Biography: In Memory of
John Gaylord Bokor
1945 - 2016
Date of Birth: Tuesday, June 9th, 1945
Date of Death: Thursday, December 8th, 2016
In Remembrance
of John Gaylord Bokor, 981st MP Co. (1970-1971)
(As recalled by VDHA Member Dennis Thomas, former NCO with the 981st MP Co. 1970-1971)
Born June
9, 1945 – Died December 8, 2016
I first met John in Lackland where we did AIT Sentry Dog
training. He graduated MP school in Fort Gordon a cycle earlier than me and
went back to New Jersey to bring his wife and sister-in-law with him to San
Antonio. He had the Jersey accent
(although not over the top) and a dry sense of humor. We became fast friends
and many evenings and weekends I spent with them. What I remember most about
John was his unusual way of walking, landing first on the toe, rather than his heel,
and rolling forward from there. I had never seen it before, nor have I seen it
since. It still makes me grin. He also had that Nordic look of rugged features
and a shock of dark blond hair. His dog was King, a nasty shepherd who could
not be trusted, even by John. (Photo Below)I recall during off leash attack training
one of the marines, Werkheiser, was in full burlap suit and upon release took
off like a bullet and hit the guy so hard he was knocked to the ground and
ended up with a dozen stitches in his face from dog bite. The marine’s first
battle scars…LOL.
In early April we flew with the dogs in the hold of a C-141
from Kelly AFB to Cam Ranh Bay for duty.
After a few months, the family was in dire straits in San Antonio and
John applied for a compassionate transfer which was granted, and he finished
his tour at Fort Sam Houston. Awhile after my ETS I got married to the
sister-in-law…LOL again! A couple of years after that John and wife got
divorced (they never had children) and I inherited their dog, a Malamute. John joined the Peace Corps and served in
Indonesia. (Photo at Left) He told an interesting story of one moonlit night
he felt the urge to go for a walk, and the moonlight on his blond hair as he
walked down the street spooked the villagers and the next morning it was
deserted and took a few days to get everyone to understand that it was not a
ghost. He enjoyed being out in the less
inhabited areas and wilderness. After returning once again to the U.S., he got a job with the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Department where he worked until retirement.
Since the time I first met him, he smoked like a chimney, and that is what did him in, as he contracted cancer and died at his home in Nampa, Idaho.
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