Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Skip Curtis served from January 1965 to July 1996 as a pilot. Curtis deployed to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Throughout his time in Vietnam, Curtis, a Temple, Pennsylvania, native, said what kept him going was letters from his wife, which at the time took 10 days to receive. During his last flight in Vietnam he earned his second Purple Heart after he and his crew we shot down. - Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Skip Curtis served from January 1965 to July 1996 as a pilot. Curtis deployed to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Throughout his time in Vietnam, Curtis, a Temple, Pennsylvania, native, said what kept him going was letters from his wife, which at the time took 10 days to receive. During his last flight in Vietnam he earned his second Purple Heart after he and his crew we shot down.