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After high school in little Plentywood, ubiquitous years of active duty from 1962 to 1966.
Montana, Kienitz spent the first two years From there, he kept his uniforms ready
of college at the University of Iowa, then [yoo-bik-wi-tuh s] while serving in the Naval Air Reserve,
the Brown Institute of Broadcasting in adjective retiring in 1988 as a commander (O-5).
Minneapolis before earning his bachelor’s
degree in news-editorial in 1962 from the 1. existing, or seeming to exist, Kienitz is deeply committed to Sun City
University of Montana. everywhere at once Texas’ Veterans Memorial Plaza, where
more than 3,900 engraved bricks have
A year later, he met Sandie in Hawaii. golf writers also hold Kienitz in high es- been lovingly laid. “We have room for
They celebrated their 50th wedding an- teem. He served as president of the Texas more,” he emphasized, “up to 15,000
niversary in January. Golf Writers Association from 2011 to 2013. total.” (The history of the Veterans Me-
As for his own turn around 18 holes, Ki- morial is reported in the Sun Rays May
His first job in journalism was in Idaho enitz said, “I probably average about 135 2013 issue.)
Falls, Idaho, but AP came calling in July [rounds] a year, 110 of those on Sun City
1967 with a posting to Cheyenne, Wyo- Texas courses.” His best-ever score was When his busy schedule allows, he also at-
ming. When he retired at 62 in March a 76 at Legacy Hills. tends monthly meetings in Georgetown of
2000, he was regional radio executive for Although in the Air Force ROTC while the Captain Robert Dilworth-USN Chap-
AP in Dallas. attending the University of Iowa, after ter of Military Order of the World Wars.
graduating from college, Kienitz opted
His golf links (pun intended) extend far be- for the Navy and trained as a navigator. Willy Victors flew the Atlantic and Pacific
yond the boundaries of Sun City Texas. He He logged 2,000 hours in the air over four oceans as part of an extended military
has written for the Williamson County Sun configuration to guard North America.
for many years, covering various school That included the Distant Early Warning
golf teams and events at courses around Line, a communications network made
Williamson County. of ground-based radar stations that ex-
tended for thousands of miles to warn
Like his fellow military veterans, fellow in case of approaching Soviet aircraft or
intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Doug enjoyed a long military career that included a stint in the Air Force ROTC
while in college and, after graduating, four years of active duty in the Navy (1962- Kienitz recalled his experience in that
66). He went on to serve in the Naval Air Reserve before retiring in 1988. Cold War effort. “Our squadron at Bar-
ber’s Point on Oahu, Hawaii, was deployed
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG for 16 days at a time to Midway Island,
then launched planes every four hours
around-the-clock going up to the Aleu-
tians and back. Although I had ship duty
for my last year, that was my active duty
assignment for three years. We monitored
the whereabouts of potentially-hostile air-
craft. Each flight lasted 14 hours.”
Thousands of men, officers and enlisted,
have not forgotten the importance of
their long-ago mission, finally holding
a reunion in 2006 and sharing a lot of
memories.
Even without a reunion, Kienitz remem-
bers being aloft in November 1963 when
delayed reports came in about the assassi-
nation of President John F. Kennedy. “The
guys on the radar screens of Willy Victor
No. 143200 became ever more vigilant.”
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,”
is a famous quotation that may be aptly
noted when remembering the Willy Victor
and those associated with its mission.
Here in Sun City Texas, the ubiquitous
Doug Kienitz can acknowledge his part
in preserving our liberty.
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