Quinn Allred: Service, Sacrifice & Lehi Community
Full Conversation Transcript
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Welcome to Roots and Branches of Lehi, the podcast where we get to know the faces, stories, and lives that make up
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our community. I'm Ryan Harding, and I started this podcast as a way for us all to connect with the people we live
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alongside. Growing up in a small town, I learned that connections go beyond blood. They're built through shared
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experiences, friendships, and the moments we celebrate together. Each week, we'll sit down with someone new
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from Lehi to share their unique story, their passions, and what they love most about living here. So whether you've
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been here for years or just arrived, join us as we deepen our roots and reach
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out to our branches one story at a
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time. Welcome Quinn all red to Lehi Roots and Branches. Oh, okay. where we
Meet Quinn Allred: Lifelong Lehi resident
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get to we get to know the people of Lehi and you're one of those guys. So, but well, thanks for coming. I appreciate
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you coming. So, give us give us a little background of you. What you know, you know, you did you grow up here. Where
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where you from originally? I moved here to Le my parents moved here to Lehi when
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in 1956. Okay. I was in the fourth grade when I started. Okay. Carl Miller was my
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was my fourth grade school teacher. Nice. Okay. And so I've I've known Lehi
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since then. So yeah, long time. That's about it. Okay. And and and so then you
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you know, so yeah, you've been here ever since then. That's a long time. Okay. Well, other than my time on a LDS
Military draft & experiences during the Vietnam War
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mission and Sure. four years in active duty in the military. So Okay. And so
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let So let's talk about that. So what led you to join the military? Basically, when I come home from my mission, it was
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during the Vietnam War, 19 I got home in 1967. Okay, it was at the height of the draft
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was just beginning. Okay, I wanted to go to school, but none of the colleges in Utah were were accepting undergraduates.
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They were saving their deferments for for postgraduates. Mhm. So, basically, I
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had nowhere to go. So, I it was hard to find a job. I was just a high school
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graduate. And so when I got my draft notice, I just went down and joined. I I
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decided that if I was going to go into the military, I was going to do something that I wanted to do rather
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than let them choose. Sure. Sure. Well, and so so did you end up going to
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Vietnam? Yes. Okay. And so tell me how that affected you. Well, the story
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behind that is is I joined the Army Security Agency, which was a it was a
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four-year commitment rather than a three-year commitment. Okay? And one of their selling points was is there is no
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ASA in Vietnam, which was true. There was no ASA. The AR Army Security Agency
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was a a branch of the National Security Agency. It was a military branch. We
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answered only the NSA and had our own command structure. and you had to have a
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top secret security clearance to belong to it. And I went through that basically
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as a drafty. I went into Ford, California for basic infantry training.
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And if my clearance hadn't come through, I would have been in the infantry anyway. Oh. Because I was being trained
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as a scout, sniper, and a and a mortman. Okay. In the infantry. Yeah. My
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preliminary clearance came through and I was sent from there to Monterey,
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California to Defense Language Institute because I scored high on the aptitude
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test for learning languages and there they assigned me Spanish which I already
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knew how to speak because I went to Mexico on my mission. I was just going to say where did you go on your mission? Okay. Okay, that's perfect. So when I I
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challenged the course passed I was only there a month. Mhm. They sent me on to
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Fort Deans, Massachusetts, where the Army Security Agency did 90% of their
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training and I was supposed to go in there as a crypto analyst. Okay. And
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they didn't have any classes going. So, they moved me over into Well, the army
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basically you do whatever the army tells you to do. That's kind of how it the military works, right? You do what
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you're told. So I I was sent to basic Morse code and there you had to learn
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Morse code and be able to copy on a mill which is a typewriter with all uppercase
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letters and numbers okay numbers and everything. So and to pass the class you
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had to be able to copy 15 groups per minute which is five random letters
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broken up into five fiveletter groups. Okay. So, you do that 15 and then then
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you moved on and then there was several different options and one of the options was what? High-speed intercept operator
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which you had to learn to to copy up to 30 groups per minute. Okay. And I never
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could copy that fast. So, I was sent to what they called a special
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identification techniques operator. there. I had to be able to send and
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receive Morse code up to 25 groups per minute, which was easy, which was easy
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for me to do. So that's I I went through that 27week course and passed it and I
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passed in the in the upper 10% of my class. So I was sent on to an analyst to
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be able to analyze and plot on the map locations of enemy transmitters. So, and
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then I got my orders to go out of that school to be deployed and I was being
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deployed to Bad Eing, Germany. And between that time and the time that I deployed, I President Johnson decided he
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needed 50,000 more troops in Vietnam. Oh. So, they changed my orders while I
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was on leave and I was sent to Vietnam. Okay. Went to Oakland, California. Yeah.
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And loaded onto a plane and and off you went. My next stop was in Saigon. Wow. Wow. Wow. And how long were you there
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for? I was there my first tour of duty was a year. Okay. And then I extended my
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my tour so I could fly. I wanted to fly the there was a at that time it was a
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top secret program called Left Bank. the ar the NSA had had developed these
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helicopters that I could do the same thing I was doing at the base camps but only in a in a platform an air platform.
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Mhm. So I learned to fly in fly my position in a UH1 Huey helicopter
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and we flew low and slow in circles until we would locate enemy ground
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units. Then we sent that information on to the field commanders. Okay. We were
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basically a direct support unit and and I was I was in direct support of the
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fifth special forces in the fourth infantry division. And I flew an eight UH1 helicopters and
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OV1 Mohawk. Okay. It was a it was a twin seat turborop and we flew up and down
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the rivers and it had side search radar. We would look under the trees. Okay. Fly
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up the rivers and the Ho Chi Min Trail over into Cambodia and Laos. Yeah, that
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was all hush hush and we weren't there. And and so I did that for about let's
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see from February into May. Okay. Then I came and then I was I was what they call
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TDY, temporary duty. So I didn't have to fill a whole a whole tour. So it was
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only about six or seven months that I fi five five or six months and I came back
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and it was such a new platform that they sent me to Fort Wuka of Arizona and it
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was and I taught classes there on on how to run that position out of a out of an
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airborne platform. So Oh, that's super cool. Yeah. Then I left from there to go to Ventill Farm Station. Okay. in
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Virginia and that was a that was a top secret installation army installation in
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Warrington, Virginia. Okay. It's where it was a worldwide intercept area. Okay.
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It doesn't none of these places belong. None of these places exist anymore. So Okay. Okay. Going back to your Vietnam
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thing, any any stories stand out from, you know, for you like, you know, anything that defined that experience or
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any kind of thing that I mean, obviously that's other than boredom. Sure. And
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that's that that's boredom's good actually when you're at war, I guess, right? You know, I I always told my
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children that was that the Vietnam experience was 90% boredom and 10% sheer
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terror. Okay. Okay. Sure. Looking back on it, it's probably there. The crews
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that that that I flew with, 16 of them are still there. Okay. They were lost,
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never found. And so we all I always watch to see if any of these recovery
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efforts have ever found any of these. Jaguar 21
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went down. And I was supposed to be on that flight, but I had been called by the company commander to give a a
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briefing to the field commander that morning. So they took me off that flight
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and I stayed behind to to do the the briefing to the commanding general of
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the fourth infantry division. Wow. And at the end of the briefing, we found out
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that the helicopter had gone down. Wow. And they were looking for it. Wow. they had sent. And so we had got in all of
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the helicopters we could. We went out looking and we found the wreckage, but there was nobody there. There was no
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evidence of anybody dying. We destroyed the helicopter. Mhm.
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Because it was all everything on that helicopter was pretty important. Top secret. Yeah. So the we destroyed the
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helicopter and then we spent weeks looking for them and we never found any
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evidence as to where they went and no ground intelligence to find out if they they had been captured or killed or or
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whatever. So and still to this day you don't know. We don't know. Not to this day. That was probably the most divining
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moment. Sure. Sure. Because you would have been on that that if I'd have been on that flight I'd have been Yeah. I'd
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been there. So yeah. Yeah. And you always wonder why me? Sure. Yeah. That's it's always a question you would ask.
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Yeah. So, and then there was there was other incidents of one of our most of
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our groundbased operations was done in the back of a of a 3/4tonon truck van.
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Mhm. And had a field a array of antennas, directional antennas. We could
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tell which direction the radio signal was coming from. Mhm. And by that, by
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taking a bearing on that on a on a compass, you would triangulate and we
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could tell at them distances that was if you were 25 miles away, it was about a
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85%. Okay? 85% chance that it was right there. Okay? And then they would call in
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artillery on those on those spots, bomb bomb raids and artillery on those areas
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because they these units we listened to were they were four or 5,000 men, you know. Sure. So, yeah. So, your chances
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of doing some damage was probably pretty good. Pretty high. Sure. Yeah. Wow. So, but other other than that, I spent my
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off time working in a in a orphanage. Okay. We found out that the children in
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the little I was in a town called Pleu, which was up in the central highlands.
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It was in the mountainous country and it's where the Montyards mostly lived in Vietnam. And there was indigenous people
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and there were a lot of orphans in these Catholic orphanages. And we found out
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that the at night that the the Vietkong would collect their taxes. Oh. And they
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would actually steal food from the children and leave them destitute. So a
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lot a few of us got together and we would we would go into the orphanages and we would build hiding places for
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their food. Wow. Good. Good. And so they and so and then we would you know and we
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would we got along great with the kids. The kids loved Americans. I'm sure. Yeah. Well, especially you were helping
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them too. So and I had a the mother superior at one of them had used to she
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knew that I was Mormon and she always she always laughed when she said what
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what was a Mormon doing there in a Catholic in a Catholic Catholic
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orphanage. Orphanage. Sure. And and so but we got along great. We got got along
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great. And we would actually take our in the military, we got a a a liquor and a
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and a cigarette allowance, I guess. Allowance every month. And we were allowed to buy so much. Well, we would
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take that and sell it. Sure. To other GIS that didn't that that ptook of it
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and we would take that money and buy food on the in the town. Yeah. And give
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it to the orphanages. Oh, that's so and I I did that for the whole 15 months
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that I was there. But later on in life, I was on Facebook and I got a message on
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Messenger one day and it was a picture and it was of me and a little girl and I
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was had her on my foot and we were dancing. She was like probably two or three years old. Yeah. Well, this was
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the little girl. Oh wow. And she remembered my name. Oh wow. So, she
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looked me up on Facebook and we still we still correspond to this. She's a
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probably in her late 50s now. And Sure. and married to an ex-marine in Minnesota. Oh, really? Oh, wow. Not
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Minnesota. Michigan. Michigan. Okay. Okay. He's an ex-Marine and he's a county sheriff up there. Oh, wow. Has
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four children together and they're Oh, that's She's a She's a sweetheart and we send Christmas cards together. Sure. But
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she was a boat person. her and her grandmother when Saigon fell in 1975. I
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had already been home for what almost three years and the story she tells is
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her and her grandmother found her in the orphanage and they walked barefooted
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from Pleu to Natrang which was about 200 miles. Wow. And all the time they were
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there the the Vietkong and the communists were trying to kill them. Wow. So they would do it only at night
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and they finally got put on a boat and she ended up in the Philippines and at
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that time the American government was accepting refugees out of the
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Philippines and then she was sent to Port Fort Smith, Arkansas. Okay. And a young couple from Michigan
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adopted her and changed her name. Oh wow. And she was raised as a as a with
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an American name and Yeah. in the whole her name is Janet now. So, okay. It was
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my back then. Yeah. Wow. Wow. That's cool that she remembered you, you know, and she had that picture still. Yeah.
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That survived that. Yeah. And she and she has a group on Facebook that honors
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all of the veterans. Oh, sure. To this day, she she's very adamant about Yeah.
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remembering the veterans that helped. Sure. Well, because she because you literally helped her, right? Yeah.
Returning home: rebuilding life and career
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That's great. Well, so so you know, how did your your military service, I guess,
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shape your your understanding of community and different things? Because obviously we're going to talk kind of what you ended up doing post, you know,
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the war and stuff, but like how did how do you think that shaped you, you know, your feelings on community and and and
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really trying to Well, just a little background in that. I left Lehi in
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1965 667. Back in those days, the Lehigh Free
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Press, there was a lady that worked for him. Her name was Fowler. Okay. She was
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the She worked for the Lehigh Free Press. But she always wrote, she was the mother of one of my classmates, Bill
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Fowler. Okay. And she was always to every one of our sporting events, school
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events. She followed everything. But when I left, not so much on my mission, but in the because male in Mexico was
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horrible. Sure. You didn't get your mail. Yeah, it still is. When I went to Vietnam, I got the Lehi Free Press.
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Sometimes it came once a month, sometimes it came weekly, but she made sure that all of the Vietnam vet or the
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Vietnam or actually anybody in the military that was from Lehi. She would
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send them copies of the Lehi Free Press to let them know what was going on back home. Oh, that's awesome. And Betty
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Fowler, get my brain working. She she was always a sweetheart and I went and
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told her that when I got home. So yeah. Good. And it brought tears to her eyes cuz she knew that we knew. So yeah.
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Yeah. But yeah, I I whenever I thought of home, I thought of Lehi. So yeah,
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when I did come back, I I've been here ever since. So yeah, that's great that she was able to give you that connection
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to home. Yeah. By doing that. I mean, that's Well, see, when I grew up, it all of it was all World War I veterans that
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Okay. They they basically run Lehi. Yeah. Uh Herman Goats was the stake
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president. He was a World War I veteran. All of the merchants up and down Main
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Street were all World War I veterans. Tommy Powers and and Clen Laney and and
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George Laney, he was a World War I veteran. So I knew all of these and I knew their their kids because I went to
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school with them. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. And so then you came back and and tell me about your
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profession. What did you go into? I went I went to school on the GI Bill. I went to Utah. Back then it was the Utah trade
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college. Okay. I wanted to be a I wanted to work in the medical field. So I I
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went into X-ray technician. Okay. Well, when I got home, I was led out of the
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military just a little early, like two months early to so I could make it into
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school. Mhm. And come to find out that the X-ray technician class was not an
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accredited class and I couldn't draw GI Bill money for that class. For that
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class. So I transferred over into heating and air conditioning. Okay.
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Okay. It was HVAC. Yeah. Yeah. And so I I went to school for two years. I got my
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associate degree. Mhm. And now it's called UVU. Yeah. I've heard of it. Yep.
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I've heard of it. Yeah. It used to be down on University Avenue in Provo. Yeah. And but anyway, I went I went to
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school there and then I but when I first came home out of the service, I I got into the what they call the Vietnam
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veteran readjustment program. Okay. And you was able to build your own home on sweat equity. Wow. So if you could find
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a My dad was a contractor. Mhm. So him and me and my brother built my first
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home over on Fifth West and Sixth North over there in the Stewart subdivision.
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And that's got my GI loan and my GI bill and and I basically the military shaped
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what I did for the future also. So well and so so when did you become the head of the of Lehi's American Legion? When
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did that take place? Well, basically I made a living from the time I started out working out of school to a place
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that that sold oxygen and nitrogen to Geneva. It was called National Cylinder
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Gas back then and then it was sold out several times and ended up when Geneva was shut down. I lost my job there and
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but basically I've been in refrigeration and air conditioning, low temperature refrigeration right on up and I've had
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four or five jobs since since I graduated. My last job was working for
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the Larry H. Miller Group as the maintenance superintendent for Jordan
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Commons in Sandy. Oh, nice. I spent 11 years there. Okay. Good amount of time. Yeah. Yeah. And so then when when did
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you when did you join the American Legion? When did you become head of that? I joined the American Legion. Well, I I joined it right out of 1973.
Joining the American Legion
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Okay. But I never went to any meetings until probably 2003.
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Okay. Basically just made a living till then. Yeah. I didn't feel comfortable in the when I first came back. It was uh
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the veterans there. I just did not they were all older than me. Sure. And the
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meetings were boring. Sure. Yeah. They're not they haven't changed much, but I rode a motorcycle. I I had a
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Harley-Davidson motorcycle and I was approached one day by a guy to join the
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the American Legion riders. I thought, "Well, yeah, that'd be fun. Get together with a bunch of veterans and yeah, and
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ride." And basically that got me back into the American Legion and and I
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attended the meetings. You had to attend the meetings to belong to the club. And we went on a lot of lot of fun
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motorcycle rides and the whole nine yards. So the I can't remember the post commander is Harold Finn. Okay. Harold
Leading as Post Commander
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Finn was the post commander when I was in there and then he stepped down and
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another gentleman took his place and I can't remember his name but he got a stroke and couldn't couldn't perform as
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the post commander and that was in 2010 and nobody would step up and take the
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position. So after about a six or seven months of that, I I just said, "Well,
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I'm the only at the time I was the only Lehi resident that was a member of the post." So I just went up after a
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meeting. I says, "If you guys is looking for somebody to conduct the meetings, I'll do it." So the next week I was in I
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was the post commander. You got the job and I've had it ever since. Wow. Wow. So
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it's been 15 years and I'm going to give it up this month in May. Okay. I'm going
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to We need somebody younger and with I don't know if it's drive or the ambition. Sure. To keep to keep going.
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Sure. Sure. Yeah. Well, so 15 years is a long time. Tell me. Tell me. It's a one-year project. It's a Every time I I
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I held elections. We hold elections every year. Yeah. And they all say, "Well, where the hell you think you're
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going?" You're still in it, buddy. I'm still doing it. So, I've seen a lot of veterans come and go. We just buried one
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of our old stall warts and that was Wilin. We called him Wilkkey. He used to
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be the He had a barber shop here in Lehi. Okay. When I was a kid, he used to
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give haircuts. Yeah. He went from that to one of my compatriots. So, and Carl
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Moore, all of the old veterans, World War II veterans are just about gone.
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Wow. We have one World War I veteran, World War II veteran left in our post at
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Jesse Beach. He served in the World War the and Vietnam. Okay. Both. Yeah. It's
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96 years old now. So, it's up there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's up there. Yeah.
Serving Lehi’s youth through community outreach
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So what what so you know 15 years serving in that post you know what what
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what would you say some of the things that you're proud of and that you've you know that has happened my b well since
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I've been the post commander we've basically spent most of our time serving
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the youth of Lehi and that's through giving them scholarships
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okay we have two programs the the premier program of the American Legion
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statewide and nationwide is Boy State. Okay? And that's for juniors in high
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school that go to Weaver State and they learn how to they learn how the
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government works. So, it's basically a civics class. Mhm. They're given a
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oneweek course on how to form a government from city right on up to
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national and state state and national and they're there for a week and they're
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and speakers come and talk to them and they they run for office. They they
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learn how the government works and they learn the Robert's rules of of running a
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meeting and the whole nine yards. So, and then we have them come back. A lot of them we we sponsor and we pay their
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way up there, you know, when we have the money. And Lehi City and the Civic Improvement Association have been major
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donors to getting us the money to run that program. So, we give away a small
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scholarship. Our last boy state, we gave each one of them, we paid their way,
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which is $500. So, Sure. and we sent seven boys and then the auxiliary sends
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the girls and they do the same thing. So, and then the other program we have
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is the ortorial contest and that is the children from I think it's junior high
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through high school. Yeah, it is. and they they speak on they have to to
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memorize a speech on one of the on the Constitution and what it means to them
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and a and a certain and they're given a subject to make it about they it's an 8
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to 10 minute speech which is daunting. Sure. Yes. Especially for a junior high
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school too. Especially for them. Yes. Agree. Yeah. Anyway, they they get up in front of a group and they're and they're
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the contest is is held in front of a group. They cannot they have to stand up in front of a group, no podium, and
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memor and and recite it from from from memory. And then their second speech is
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a 3 to five minute speech that they have to give on one of the amendments to the Constitution and they don't know what it
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is until they get there. Oh wow. So they just got to prepare it all. So they got to be prepared to talk about any one of
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the 27 amendments of the constitution which most most high school students today graduate and don't even know how
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many amendments there are to the constit they don't they don't even know what the constitution says. Sure. So these kids
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are pretty they're part of the elite that graduate from high school as far as government and civics is concerned.
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Yeah. Have that knowledge. Yeah. But they're sent from post to district to
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state and then to nation. And if they make it all the way to the nation, they're eligible for an
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$18,000 scholarship plus because during that con that contest back in wherever
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they hold the national convention, they're offered, you know, all of your major colleges, especially colleges that
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teach government or politics, wants to hear these kids. one of the
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girls that won our post. She's now a law clerk for one of the Supreme Court
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justices. Pretty proud of her. As you should be. Yeah. That's awesome. She's not from Lehi, but that's okay. We still
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love her. She's from the valley. Yeah. Yeah. As a lot of people don't understand that the American Legion is
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when I was growing up, it was all Lehi people, but the American Legion is bigger than that. Of course, it's
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nationwide. Yeah. We have members in our post that are from Provo. Yeah. The other valley up in Salt Lake Valley. You
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don't have to live in the town to be part of that post. So, good. Good. Yeah. So, and therein lies the problem. Well,
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you've you've obviously enjoyed it. You know what what you said the next leader needs to have ambition and and drive.
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What what do you envision for the future? I mean, for I want somebody younger. Okay. Sure. I'm looking for a
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younger veteran. Yeah. I'm looking I they don't want to younger veterans.
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They need to be heard. They need to be leaders of the community and take an
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interest in the community. Mhm. And that's part of that's what the American Legion does. Yeah. Is basically you just
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keep serving. Yeah. What are what are some challenge you know so 15 years what any challenges that you faced like in
Challenges facing today’s veterans
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that post? What what were some of the harder things about that job? teaching veterans how to one of the reason one of
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the one of the purposes of the American Legion is to help veterans. Okay. PTSD
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is a huge problem amongst veterans. 22 veterans take their lives every day.
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Wow. Nationwide. That's that's got to stop. Yeah. It's too many. We have a
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program now called Be the One. And that's to check on the veterans in your post. You know, the worst part about
29:33
being a veteran is being forgotten. Sure. Especially to these younger veterans. Life is hard. But then you add
29:40
that on to it and it's even worse. Yeah. So, yeah, helping veterans, getting them
29:45
up to the VA, getting them help, mental as well as physical is one of the major
29:51
pedestals to the pillars to the American Legion. So, we have service officers
29:57
that help. And all they got to do is ask and we ask them, too. Yeah. We we don't
30:02
we don't wait for them to ask. We always check on each other. We even check on veterans that aren't members of our
30:08
post. There's a lot of veterans here in Lehi that they don't belong to a veterans
30:14
organization. They they they served in the National Guard. They don't they don't even consider theirelves a
30:21
veteran. They are a veteran. Yeah. They wore that uniform. They're a veteran.
30:26
Yeah. Yeah. So, we're there to help them or to do anything they need to do. So,
30:32
and I always that's the reason I I even had anything to do with it. Wouldn't have been for my motorcycle, I probably
30:39
wouldn't I would be one of those guys that doesn't do anything with it. Doesn't do anything with it. So, yeah,
30:45
you got to find an interest. Yeah. To to be able to do it. So, and I and I enjoy
30:51
we have a breakfast once a month where we just go have breakfast and they're just veterans and you just sit around
30:57
the table and there's American Legion isn't even mentioned. Sure. You just just talking just Yeah. You listen to
31:04
their war stories. Sure. Sure. That's good. That's good. It sounds like it's brought you a lot of joy and and I mean
31:11
it feels reminiscent of your time helping the orphanage. I mean you're you're doing that same kind of thing,
31:17
you know, as an adult helping the local community here now too, right? I mean that's that that that service you
31:23
oriented desires. Yeah. You've continued to do that, I guess. Yeah. And living here in Lehi, you just you you consider
What’s changed in Lehi over the years
31:31
it home, but you remember what it used to be like when you was a kid. And it's not the same place. Yeah. Yeah. It's
31:38
changed. It has changed a bunch. Yeah. We have a class reunion 19 I graduated
31:44
in 1965. All of our class members, there was only 97 of us graduated. Wow. That
31:51
year. Now you have the kids classes are two 3,000 kids. Yeah. They they have a
31:58
class reunion. They don't because they didn't know each other. Yeah. You know, but in Lehi, it used to be that your
32:05
class was like a family. Everybody knew everybody. You knew everything about everybody. Sure. You saw them in the
32:12
grocery store every day, you know, cuz we only had three grocery stores here in Lehi and they're really tiny. Sure.
32:19
Sure. That makes sense. That makes sense. And and so when we get together
32:24
as a class, we we it's more or less like seeing your brother or your sister rather than your classmate. Yeah. And
32:31
you just and and you just know everything about each other. So yeah, it's just not going to be that way
32:37
anymore. Yeah. So, and that's sad. Sure. That is really sad. Sure. Well, cuz
32:42
that's brought you a lot of joy to have that community, right? That you know. Yeah. See, my dad built they're building
32:47
this new civic center or Yeah. at the library, civic center. Yeah. And it's it's a it's a replica basically of the
32:55
old tabernacle. I grew up with that tabernacle. Yeah. That's where we used to have our father and son banquet. Oh,
33:02
nice. That's where I met Jean Fulmer, the heavyweight champion of the world.
33:08
And right next door was the seminary and that's where I got baptized. So, so
33:14
yeah, you know, that's where that was Lehi back then. And the junior high was when I was growing up, that was the high
33:20
school. Yeah. And in 1959 or 60, I think it was, they built the new high school
33:27
down by the Roller Mills and that become the junior high. Well, it's no longer
33:32
there. Yeah. So, and my father worked for the church and he was the
33:38
superintendent that built the new tabernacle or the stake center where the
33:44
old tabernacle used to sit. Wow. Wow. So, lot's changed. Yeah, it's changed a
33:50
lot. Yeah. Growing up, we had six policemen. Knew every one of them. And they all knew us, too. They hopefully
33:57
not too intimately, you know, cuz you were in trouble or something. Oh, yeah. There was one old policeman. His name
34:03
was Ray Edwards. He would catch you doing something that you wouldn't be shouldn't be doing. He'd kick your butt.
34:09
Sure. And then he'd take you home and your dad would kick your butt. Different times. Different times. For sure. Yeah.
34:16
Well, so tell me how how can how can the community, you know, you talk about veterans and, you know, how can the
34:22
community help veterans? I mean, obviously we can see that you guys are doing a lot of things to help the community, but for those that are
34:28
listening, how can the community help the veterans? Well, they basically already do, you know. They they think
34:35
they thank the veterans for their service. Yeah. They know we're there. They do. Most people have a reverence
34:42
for the veterans, especially the older ones. Yeah. And that love for from the
34:47
the community to the veterans is still there. The Civic Improvement Association, they recognize us. the
34:55
Rotary Club has has invited us to come and talk to them and they've even helped
35:01
some of the kids with our in our programs, helped them go to Boys and Girls State and have always backed us.
35:08
So, the community always has always always been on our in our in our court
35:13
and they all take care of us. Basically, we if it wasn't for the city and this
35:19
community, the American Legion wouldn't have a place to meet. Way back when when the World War I veterans and World War
35:27
II veterans was running the American Legion here, they they were an integral part of the city because they were the
35:34
city councilman. Sure. Sure. Yeah. They were very important. That makes sense. that. But from Vietnam on, actually
35:41
Korea and on the Korea, the Korean veterans were basically forgotten. They
35:47
just come home and went to back into being normal. The Vietnam veterans when they came home, they were actually
35:54
hated. Yeah. So, we didn't talk about our service. Yeah. And to this day, 90%
36:00
of them don't talk about it. Yeah. Yeah. When you when I came home, I was in at
36:06
Bentill Farms in V in Virginia and my I got married while I was in the service.
36:11
My wife and I lived there in Virginia and I was called up on riot duty. Oh
36:17
wow. For Washington DC. Yeah. And I always wondered after fighting that war in Vietnam and and all I went through
36:24
there that I would have to sit there and point guns at my own citizens. Yeah.
36:29
Citizens I fought for. Yeah. So that was traumatic. I'm sure it shouldn't be that
36:35
way. It should not be that way. And luckily it seems to not be anymore. Yeah. So, it's not like that anymore,
36:41
but you know, and get turned and you know, I I wanted to go to college, but basically get turned away by the the
36:48
local schools here because you were a Vietnam veteran and and there were
36:53
postgraduates that needed to get their masters and doctor degrees and so there
36:59
wasn't room because of the draft for you to be in school. And that was that put a
37:04
bitter taste in my mouth, I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah. But obviously it it it I can
37:09
tell it didn't define you because obviously you've gone on to do a lot of good. So that's not you didn't you didn't swallow that bitter pill to you
37:16
know and and internalize it. They used to ask me which school I followed in sports and I says anybody that plays
37:22
University of Utah or BYU I like it. I like it. I didn't care.
37:29
Yeah. Sure. Yeah. I do now but I didn't then. So well Quinn I appreciate you
37:35
coming on. Is there anything that we haven't covered or any any, you know, kind of closing thoughts or, you know,
37:40
things that you wanted to touch on that we haven't maybe touched on? No, that's about it. I I can't think of anything. I
37:46
have a hard time conveying what I want to say anyway. I I think you've done a very good job. I you know I so then
Family, faith, and personal growth
37:53
maybe just to end you know as far as looking back on your life you know you know as far as achievements you've done
38:00
and stuff like that any what would you say some of the greatest achievements of your life you're most proud of I guess
38:06
as we end this my family okay yeah I'm proud of them all good good
38:13
proud of being I I I consider myself a good neighbor I I help when I can I
38:19
don't I hold no minimous to anybody. So, good. Good. Hate has no no place in
38:26
anybody's life. Yeah. No. Yeah. Well, that's why I don't talk politics or religion. It's safer, right? Cuz I want
38:32
to love you. Let's let's let's keep that going. Yeah. Let's agree to disagree. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm sure
38:39
your family appreciates that they are so important to you. I'm sure you're a good Yeah. How many children? And I got three
38:45
children. Three children. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Any grandchildren? I got four.
38:50
four grandchildren and four stepg grandandchildren. Okay, nice. That's
38:56
awesome. Awesome. And we just in just welcomed home our oldest granddaughter
39:02
from her mission in Japan. So Oh, wow. That's that was fun. That's great. That's great. Well, Quinn, thank you for
Final reflections and deep gratitude
39:08
coming on and thank you for your service and thank you for all that you're continuing to do. Okay. For Lehi. You're
39:13
obviously doing a lot of good. Appreciate you listening to me. Yes. No, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for
39:20
joining us on Roots and Branches of Lehi. I hope today's story helped you feel a little more connected to the
39:25
people who make up our community. Remember, every person here has a unique story, and together we're what makes
39:31
Lehi feel like home. If you know someone who would be a great fit for this podcast, please fill out the form in the
39:36
show notes so we can reach out and schedule an interview. We'd love to hear from you. A big thank you to our
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sponsors, the Work Harding Home Mortgage team and Play Harding Nightly Vacation Rentals for supporting this show and
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helping us bring our community closer together. Until next time, keep growing those roots and reaching out to your
39:54
branches. Take care.
