First Lieutenant Donald J. Dare was commissioned a Signal Officer upon graduation from Infantry Officer Candidate School, 19 September 1969. After graduation, he was assigned to Signal Officer Basic School at Fort Gordon, Georgia. | Subsequently he requested and was granted Volunteer Indefinite (VI) status. His first duty assignment was with the U.S. Army Southeastern Signal School, Command Company, Fort Gordon, Georgia, and its Television Division. There Lieutenant Dare produced and wrote educational television programs for the Signal Training School as well as safety programs for the entire U.S. Army Signal Center. For his service, Lieutenant Dare was awarded the U.S. Army Commendation Medal. | In September 1971, Lieutenant Dare was assigned to Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV). In Vietnam, he was first assigned as Director of Production with American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN), Saigon. With AFVN, Lieutenant Dare produced USO programs, including the 1971 Bob Hope Show which was seen in-country on the networks four stations and on ships at sea. He was then assigned as News Producer/Director and was responsible for the production and content of hourly radio news programs, as well as two half-hour TV news programs. Additionally, Lieutenant Dare was the overnight OIC at the Saigon AFVN station. | Upon leaving the U.S. Army, Don Dare earned an M.A. degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia and began a distinguished career as a broadcast journalist. Over the last 45 years, Mr. Dare has garnered several prestigious national and state journalism awards. Some of these award winning national honors focused on veteran's issues, such as Agent Orange, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, radiation fallout and unemployment, to name a few. During his tour, Lieutenant Dare was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.