Military Service Should Be Civic Duty of Every American, Veteran Says

This is the second story in our Memorial Day series honoring Lemont veterans.

Conny Dill became a Navy Seabee because his father, a career Army man, didn’t want him to enlist in the Army or the Marines. Dill took a cue from an uncle who was a Seabee in World War II and Korea.

Seabees, or Cee Bees (short for construction battalion), build bridges, huts and and any other structures that are needed to support ground troops.

“I wanted to go into the Marine Corps and my dad wouldn’t let me," Dill said of his decision. "He said, 'The Marines make you crazy and the Army makes you a drunk. Join the Navy and see the world.'” 

Dill’s mother died when he was 6, and his dad raised him, his sister and two brothers. His father spent 30 years in the military, assigned to the 5th Army in Chicago.

Dill enlisted at age 17, but couldn't yet enter combat. So, he signed a  contract stipulating he would be trained as a Seabee.

“I didn’t want float around on a boat," he said. "I wanted to do something.”

Dill trained in San Diego and went to Vietnam at age 18.

“Everyone was young," he said. "You know the saying, ‘Old enough to die, but not old enough to vote.’"

Dill spent time in Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay form 1971 to 1972.

With the Seabees, “I was in the background," he said. "I wasn’t a grunt, but I have
all the admiration in the world for the guys who served in-country. I wasn’t going into the jungle and being shot at. Those are your real heroes.”

Dill was discharged after three years and by the time he came home, the anti-war protests had subsided as the Vietnam conflict neared an end.

Taking the advice of a relative, Dill “started to take every test that came up: police, post office.” He worked for the Kane County Sheriff’s Department until landing a job with the Chicago Fire Department. Dill was a firefighter for 32 years.

“That was a great job," he said. "I loved it. I believe that the military, police department, fire department are a calling from God because not everyone can do it.”

Dill lives in Downers Grove, but hangs out at the .

“This is a beautiful post ... great guys, a great commander and a great board that help veterans today," he said.

His Vietnam experience was valuable, Dill said.

“I’m a strong believer that after graduation from high school, everyone should go to the military for two years, like in Israel," he said. "No arguing about this or that, or trying to play the system to get out of it.

“Two years in the military should be the obligation of every citizen in this country to give back what this country has given to you.”