By R. Kurt Osenlund, BucksLocalNews.com

Frank Dufner isn't used to being second-best. Throughout his 62 years, the youthful-looking Holland native has faced a number of challenges head-on, usually coming out on top. So in 2001 when doctors informed him that his health was less than perfect due to his exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam, it was unfamiliar territory, to say the least.

With the help of a handful of medications, he's currently living with diabetes and painful, nerve-degenerative neuropathy, both of which his medical professionals attribute to the potentially deadly chemical he encountered approximately 40 years ago. Like most of the tests he's been handed in the past, Dufner is confronting his latest circumstances with a mind for victory, but they're among the many reasons he considers his service in the Vietnam War to be one of the darkest chapters in his life.

Born in Philadelphia in 1946, Dufner is the oldest of four children born to Francis J. and Regina T. In 1951, he, his parents, brothers Daniel and Michael, and sister Regina, moved to Cornwells Heights where he spent much of his youth. His memories of time spent in the area - which include attending Catholic school at St. Charles Borromeo, grabbing sandwiches with his dad at Tony & Pete's Hoagie Hut, and catching movies at the Andalusia Drive-In - bring a smile to his face.

"In my opinion," he says, "growing up in Cornwells Heights was the greatest thing a boy could wish for. I've always had great memories of living there. It was like the real America."

It was in 1965, after the family had relocated to Northeast Philadelphia and he'd graduated from Father Judge High School, when Dufner learned he'd been drafted to the U.S. Army. Under the caring advisement of his father, whose close friend was a naval recruiter, he opted to enlist in the Navy instead - a switch that wouldn't be permitted today - in an attempt to avoid the dangerous probability of being sent to Vietnam.


"It was sort of my father's way of saving his son's life," Dufner says. "It was his way of keeping me from going to Vietnam...but it didn't work out that way."

In less than a year (after beginning a chain of achievements with a selection to the Second Naval Drill Team at boot camp in Great Lakes, IL and the passing of an eligibility test at officer's candidate school in Newport, RI), Dufner was aboard the "jumbo oiler" the USS Passumpsic in the Southern Pacific - just off the coast of North Vietnam. It was the job of him and his crew - which consisted of his entire company from boot camp - to refuel aircraft carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts for bombing missions. The Passumpsic was massive; re-fashioned to carry so many additional fuel tanks, it could be out at sea for up to 45 days.

"Everybody was involved in refueling the ships," Dufner says, "from the captain to the lowest seaman apprentice. Everyone would be covered in black oil. We were convinced it was the worst job in the U.S. Navy."

Dufner's disdain for the position prompted him to seek out an alternative when the ship made its (temporary) return to the States. Following a 23-week stint in a San Diego electrician school, he tried out for the Navy SEALs, an act that freed him from his commitment to the Passumpsic. He passed the elite group's grueling physical evaluation but, as he did at the officer's candidate school, turned down the opportunity because of its demand of years of additional service. He was left with one option: volunteer for Vietnam.

In 1968, he ended up in Chu Lai, a coastal Navy base 56 miles southeast of Danang. With only limited engine knowledge, he was appointed a swift boat repairman, responsible for fixing anything and everything on the vessels that cruised through rivers behind enemy lines. It was in Chu Lai that Dufner came in contact with Agent Orange, the most potent of the powdered, defoliating dioxins that the U.S. military would use to kill the jungle brush that served as cover for Vietcong soldiers. When he came back to the U.S. to be discharged in 1969, he'd no knowledge of the adverse effects that came with him, and wouldn't for another three decades.

In the interim, Dufner delved into law enforcement. Never one to limit his options, he earned certification to be a Philadelphia police officer and a Pennsylvania state trooper before deciding on a job as a sky marshal with the U.S. Customs Service. What began as a temporary position soon transformed into a lucrative career, and Dufner climbed the ranks from sky marshal to patrol officer to special agent to senior special agent until finally retiring as a supervisory special agent in 1998. (The details of Dufner's work with the federal government warrant their own article but, here, let it be said that, among other things, they involve guns, drugs, high speed chases, and people hanging upside-down.)


"The job at Customs was the greatest job I ever loved," he says. "I never did the same thing twice. Every day was an adventure."

Today, despite his ailments, Dufner is an active man, involved with a host of veterans organizations including "Our 27," a memorial fund in honor of the 27 students from Father Judge High School who lost their lives in Vietnam. He shares his Holland home with Barbara, his wife of nearly 40 years. He's looking forward to his 32-year-old son Jacob's marriage to fiancee Lynn in August. The only time he exhibits a break in spirit is when he stops to reflect on the war, which is still challenging him - physically and emotionally.

"(Vietnam) stands out in my mind every day," he says. "Every day something happens that reminds me of it. The biggest impact that the war had was that it took away (my and my peers')virginity. We were all so young when it happened. A lot of us don't like to talk about it but we lost that part of our lives."