Shortly after graduating from Jefferson City Senior High School in 1973, Alan Winemiller enlisted in the U.S. Army - a decision partially inspired by the military service of an older brother. With the Vietnam War in hindsight, it may have been a relatively calm period in the military; however, the young soldier experienced a moment of intense excitement after helping thwart a possible assassination attempt against the U.S. president.
"When I enlisted, I didn't have any type of MOS (military occupational specialty) selected," he said. "I enlisted for two years and figured they would make me a cook or something like that since I wasn't going to be in for long."
Traveling to Fort Leonard Wood for his basic combat training in the summer of 1973, Winemiller was advised the Army had selected him to become a nuclear weapons maintenance specialist. That fall, he left the Missouri military post and traveled to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, to complete several weeks of specialized training.
The young soldier received in-depth instruction on maintaining several types of air defense missiles in the U.S. Army's nuclear air-defense arsenal to include the Nike Hercules, Pershing and Honest John. Many of these missiles were deployed not only stateside, but throughout Europe to serve as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
"We actually worked on the warheads, which were stored in a shop inside a magazine (fortified structure)," he recalled. "The missiles had limited life components that we had to replace on designated cycles, like the neutron generators and some of the seals."
He added, "The rest of the missile, like the rocket motors, were stored at the launch sites."
When his training was finished in the early weeks of 1974, Winemiller was sent to a conventional ammunition company of the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, since he had only a little more than a year remaining in his enlistment.
His company stored and maintained all of the munitions for Fort Lewis and, because their inventory did not include any missiles, Winemiller was appointed as the company armorer, storing and maintaining the M-16s used by the soldiers. Although he considered it a rather mundane duty assignment, it would unexpectedly draw him into the spotlight.
"The soldiers assigned to our company could store their personal weapons in our arms room and check them out when they wanted them," the veteran explained. "One guy in the company, whom I didn't really know all that well, came by toward the end of the workday and checked out his personal weapons."
In an interview appearing in the June 16, 1974, edition of the Sunday News and Tribune, Winemiller stated, "I didn't question him at first, but then he said he was going to take the weapons to Spokane, Wash., and shoot the president."
The newspaper added, "Nixon was scheduled to arrive in Spokane the next day of the Expo '74 World's Fair."
Winemiller recalled, "At the end of the day, an officer would come down to account for all of the weapons and I informed him what the soldier had said. It wasn't long after that when things really went crazy and there were all kinds of investigators speaking with me that included Secret Service agents."
The suspect was apprehended and Winemiller was called to testify as a witness in federal court. As he recalls, the soldier was never convicted but was discharged from the U.S. Army.
"I was congratulated for my role in preventing a potential threat on the life of a president and was told I was going to be awarded an Army Commendation Medal," he said. "I never received the medal - I guess everyone just kind of forgot about it and I didn't ask any questions."
When the end of his enlistment approached, the soldier made the decision to reenlist when learning his military career field was eligible for a $12,000 re-enlistment bonus. Signing a six-year contract, he spent the next 3 years as a missile maintenance specialist in Italy.
"Our base was near Vicenza and we would travel on short duty assignments to missile bases throughout northern Italy to conduct maintenance of missiles on site," he said. "The Italian military was actually in charge of the security for each of the sites although we maintained the missiles."
During his overseas tour, Winemiller explained, one of the most memorable experiences was the opportunity to visit several European countries in his time off-duty. Toward the end of his enlistment contract, he was reassigned to Red Stone Arsenal, where he received his discharge from the U.S. Army in 1981.
After returning to Mid-Missouri, he worked briefly at the former Missouri State Penitentiary before being hired by a mechanical contractor that helped build several nuclear power plants. Eventually, the veteran decided to utilize his GI Bill benefits and graduated from the HVAC program at Linn State Technical College (now State Technical College of Missouri) in 1990.
He was later employed as an industrial and commercial refrigeration specialist for Dillons Food Stores, installing and maintaining refrigeration equipment for several supermarkets throughout Mid-Missouri before retiring in 2016.
The father of three children, Winemiller maintains that although his military experience was "pretty normal," the U.S. Army provided him with several opportunities he otherwise would have never experienced.
"When I was stationed in Italy, there was always something to do when you were off," he said. "I got to see Austria, Germany and Switzerland which is something that never would have happened had I not been in the Army.
"I enjoyed my military service but I guess the time when I was recognized for helping protect the president from an assassination attempt became my 15 minutes of fame," he chuckled. "But all in all, it was a great time and I made a lot of wonderful memories."
Jeremy P. Amick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.