Aaron St. Clair, U.S. Army, 172nd Infantry Brigade, 1974-77

Aaron St. Clair enlisted in the United States Army and served from May 23, 1974 to May 23, 1977.  He was an E4 in the 172nd Infantry Brigade, Company B.  Mr. St. Clair served his country at Fort Ord, California, Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Greely and Fort Richardson, Alaska.

His Father, Kelly St. Clair, Sr., also served in the Army.

While stationed at Fort Greely, a Hawaiian serviceman was giving safety tips on how to survive in Alaskan weather.  “He sort of messed it up a little bit”, St. Clair said, so he asked him “Where did you get your facts from?”  After that, he got drafted into teaching the class on how to survive in Alaska weather.  He told them the first few things that will get frostbite on them are their toes, fingers, maybe their ears and face so they needed to use the buddy system and keep an eye out, to watch for frost or dark spots showing up. He taught them how to dress in layers.

During his service, Mr. St. Clair was a heavy equipment operator and repairman.  Later on he was in demolition- his father Kelly St. Clair had been a demolition man and told him it was a good trade to learn, so he watched his father and learned from him.  Aaron St. Clair was tasked with blowing up mock bridges “so the enemy couldn’t use ‘em.”

At the end of his service, he received the National Defense Ribbon, the Driver/Mechanic Badge and the Good Conduct Medal.