Page created by: Andrea Jenkins

Bruce A. Jenkins was born on April 22, 1948 in Ashfield, MA. He served his country during the Vietnam War as a Green Beret within the 46th Airborne Division, from 1965-1968. Bruce was a paratrooper and made over 32 jumps while in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, where he received the Vietnam Service medal and was inducted into the Thailand Special Forces. He served his country during a time when our country was divided by this war. He was spit at and called "Baby Killer”, but he never regretted serving. There was a lot he could not and did not want to talk about, but he made sure to tell his family about the good and beautiful things that he saw overseas. He had a pet gibbon monkey that would follow him around the base, and he would feed him and take care of him. Bruce hated snakes and would tell stories on how they would “rain” from the trees and how he would try and avoid them. He said Thailand was the most beautiful place he has been too, and he had the photos to prove it. He would tell us about when his parachute got stuck in a tree or the rice patties, just to make us laugh. He always enjoyed making his family laugh. There was a lot that he did not want to talk about. He lost many friends from his hometown and unit to the war. A few precious names are written on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. He was amazed when he saw the wall in person for the first time, thanks to the Patriot flight. Bruce was a family man. He loved his family and pets so much. Everything he did was for his family. He was intelligent, funny, and caring. He loved History, Baseball, classic cars and watching funny tv shows. He was a steam engineer and worked at the Berkshire Medical Center Campus in Pittsfield, MA for 20 years. On July 27, 1991, he married his love, Nancy Warner. They raised twin daughters, Andrea, and Kelsey. He suffered in mind and body from his service. Being a paratrooper, he would jump through the brush that was just sprayed with deadly chemical, Agent Orange. He was "Diagnosed" with Malaria three times while overseas, but this malaria was something more dangerous. He suffered two bouts of cancer and was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease at a very young age. He fought this nasty Disease for over 20 years, but it eventually won. He will be missed by all his loved ones.