Service rewarded

With Veterans Day 2021 upon us, U.S. Army veteran Larry Maciejewski of Custer finds himself grateful for the opportunity to have served his country and also for the opportunities his 30-year military career opened up for him.
Born in Spearfish and raised in Custer, as a high school senior in 1986 Maciejewski was frustrated with small town life.
“I wanted to get out of this small town of Custer,” said Maciejewski.
“I was too tall for this tiny town,” he laughed.
Maciejewski made his decision to join the army at the age of 17 at the beginning of his senior year and took advantage of the Army’s Delayed Enlistment Program.
“College didn’t look like it was an option for me and this was the fastest train leaving so I jumped on board,” said Maciejewski. “That was the main reason I joined.”
Following his high school graduation in the spring of 1987, Maciejewski reported for basic training in June at Fort Dix, N.J. Following basic he went to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland for his Advanced Individual Training in fuel and electrical systems repair.
Throughout his military career, Maciejewski says he worked on every kind of army vehicle except for aircraft and boats.
In January 1988 he left Maryland for Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was stationed until April of the next year when he was sent to a U.S. base in Baumholder, Germany. That would be the first of two stations in Germany. After a three-year stint back at Ft. Hood he was sent back to Baumholder in 1994.  
From there he was deployed on a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Croatia in 1996. Then at the beginning of 1997 it was back to the States and Fort Stewart, Ga.
During his service in Georgia he was deployed once to Iraq for Operation Shock and Awe and to Egypt twice.
November of 2004 found Maciejewski heading the opposite direction on the globe, this time for a one-year stint at a remote base called Camp Eagle in South Korea, about 40 miles east of Seoul.
A year later Maciejewski headed back to where he had begun his Ordnance Corps career, Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
While there he would train others to do what he had done, which he considers the greatest contribution of his military service.
“The soldiers I trained, who continued on after me, are my biggest contribution to the military,” said Maciejewski.  
Besides giving him a chance to see more of the world beyond the city limits of Custer, Maciejewski said the U.S. Army gave him the equivalent of a college education as well as a wealth of practical experience.
“When you’re out (of the military) you become a sought-after commodity,” he said. “After going to college for four years, when you enter the workforce you’re still an unknown quantity, but if you go to the military, whether you go to college or not, people know you have experience, especially people who were in the military who are hiring. Since I retired I have never had a problem finding a job.”
After being so anxious to leave this tiny town for which he was too tall, Maciejewski returned to Custer following his retirement as a staff sergeant in June 2007. And as his earlier comments indicate, it didn’t take him long to find a new career in a well-paying industry.
In May 2011 he went to work for Freeman’s Electrical Service in its Custer shop. Starting as an apprentice, he got his training over the next four years and now is a journeyman electrician. He’s currently working on a new public works garage and maintenance facility in Alliance, Neb., where he is the electrical foreman.  
In addition to his electrician training he also has four years of college education through the military but has a couple of classes to finish before getting his degree.  
Since returning home Maciejewski has also continued to contribute his community and served two terms on the Custer City Council, which ended in 2018.
While acknowledging he didn’t have to give up life or limb as so many veterans have, Maciejewski is proud of his service.
“I was a noncommissioned officer so I tried to train the next generation of soldiers to continue on, keep the line and keep the Army going,” he said.