Gene Kleese was a standout helicopter gunship pilot who served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War. He was so highly regarded that later he was assigned to instruct helicopter pilot trainees in combat tactics and even developed training manuals for them.
He also had two postings at Fort McPherson, including the final one of his 20-year U.S. Army career. When he left the service at age 42, he chose to stay in metro Atlanta.
He made the most of his post-military life here.
Along with his wife of 55 years, Barbara, he owned and operated sporting goods stores in College Park, Peachtree City and Fayetteville and specialized in outfitting youth baseball teams.
Later, after selling his businesses to a partner, he spent a decade as a successful insurance agent, then as a stockbroker.
He played golf at so many local public courses that he decided to write a book titled “Gene’s Guide to Golf,” describing them in detail and rating them. The book did well enough that he made it a full-time occupation for several years. He revised the original and even published guides to public courses that he scrutinized in North and South Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
Later, he taught courses in business management and economics at Clayton State University. He also gave talks to Newnan High School pupils about his experiences in Vietnam as part of their study of the war.
Gene David Kleese, 76, died of cancer Wednesday at his Newnan home. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Sharpsburg home of his daughter, Suzanne Stamps. His body was donated to the Emory University School of Medicine.
Kleese graduated from the University of Arkansas, earning a commission as a second lieutenant after completing the university’s Army ROTC program. He trained at a helicopter school at Fort Walters in Texas.
In Vietnam, Kleese often would go out on missions day after day to provide air support to U.S. and South Vietnamese infantry units, according to his son, Maj. Bryan Kleese (retired) of Sierra Vista, Ariz.
The senior Kleese was one of the 1st Cavalry's Blue Max team members who developed a reputation for skill and daring reminiscent of World War I German fighter pilots who won imperial Germany's Blue Max medal for gallantry.
During the latter part of Kleese’s second tour, he often flew Gen. William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. military operations in Vietnam, to U.S. outposts around the country, his son said. Kleese was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam and a Legion of Merit medal for the combat tactics training he did.
Among his other assignments, he helped Vietnamese to assimilate at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas after they fled the Communist takeover in 1975 and assisted in the transfer of the Southeast NATO headquarters in Izmir, Turkey, from U.S. to Turkish control.
Col. Jerry Lemoine (retired) of Marietta, who served with Kleese in the late 1970s when they were inspectors general and rated Army installations around the world, said Kleese was an exceptional officer — “the finest I’ve ever served with.”
He said Kleese was a man of high integrity, very articulate, and set an example for other officers. “The two of us logged about 3 million miles together,” he added, “and Gene was a joy to be with.”
Also surviving are two other daughters, Betsy Marvin of Charleston, Ill., and Sara Kleese of Dacula; a sister, Joyce Lynch of Lawrenceville; and 10 grandchildren.
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