Elmer DeForest
“A Texas Man”

“In Texas, there is a certain honor of being a Texan that is doing something the best that you can.” Matthew McConaughey

Elmer DeForest was born in Victoria, Texas and raised in Seadrift, Texas. He has a colorful family history that he’s proud of.

His paternal great grandfather John Henderson came to Texas in the early 1830’s when Texas was still part of Mexico. He fought in the Texas War for Independence with Mexico and later became a Texas Ranger in the Republic of Texas.

In the 1890’s Elmer’s family came into the Seadrift area. Some of his family’s occupations were carpenters, boat builders, and fishermen. Elmer summed up his own upbringing with “I was raised in Seadrift and grew up on the water.”

Getting his draft notice in July 1968 changed everything in Elmer’s life. In his own words Elmer recounts what happened next, “The next day (after getting his draft notice) I drove to Victoria to the recruiting offices. I went to the Navy recruiting office, but the door was locked. So, I walked to the Air Force recruiting office and signed up. The rest is history.”

Elmer served in Viet Nam, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Alaska with numerous short-term trips to Europe, England, and the Middle East. He was trained in avionics, and electronic, nuclear, and biological warfare.

A notable experience that Elmer had in the military was being involved in Operation Eagle Claw. The operation was an attempt to rescue hostages that were being held in the U.S. Embassy in Iran. Eight American servicemen were killed in the rescue attempt.

A down-side to Elmer’s military experience was the toll on his health because of his exposure to agent orange, a defoliant that was used in warfare in Viet Nam. He almost lost his life to cancer.
After getting out of the Air Force Elmer worked for General Telephone in Port Lavaca. He then worked for Dupont and retired in 2002. In 2003 Elmer began doing consulting for a company called Snell Infrared. In 2008 he became mayor of Seadrift and prides himself in being a “handyman extraordinaire” doing honey-dos for his wife Tanya.

Elmer DeForest
During the Vietnam Era