SAMUEL CALOMO • VIETNAM WAR
Samuel Calomo, 78
Gloucester, MA
Born: 6/7/47
Born/Raised: Gloucester
Rank: Medic, Spec. 5th Class
Service: US Army, 199th Light Infantry Brigade
Long Binh, Bien Hoa
Dates of Service: 1967-1969
Sam Calomo, born and raised in Gloucester, he graduated from Gloucester High School in 1965 and took a job at GE where he worked for two years before being drafted in 1967. Sent to Fort Dix, NJ, which he described as awful, cold and miserable, he was presented with a choice: become a medic or be sent to Vietnam as a combat soldier. “I can’t be a medic, I’m afraid of needles and blood. I can’t do it.” But do it he did and after six months of training at Fort Ord in Monterey, CA, he was deployed to Vietnam with a mortar company. He spent five months in the field.
After returning to Gloucester, and GE, he was married to Carol Bradshaw for four years with whom he had a son, Sam Jr. In 1977 he took a position at the US Post Office. In 1983 he married Susan Wiley and would be with her for forty years before her passing in 2023. They have three grandchildren. Sam remains active with the Disabled American Veterans.