Jackson Man pays homage to friend, fellow veteran Tom Hunt looked for his Army buddy for 44 years; he found him

By Brad Flory Jackson Citizen Patriot JACKSON, Mich. (AP) -- Pfc. Tom Hunt of Jackson was ordered to get explosives to blow up a machine-gun bunker in Vietnam on June 8, 1967. Walking along a tree line, Hunt stepped on a mine. His left leg was blown off in the field and surgeons took the right one. "I consider myself fortunate," said Hunt, now a 66-year-old retired human resources director who lives in Napoleon Township. "I do have both my knees, so I get around pretty good." Sent home with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, Hunt left the VA hospital six months to the day after his injury. Like most young soldiers returned from war, Hunt concentrated on a career and family. Disability never slowed him down much. In his younger days, Hunt used to bowl and water ski on his artificial legs, and he still climbs ladders. Hunt naturally wondered what became of the young men he knew in the Army, especially Jack Elenbaas, an 18-year-old from Holland, Mich. Hunt and Elenbaas became friends in both basic and advanced training before going separate ways in Vietnam. "Jack stuck to me all through training," Hunt said. "He always talked about his car, a 1955 Chevy. I bunked next to him, and we talked about what we were going to do in life, about what an a-hole the sergeant was, and that sort of thing." Decades ago, Hunt placed a phone call to Holland and spoke to someone who said Elenbaas died in the war. Years passed before Hunt visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington for the first of three times. On that black wall, he found Elenbaas' name and his date of death, June 8, 1967. "He died on the same day I stepped on that mine," Hunt said. "It devastated me. It really did. "God wanted so many people on that day. I don't know why he took Jack and not me, but he did." More years passed, but Jack Elenbaas never left Hunt's mind, especially not on June 8. "Ever since I've known him, it's been a dream of his to find that grave and pay his respects," said Hunt's wife, Pat. Doing an Internet search on Elenbaas' name a few weeks ago, Hunt found a story in the Holland Sentinel newspaper about vandalism to a memorial honoring three soldiers, including Jack Elenbaas. Hunt called a man quoted in the newspaper, and that man knew exactly where Elenbaas is buried. Two weeks ago, 44 years to the day after Hunt's life changed forever and Elenbaas' life ended, Hunt stood over his friend's grave. His wife feared he would collapse from a grief that extended beyond one fallen soldier. "When I looked at his grave, seeing that date, I just broke down and cried," Hunt said. "For him, and for myself as well. "I stood there for a long time, praying for Jack and all the others who died in Vietnam. Fifty-eight thousand of them." Forty-four years is a long time to look for an Army buddy, but Hunt finally found him. Published: Thu, Jul 14, 2011