Flight…