From farm to ocean minesweeper

DWIGHT, Ill. — Lee Bunting was “just a farm boy who had never been to California,” via airplane to boot, when he arrived by himself to report to the Long Beach Naval Station in 1966.

“It was April 23 and the first time I ever flew in an airplane to California. It landed in Los Angeles. Of course, I don’t know where I’m at. I was in uniform and someone asked where I was heading,” Bunting said.

“I said, Long Beach, and they said, sit right there. A bus will pick you up and take you to the bus station on Long Beach. The bus dropped me off at a bus stop on Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. A cab came by and the driver asked where I was going. I said the base, Pier 9, and the taxi driver said he knew exactly where it’s at.

The “farm boy,” less than two years after graduating from Dwight Township High School, was assigned to the USS Firm (MSO 444), a wooden ocean minesweeper after graduating from Naval Station Great Lakes boot camp near North Chicago, Illinois.

“I was in the engine department, so we were always down below. I spent three years and three months on the MSO 444,” he said.

“The Firm didn’t move too fast. It only average 8, 9 knots. It took about a month to get to the Philippines and another two, three weeks to get to Vietnam. There were a lot of stops along the way.

“Our main base when we were over there was in the Philippines. That’s where we’d go back and do repairs.”

Draft

The Vietnam War was ramping up and the draft was underway when Bunting graduated from high school.

“I was kind of keeping an eye on the draft board and I think it was in the summer of 1965 that I knew I was going to be drafted. Dad was in the Navy during World War II, so he said I’d better go to the Navy,” Bunting said.

“The Navy was a four-year term while the Army was just two years, but I enlisted in the Navy. I think I signed all the papers in September of 1965. Of course, I was farming and I had crop to harvest.

“The Navy was looking for people to join, so they had a three-year commitment and then something like a four-month deferment. I signed up in September and I didn’t report to Great Lakes boot camp until January 25, 1966. I had four months to get the crop in and everything.

“The three-year enlistment term was no guarantee of any school (through the GI Bill). If I did the four years, I’d have that opportunity, but I was going to come home and farm anyway.”

While he was in the service, his parents, Jim and Betty, and brothers, Don and Art, handled the farming.

“I got some leave in July of 1966 because we were going overseas to Vietnam in September. I had a week or so at home, then went back to California and then overseas,” he noted.

“I got home from that tour in July 1967. Marie and I got married on Aug. 26, 1967. We drove back to California and found an apartment. I went back overseas for another tour in February 1968.

“While I was overseas on that tour, I got a letter from Marie saying that she was expecting. Our daughter was born in October 1968. I got home in December of 1968. They let me off the ship, I maybe got off the ship before the captain did that time, and they said, ‘get to the airport and get home, Bunting.’

“Marie, I and our daughter, Laurie, flew back to California in December 1968. I was discharged in April of 1969 and we came home and have been here ever since.”

Bunting Farms

His sons represent the fifth generation of the Buntings farming in Livingston County where they grow corn, soybeans and wheat, while raising cows, a half-dozen sheep, and Marie has some chickens.

“We had a good crop. It was awful dry in August and September. That hurt the corn and soybeans. We have a lot of rolling Cayuga Ridge ground and it shortens up the corn on the hills when it gets so dry. Overall, we’re doing pretty good bushel-wise. The prices aren’t good, so we have to have bushels to make it go this year,” he said.

Conservation Advocate

Any story about Lee Bunting would be remiss without mention of his dedication to the Livingston County Soil and Water Conservation District’s efforts that go back 46 years.

He’s chairman of the SWCD board and a longtime member of the Association of Illinois SWCD board.

He became involved in the local SWCD when he got a call from a member of the nominating committee asking if he would be interested.

“They said it’s only one meeting, two hours a month. I said I’d try it. That was in 1978. I was farming and the kids were young. I’ve been on it ever since,” he said.

“It’s sometimes a little more than two hours a month, but it’s been fun. It’s a voluntary organization. I’ve met a lot of good people. I’ve made some really good friends and get to talk to people throughout the state and the nation.

“I really enjoy it. We have a very active district, a good education program that promotes cover crops, no-till and nutrient-loss issues. We have a good board and good employees.”

He was disappointed in the Illinois General Assembly’s move last spring to cut $4 million in funding for SWCD.

“The Illinois Legislature didn’t treat us very well. They cut our funding almost in half. It seems like we have a lot of support for the upcoming veto session. Sen. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) introduced legislation to get the $4 million restored at the veto session.

“We have broad support of organizations from Farm Bureau, Illinois Corn, Illinois Soybean Association, and some of the nongovernmental groups like American Farmland Trust and other organizations.”

The Bunting family utilizes minimum and no-till on their farmland.

“We’ve been 100% no-till soybeans for several years. We do minimum-till corn and some no-till corn. We have wheat and then the next year would be corn, so we like to no-till the corn right into the wheat so we don’t disturb the wheat ground,” he said.

“We started harvesting the no-till corn Oct. 22 and it’s good. It’s on the rolling Cayuga Ridge ground and we’ve had good luck with it. We work the soybean stubble one time in the spring and then plant corn and we’ve had good luck with that, too.”