James Arruda
Connecticut
James Arruda or "Jimmy" was the sixth child of Anibel and Mary Santos Arruda's seven children. He has the shortest story because he never completed his Military Training. Two months into basic training it was found out that he had arthritis in his wrist and he was honorably discharged from Fort Dix.
BASIC TRAINING FORT DIX, NJ
Jimmy was drafted in February 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War. Had he completed his training it is almost a certainty he would have been sent to Vietnam. He attended basic training at Fort Dix New Jersey. Fort Dix was named after Maj. Gen. John Adams Dix. Who, at age 14, served in the War of 1812, and later in the Civil War. He was a U.S. senator, Treasury secretary, ambassador to France, and The Governor of New York. The base was designated a permanent Army installation just prior to World War II, when it became the Fort Dix infantry basic training center. An estimated 9 million recruits have undergone training at Fort Dix. During the Second World War alone, there were approximately 3 to 5 million personnel trained there.
Uncle Jimmy returned to civilian life after his discharge. He worked from Job to Job and finally took employment from the Owings Corning Fiberglass company which sent him to Saudi Arabia. Jimmy was severely injured in an Automobile accident while on vacation in France. After he recuperated, he remained in the Bethel-Danbury area. He married and had a daughter Amy. He lived several years in New Milford, CT. One of my fondest memories of Uncle Jimmy was the time he and my father drove all the way out to New Mexico in 1981 to pick me up and take me to New Milford, Connecticut. It was a great experience to drive cross country with him and my father. He died in November 1992, at the age of 42.
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