Sgt. Maj. Michael Jarnevic Still On Duty Since Vietnam

Is this Green Beret the last Vietnam vet on active duty? 
Marine Corps Times
By James K. Sanborn, Staff writer
June 28, 2015

Sgt. Maj. Michael Jarnevic, seen here in 1995, will retire from the Army on July 8. He is believed to be the last Vietnam War veteran serving on active duty.
(Photo: Courtesy Michael Jarnevic)

In the 1970s, he was among the last Marines sent to Vietnam.

In the '80s, as an Army Green Beret, he deployed into Honduras during the Contra Wars.

In 1991, he was gassed in Iraq.

And after 9/11, he fought terrorists in Afghanistan.

He's an environmental conservationist and holds a master's degree in creative writing.

He is not the Most Interesting Man in the World.

But with 42 years in uniform, 59-year-old Michael Jarnevic is likely the saltiest sergeant major serving in the U.S. military. And when he retires July 8, he'll likely be the last person in uniform whose service record includes a tour during the Vietnam War.

"I don't know how you could actually prove it," Jarnevic told Marine Corps Times, "but the onus would be to disprove it."

He knows of a few warrant officers serving until recently who also had Vietnam deployments. And the last Vietnam War draftee, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ralph E. Rigby, retired in November.

Jarnevic is now on terminal leave, having fulfilled a 16-month assignment as the senior enlisted adviser for the U.S. Joint Reserve Intelligence Support Element, part of U.S. Special Operations Command, at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. There, he was involved in one last war effort — coordinating analyst work against the Islamic State group.
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