For Charles Holloway, military service wasn’t a question of if, but when. The Army specialist who joined in 1975 was simply following a family tradition that ran as deep as Texas roots.
“All three of my other brothers served and so I volunteered, I just felt that it was my duty to go in and volunteer and spend some time in the service, and so I did,” Holloway explained in an oral history recently preserved by the Texas Veterans Land Board.
From Texas to the World
Holloway, who now resides at the Frank M. Tejeda Texas State Veterans Home in Floresville, trained as a Unit Clerk 75 Bravo—an administrative role that would shape his post-military career. But before the paperwork came basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he developed proficiency with the AR-15 rifle and learned to handle grenades.
His first assignment brought unexpected challenges. After being stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, the Texas native faced a dramatic climate shift. “When I first got there it snowed all week, and it was a big change,” he recalled.
But Colorado was just the beginning. The Army had bigger plans for the young specialist—ones that would take him far beyond American borders.
First Flight to Far Shores
Imagine boarding an airplane for the first time in your life—not for a vacation, but heading toward potential conflict. That was Holloway’s reality when he received orders for Germany.
“The first time I was on an airplane was when I was headed to Germany on a training mission for Vietnam,” Holloway shared. “We were flying out of Lackland or somewhere and we stopped off in Alaska for fuel before we continued on to Mannheim, Germany and that was the first time I was ever on a plane and it was like a 12-hour trip.”
The massive transport carried both men and machinery: “We had about 100 men at the top and we had tanks and jeeps at the bottom.” Though trained for Vietnam, Holloway never deployed there as the war ended before he could be sent.
War Games and Reality
His six months in Germany weren’t spent sightseeing. Instead, Holloway participated in intense “downrange training”—elaborate war games designed to simulate combat conditions. These exercises involved rapidly setting up and dismantling encampments “as if they were in a real war.”
After completing his European assignment, Holloway returned to Fort Carson, Colorado, where he remained until leaving active duty in 1978. Even then, his commitment didn’t fully end—he stayed in active reserve status, ready to be recalled if needed.
Following his military service, Holloway applied his administrative skills in civilian life, working in personnel and sales positions at major retailers including Walmart and Montgomery Wards.
Preserving Veterans’ Voices
Why does Holloway’s story matter now, decades after his service ended? For Texas officials, it represents part of a larger tapestry of military experiences that deserve preservation.
Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., introduced Holloway’s oral history as part of the state’s ongoing Voices of Veterans program, which documents the experiences of Texas service members.
The program records and archives these histories, making them accessible to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These personal accounts now stand alongside historical documents of famous Texas heroes, ensuring that everyday veterans’ contributions aren’t lost to time.
For Holloway and countless others who served during the post-Vietnam era, these preserved stories offer something simple yet profound—recognition that duty, even when performed far from combat zones, forms an essential thread in America’s military fabric.
