By GAIL JARDINE - editorial@kcchronicle.com

It wasn’t until Wayne Stevens served in Vietnam that he felt the urge to provide medical treatment to those in need.

Life began in Montgomery, where Stevens spent many hours with Leo Edwards at the city garage. Stevens recalled, “He took me riding on the weed chopper, and he called me Davy because I was infatuated with Davy Crockett. I had the coonskin cap and all.”

The vacant lot next to his home was the site of many baseball, basketball, and football games. “We were out there all hours of the night,” he said.

Stevens and his parents lived upstairs, and his grandparents lived downstairs.

Both of his parents were employed, and Stevens’ grandmother was very important in his life.

“She was really my best friend,” he said. “She was always there for me. She had a dog we loved, Ivory. I helped her pick grapes in her backyard.”

While at West Aurora High School, music was big in Stevens’ life – and it still is.

“Back then, there were a lot of places for young kids to go for music,” he said. “Friday night, there were dances at Aurora YMCA. Saturday nights, we went to the Dungeon run by the Fox Valley Park District. Or we went to the Crimson Cougar. We heard groups like the Buckinghams, the Crying Shames, and Baby Huey and the Babysitters.”

Jimmy Hendrix was coming into his own, and Stevens wanted to play the guitar, but his mother insisted he play the accordion.

“As a kid, it was pretty hard to be Myron Florin,” he said. “I still have the accordion in my attic.”

Music was his solace when his grandparents died, and then his father died when Stevens was just 15.

Not college bound, Stevens knew he was ripe for the draft. “A lot of jobs weren’t available because they wouldn’t take you when you were 18,” he said.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps, and two weeks after graduation headed to San Diego for boot camp. After advanced infantry training he was sent to Vietnam for 13 months.

Wayne was assigned to helicopter support. “When we had wounded, they were transferred to me, and I would call for a helicopter and set up a landing zone. I’d take care of the wounded while waiting for the helicopter to come in, and then load them and send them on their way.”

Like all servicemen, he liked to receive letters, and began a correspondence with Mary Beth Leick who had seen his name in the local paper. She asked if there was anything he would like her to send him. Jokingly, he replied, “I like sardines.” Before long he received a 35-pound package of the smelly little fish.

When he returned home, he felt he must meet someone who would send him such a gift. They were married two years later.

Stevens enrolled in Waubonsee Community College to get a degree in business administration. One day at lunch, a nurse asked what kind of duty he’d had in Vietnam. After hearing he had worked with wounded, she told him about an ambulance-based EMT program the hospital was initiating.

Stevens attended a class to see if that might be his niche. He trained in all departments of the hospital – ER, OB, on the floor with patients, physical therapy, and more.

He and a nurse staffed the ER at night. When an emergency call came in, Wayne took the ambulance and answered the call. His very first one was a shooting at a factory. “I guess I was pretty naïve,” he said. “I didn’t expect to see that sort of thing.”

He delivered babies and tended critical patients.

”People have asked me what is the worst call I’ve ever been on. I don’t really rate them. Everyone has special needs, and I just try to provide for the person’s needs, both medical and emotional.”

After six years at Delnor, Stevens joined the Elburn Countryside Fire Protection District when its ambulance and fire departments merged, providing emergency services. He is now assistant chief of the department and is involved with matters of personnel, policies and procedures for the department of 62 people.

Stevens and Mary Beth will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary in 2007. They have three children. “My wife is my best friend,” said Stevens. “She’s the most important person in my life. We like going out together, but we also just sit and play cards and talk.”

Two years ago, Stevens “asked Mary Beth if I could get a motorcycle.” An early riser, he often goes riding before Mary Beth gets up. Stevens has begun a love affair with the sky, especially the sunrise.

He belongs to Rolling Thunder, a group dedicated to spreading the word about POWs and MIAs. He is also a member of the VFW in Batavia, and the American Legion.

As a member of the Patriot Guard, he joins others who go to the funerals of servicemen and women to provide families with a show of respect for their service. Families of World War II and Vietnam veterans often request their presence, as well as current casualties.

Music is still an important part of his life. He often attends performances at a St. Charles blues club, and he accompanied his son to a Grateful Dead concert in Pine Valley.

The Stevens frequently go camping, and Wayne delights in taking his grandson, five-year-old Christian. “That’s my boy!” Stevens said.

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2007/01/14/news/local/doc45a9df815059a529032572.txt