At 18, Bob Curtis was a helicopter pilot transporting troops to a combat zone in 1967. His call of duty was in a southeast Asian country called Vietnam. As a recent Bucksport High School graduate, Curtis wanted to serve his country. A year or two earlier, Vietnam was another place on the map to kids  like Curtis, but by 1966, the war was on the minds of Americans, especially young draft-eligible males. Curtis wasn’t drafted, he enlisted. He wanted to do his part and possibly save lives. “I wanted to serve my country, and I figured I would be drafted anyway, so I enlisted,” he said. 

Born in Rumford, he grew up mostly in Jay and Dixfield. When he was 17, his family moved to Hancock County. He graduated the next year. After graduation, Curtis was about to embark on a journey 8,384 miles away. Curtis had never flown in an airplane or known what a helicopter looked like, but he went to flight school in Fort Polk, Louisiana. He spent 1967 and 1968 in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot.

“I loved it. I thought it might be safer than on land. It wasn’t. We lost 28% of helicopter pilots. My class started with 300, and over the years 120 have died. Not all in Vietnam, others died from Agent Orange, and other cancers,” he said.

As a pilot, he flew troops into combat and delivered supplies for the military operation. He occasionally transported wounded soldiers. Curtis became a warrant officer which he called the best rank in the military. In 1971-72, he continued his mission as a pilot. While in Vietnam, veterans like Curtis became aware how the war divided the country. He knew returning troops were not greeted with a hero’s welcome. “That’s part of the reason I stayed in the military for 22 years. We all knew how returning troops were treated. So I stayed in, and returned from Vietnam to Hunter Army Base in Savannah, Georgia,” he said.

In 1989, after 22 years, three months and two days, Curtis retired from the military. His family wanted to move back to Maine so Curtis found work as a pilot for Fiber Materials in Biddeford. The family moved to Cape Elizabeth. As a veteran, Curtis never attended a Memorial Day parade until 2018. The pain of combat had haunted him for years. He accepted American Legion Post No. 36 Cmdr. Dave Patch’s invitation to march with local Boothbay region veterans. “For 31 years, I never participated in any type of veterans’ event. The only reason I did that one was because I was asked,” he said. 

As a combat  pilot, he once flew 23 straight hours and, as for being scared, Curtis said there was no time. “The military does a great job in teaching how to focus. The unfortunate part is they don’t teach you how to unfocus. It’s a conflict of battling memories. It hurts, and there is still a lot of inner pain,” he said.

But instead of dredging up painful memories, the 2018 Memorial Day parade helped him heal. Since leaving the military, Curtis has received counseling from the Veterans Administration for his PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). For Curtis, the sessions are an important part of healing veterans’ emotional wounds. He believes the best  therapy is performed by an experienced combat veteran. “I went to a counseling session every six weeks until it shut down due to COVID-19,” he said. “It’s really hard to talk about. You create a military language with another veteran which we understand, and someone who never served won’t,” he said. 

Curtis is a man of faith. He is a deacon in the Catholic Church. He also serves as a prison missionary. He has used his faith to battle PTSD and physical ailments. He has battled double myeloma for 13 years, diabetes and undergone gastro-bypass surgery. At first, a surgeon didn’t want to perform the bypass surgery. Curtis recalled the surgeon reviewing his charts and believing surgery was too risky. “He told me by all rights I should be dead due to the double myeloma. I told him I would put my faith in God. It worked out. I lost 30 pounds after surgery, and now I’m off my diabetes and blood pressure medicines and C-Pap machine,” he said. 

This Memorial Day, Curtis took another step in his emotional healing and spoke during the Boothbay Harbor parade. Once again, Curtis was asked to make remarks. His speech discussed how Memorial Day has a double purpose. One is for honoring the war dead and remembering their sacrifices. But for Curtis, the day also has another meaning. “Yes, the day is for honoring those who served and died, but we can’t forget the people left behind. All of those veterans have a family. It’s important to remember them, too. They are our future. The ones who will build our country. So if you see a Gold Star Family Banner hanging in a window, knock on their door, ask if there is anything they need.”

Curtis is now retired and lives with his wife, Phyllis, in Jefferson.