Coy Holt is a funny, passionate, and loving individual. He served our country in Vietnam. The branch of military that he went into was the US Army. While in high school, Coy dropped out of tenth grade. He then messed around in Florida and ended up in downtown Chicago. He found a job in a cardboard making factory. While Coy was in Chicago, he went one day to get his address changed. He ran into someone that talked him into going into the Army.  This was May 31, 1962. Coy was 21 years old when he entered the Army. When his family found out that he entered the Army, his father was more upset than his mother, but they knew there was nothing they could do to stop him. His rank was SP4.  Coy received medals and awards for his service including the Good Conduct medal, National Defense SRR Vice medal, and Vietnam Service medal. Coy was first deployed to Okinawa, Japan. He helped the US Navy with radio work and communications on the hills. While being in Okinawa one memory he will never forget was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was in Okinawa for 18 months. He was discharged when he finished in Okinawa and came back on September 13, 1964. He enlisted again the next day. Coy was deployed again to go fight in Vietnam. He was in Vietnam from 1964 to 1965. While there, he spent most his time searching for the enemy, using a bazooka. When being asked if he was in actual combat Coy responded, “Yes, but not for long because most people didn’t last long.”  Most of their time overseas was spent working or in combat, so when they got a rare free, moment, one thing they looked forward to he said was a “shower.” “There was a small building we went in and cold water came out of a hose, and that’s where you showered.”  He served in Vietnam for 18 months. The Army did change Coy’s life. “It made a roofer out of me!” When being asked if he would ever go back in to the Army he responded with, “If it were forty years ago, I would’ve thought about it.”

After finishing his deployment in Vietnam, Coy returned home to his base in North Carolina. Him coming home had no effect on him. He was just happy to be home. Unfortunately, when returning home to his wife, he realized she had two kids while he was gone. Being the man he is, he still stayed with them, and they moved onto Indiana. His wife left him and the children one morning, so he filed for divorce. Wilma, the children’s babysitter, and Coy fell in love and they decided to marry. They then ended up in Illinois having his own roofing business, two children of their own, and have been married for 52 years.