Don Traughber

Don graduated from Western with a master’s degree in 1963. While at Western he was a member of the Pershing Rifles Honor Guard. He immediately went into the Army as a second lieutenant assigned to the Seventh Army, 2nd Armored Cavalry in Bamberg, Germany. In 1965 he received his discharge and taught at the United States Dependent Schools European Area in Karlsruhe, Germany, for two years. In 1968, he transferred to a teaching position at Ramey High School at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico. During this time he enrolled in Inter-American University and received a master’s degree in business administration in 1970. Don next took a job as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Sacramento, California, and in 1982 he became vice president for Wells Fargo Bank Corporate Security in Sacramento.

He is now retired and living in New Albany, Indiana.

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Doug Verdier

Doug spent twenty-three years in the Army and retired as a lieutenant colonel. After his military service he worked for the Red Cross and several independent community blood centers. For twenty years he worked in public relations and marketing where, according to Doug, “I got to put my English degree to use.” He currently works part-time in marketing and sales for the Minnesota Orchestra.

Doug lives with his wife in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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John Vititoe

John was commander of Company B-3 Pershing Rifles in 1962-63. He completed basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then received assignment to a Little John Rocket Battalion in the 2nd Armored Division stationed in Okinawa. He transferred to the 2nd Artillery Division as a battery commander of an Honest John Rocket Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas, afterwards transferring to Korea as an infantry battalion S-3. From there he moved back to Fort Sill for advanced training and then to Vietnam in late 1969, where he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery Regiment (105mm), 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division working out of Tan An. He went to the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi as assistant division artillery operations & training officer until this division stepped down. He then transferred to the 1st Cavalry Division at Phouc Vinh as the division artillery S-3 until the 25th Infantry Division deactivated and rotated to the States.

After Vietnam the Army assigned John to Morehead State University, where he taught military science and was faculty advisor to the Pershing Rifles Company V-1. He completed a master’s degree in industrial education and then moved to Louisville in 1975 as the FA advisor to the 100th Division Maneuver Training Command. Next he worked at Fort Hunter-Liggett in the Combat Developments Experimentation Command, where he participated in testing Hellfire missile system and several other weapons systems. John’s last tour was in Puerto Rico and U. S. Virgin Islands with Readiness Group Puerto Rico. In John’s words, “It was tough duty but someone had to do it.”

Upon retirement from the Army, John, along with fellow PR Darryl Hutcherson, opened a retail athletic store in Radcliff, Kentucky. Next came a short stint as a schoolteacher in Hardin County, Kentucky, and finally work at a retirement community.

John divorced in the late 1970s and is now married to Pallas. They plan to divide their time between Hemet, California, and Rineyville, Kentucky.

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Beverly Westerfield (Webb)

Beverly graduated from Western in 1966 with a degree in English and in 1972 earned a master’s degree in administration from the University of North Florida. During thirty-four years of employment with the Duval County School System in Jacksonville, Florida, she taught language arts for thirteen years and then served as dean of students and assistant principal before retiring in 2000. During this time, she also taught English for the Foreign Born and Opening Doors for Widows.

Beverly married George Sells, a Western graduate, in 1966, with whom she had one child, Michael. George died in 1985, and Beverly is now married to Philip Webb; they live in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Beverly enjoys playing tennis and doing volunteer work in her community. She is the past president of the Ponte Vedra Women’s Tennis Association.

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Roye Wilson

Roye received assignment to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1964 and then moved to Louisville to work for the Ford Motor Company for a year. He taught school for two years in Corydon, Indiana, before the National Guard mobilized his unit. He spent the summer of 1968 at Fort Hood, Texas, and then the next twelve months in Vietnam in and around Phu Bai (between Hue and Danang). After his tour in Vietnam, he moved back to Indiana and then to Kentucky, where he worked for the Kentucky State Vocational-Technical School System. During this time he moved to Lebanon, next to Louisville, and then to Elizabethtown in 1974. He retired from the National Guard and Reserves in 1993. His wife, Pat, retired as a teacher from the Hardin County School System in 1997.

Roye and Pat have three children and six grandchildren. Pat keeps busy with a small sewing business and Roye is a small-time farmer.