Honoring our veterans: John and Kate Broadhurst, U.S. Army

Because of distance, the probability of the paths of John and Kate Broadhurst ever crossing was slim and none were it not for the U.S. Army.

Kate was born July 29, 1955, on a farm near Highland. She was the second eldest of the six children of Lawrence and Ramona Haislar. As a young girl, she drove a tractor and worked on the family farm. With both parents working two jobs, Kate said she and her siblings had to learn how to cook if they wanted to eat.

When Kate was 15, the Broadhursts moved to town and she graduated in 1971. Though she had a loving family, her life was not pampered in any way. After high school, she worked at the Family Inn and Brass Lantern Restaurants. On Sept. 1, 1976, she joined the USA with a delayed entry date of Sept. 15, 1977.

Approximately five years before Kate’s birth and nearly 800 miles away, John Broadhurst was adopted by John and Betty Broadhurst, who were living in Dalhart, Texas. John was born June 3, 1950.

In 1952, the family relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, and lived on the edge of the desert for the next eight years.

John credits his parents with having “taught me everything.” For his fifth birthday, he received a BB gun along with training and supervision. As he grew older, his dad emphasized the importance of not wasting ammunition.

“My dad told me to ‘always eat whatever you shoot.’ I hunted quail, doves, jackrabbits and rattlesnakes,” he said. “Having been given five shells for my J.C. Higgins single shot 4/10 shotgun, I one day shot two small birds. My dad’s words of admonition became a reality that day when all I came home with was two tweety birds. While my parents feasted on a roast, I had to make a meal out of two thumb-sized pieces of meat.”

John left school in 1968 and joined the Army, 11 Bravo Infantry.

Kate first went to Fort McClellan, Alabama, as a member of the Women’s Army Corp. and later spent eight weeks at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for advanced training with 51 Charlie Company and learned electrical, masonry and sheet metal skills. Kate was one of three women to have ever worked on a pipeline unit. She was later transferred to Granite City as a recruiter for two months and was promoted to E3/Private First Class.

Then back at Fort Leonard Wood, she became the first female crane operator and drove a truck. One afternoon while driving to lunch, she tried to apply the brakes while approaching a stop sign; it required her down-shifting in order to stop. Because of that experience, she decided to re-enlist and take college courses to become an auto mechanic.

Kate’s next deployment was to Germany where American military equipment was stored should a war occur. Meanwhile, John was in Fort Lewis, Washington, in Advanced Infantry Training and then spent extra months at various locations to become a special forces soldier and attended Special Warfare School.

After four weeks in the Sunshine School for Airborne, John was assigned to 7 Special Forces B Team Heavy Combat Reconnaissance. He saw more than his fair share of action. He was promoted to E4 Acting Jack. Later, after a 30-day leave to go home, John was assigned to a hatchet force in the 5th Special Forces 2nd Battalion and was moved to Thailand and participated in the United States Army Pacific Area Command.

The purpose of the USARPAC was to provide forces, command assigned forces, and enable full spectrum operations to deter aggression, advance regional security and cooperation, respond to crisis and to fight to win. Smack dab in the middle of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, John and his comrades were the ones responsible for placing sensors in the road to warn of advancing enemies.

John in Cambodia, Kate in Germany

John spent 34 months in Cambodia and vividly recalls when he and three others, including his buddy Carl Brooks, were overrun by 12 North Vietnamese. John, carrying a grenade launcher, fired twice and shot as many as he could before more teams arrived.

“Eventually we ran like hell to a landing zone, and were extracted from the area,” said John. “That was April 1971 and they flew us back to Honolulu, Hawaii.

“I was later assigned to Bravo 95, guys were needed in the field again, so I was sent to 13 Fox and ultimately ended up in Germany for the next five years.”

While in Germany, Kate was learning how to drive tanks and inspect them to be certain they were operational. Selected to be on the Battalion Inspection Team, she went to four cities in Germany and worked for the Chief Warrant Officer as an E5.

When it came time to re-enlist, Kate signed up for Warrant Officer School. She returned to Fort Dix, New Jersey, as a mechanics instructor and Kate references her three months in WOS as “pure hell.” There were 36 men and three women in her class; only 17 made it to graduation and Kate was one of them. Her new assignment: Fort Riley, Kansas.

Marriage, retiremement and parenthood for the Broadhursts

Her friend, Dale Markle from Highland, and his wife, Helga, were stationed there too. Kate was a new Warrant Officer and Dale had a new friend, John Broadhurst. The Markles became matchmakers and introduced John and Kate. They had their first date Sept. 4, 1986.

In May 1987, John was headed to Germany and he had proposed to Kate three times to no avail. Finally, after a fourth attempt, she accepted and Kate said it took John a full 10 minutes to realize she had said “yes.” They were married by a Justice of the Peace on July 27, 1987. They were able to have a formal wedding Dec. 12, 1987.

John retired in December 1989 and Kate was called to serve in Desert Storm in January 1990. Home in May after a knee injury, Kate was sent to Ft. Knox, Kentucky. During the interim, John worked for the Corps of Engineers on a geological drill crew.

On Jan. 29, 1992, a baby boy was born and adopted by John and Kate. They took him home when he was 3 days old and named him Jacob. While Kate continued her military duties, John stayed home with Jacob and John’s mother came to live with them in Highland. Kate retired in February 1997 as a WO3.

Broadhursts always seeking to help veterans

The Broadhursts served in the military 42 years combined. For many years they were very active in Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Veteran’s Assistance Commission of Madison County. John was VFW Commander from 2000 through 2002, and was 12th VFW District Commander. Kate has a passion for helping veterans and serves as a go-between in assisting veterans and counselors to connect.

For those veterans needing help to get to the necessary person or persons of contact, Kate encourages them to call 618-531-6836 or 618-296-4750.