Toop
Gail  M.  Kerns  
Photo
Ribbons
 
  Rank, Service
Staff Sergeant E-6,  U.S. Army
  Veteran of:
U.S. Army 1968-1973
Cold War 1968-1973
Vietnam War 1969-1973 (POW)
  Tribute:

Gail Kerns was born in 1947 in Bellefontanine, Ohio. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 21, 1967, and completed basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in November 1967. After attending advanced individual training as an infantry indirect fire crewman at Fort Polk, Louisiana, PFC Kerns attended the NCO Academy at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning. He deployed to Southeast Asia in August 1968, and served with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division until he was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War on March 27, 1969. After spending 1,440 days in captivity, SSG Kerns was released during Operation Homecoming on March 5, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, until his medical retirement from the Army on September 21, 1973.

The Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

  




 


 

 
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