The son of an Army Air Corps cryptographer during WWII, Barry aspired to be in Army Intelligence after graduation from West Point, but later found that he was eligible for Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) instead and attended Special Investigation training at OSI in D.C. Later, he was assigned to a year of investigating criminal and fraud cases at Travis AFB, CA. He, then, attended specialized counterintelligence school before heading to Vietnam.
As an Air Force OSI officer, he participated in training Palace Guards for Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu and the Cambodian bodyguards for Marshall Lon Nol. After nearly two years in Southeast Asia, he was reassigned to OSI headquarters where he weekly coordinated with the CIA. Barry resigned his commission in 1975 and remained in the Air Reserve. He studied, then, for his law degree while working part-time at Trans-America Title Insurance. He began practicing law working for several insurance companies.
- Headed to R-Day with no experience
I took United Airlines from SFO to NYC; found Port Authority, & a bus to the Thayer. When I arrived, I did run around with a group of guys who were sooo impressive, patriotic, excited to be at USMA, & ready to serve in Vietnam. I, myself & several others, weren’t exactly prepared for the… Read more: Headed to R-Day with no experience