Woodstock one month, the start of a 30-year career in the Navy the next.

That was the infamous summer of ’69 for retired Capt. Joe Gautille while at the University of Buffalo. He even felt the sting of tear gas from Buffalo police during an antiwar rally on the campus.

But his feelings on the Vietnam War could not stymie his dream.

“I knew I wanted to fly off of aircraft carriers, and the Navy was the only one with those toys,” said Gautille, now a Coppell resident. “Wanting to fly in the Navy was more of a pull than my feelings on the war.”

In September 1969, weeks after attending the now-infamous music festival, Gautille signed up for the Navy and went into training in June 1971. He received his wings a year later and was assigned to fly helicopters.

But the end of the war also signaled the cancellation of Gautille’s orders.

“I got U-turned out of Vietnam,” Gautille said, chuckling. “And I was nervous about going. The life expectancy of helicopter pilots in Vietnam was not good.”

Gautille was instead sent to a Navy base in Bermuda for two years – “I had to look up where it was,” Gautille said – before being transferred to San Diego. But instead of staying in San Diego, Gautille spent the next four years touring the Far East.

“Korea, Japan, Okajima, Pango Pango,” Gautille said, leaning back in his chair in a room adorned with memorabilia. “Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong…”

But after six years on active duty, Gautille decided that the Navy Reserve was the best move. The next 2-1/2 decades were a whirlwind — San Diego, Hawaii, Key West, back to the South Pacific — that included marrying his wife of 24 years, Kathie, and having three children.

Gautille and his family eventually landed in Dallas and, after a 30-year career in the Navy, retired in 2001 as a “four-striper,” captain. An outgoing man quick with a grin, Gautille even rode in style to his retirement party.

“I have a 1970 Cougar out in the garage,” Gautille said in his Coppell home. “And I drove the same car to my retirement that I bought before I went into the Navy.”

Gautille is now a pilot for Southwest Airlines, entering his 15^th year with the company, but has found a new role in his military life. Gautille and his wife are now Blue and Gold officers, volunteering to counsel prospective candidates to the U.S. Naval Academy in the lengthy and highly selective admissions process.

Gautille, who proudly boasts 10 NavalAcademy appointments, said that his work is gratifying.

“When I was growing up in western New York, my guidance counselor didn’t know anything about the NavalAcademy,” Gautille said. “It’s a way to give back, and a way to help out Coppell kids who think they have what it takes to go to the Academy.”

Through Gautille’s 30 years in the Navy, he gained an appreciation for the sacrifice that the servicemen and women, and their families, make. And for Veteran’s Day, the captain urged people to honor them.

“I think that a lot of people don’t realize what it takes to enjoy our freedoms,” Gautille said. “My hat is still off to all of those people.”