Jerry Muhlenkamp presents Sidney American Legion Post 217 baseball jerseys to President Carter, Kim Carter Fuller, President Carter’s niece, and Phil Wise from The Carter Center and scheduling secretary for President Carter. Jerseys have embroidery Presidential Seal patches attached.
Courtesy photo
By Melanie Speicher
MINSTER — The saying, “Like father, like son” couldn’t be truer for Jerry Muhlenkamp and his son Brian.
Both are U.S. veterans — dad served in the Army while his son served in the Air Force. And both men served the president on the White House Communications Agency.
The agency, said Jerry, a Minster resident who grew up in the McCartyville area, was started in 1942 by President Franklin Roosevelt to help the White House communicate to the American citizens during a time of war.
“It’s a military unit from all branches of the military,” said Jerry, who was approached during basic training to serve in the unit. “You go through an extensive interview process and testing. It was a week long process to if you were a viable candidate.”
Then comes a background investigation which can take 6-12 months to complete.
Jerry, who was in the Army for 4 years and 4 months, was assigned to the White House Audio Visual Department. He served at the White House from June 1, 1976, to March 10, 1980. He was stationed at the White House his entire career except for basic training and when he attended schooling for additional training.
He said there was never a “typical day” at the office.
“I had multiple job functions,” said Jerry. “There was a lot of work in the 18 acres of the White House. I handled press briefings and speech practices with the president in the Oval Office. Anywhere he traveled, I handled the preparations for the visit.”
He began his career when Gerald Ford was president of the United States. He then worked for President Jimmy Carter after he was elected to office.
“There are no political affiliations with the agency,” said Jerry. “We work for the office, not the individual.”
He said coordinating overseas trips was always a challenge.
“Trying to get things in order for the president to come in (was challenging),” Jerry said. “It was not real welcoming by a lot of countries. This was a time when the Cold War was going on.
“It was a life and death situation,” he said. “We would be surrounded by dozen of guns and we didn’t speak the same language.”
Jerry said he and his son were the second father-son group assigned to the agency.
“We both received the Presidential Service Badge,” said Jerry.
Brian was in the Air Force and left the service in 2011. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area. He spent four years in the agency while George Bush and Barack Obama were presidents.
“I also in communications so I spent a lot of time with the travel team,” said Brian. “I helped set up and tear down for the visits whether it was stateside or overseas.”
Both men said they learned from their experiences serving the president.
“I learned persistence and that failure is not an option,” said Jerry. “This was the most powerful man we were supporting. We always had a back up plan and a back up plan for the back up plan.”
“I learned Murphy’s Law is true even with all our planning, something will throw a wrench in the plan after all the work we put into it,” said Brian.
Brian said he applied to the agency when he was deployed in Iraq.
“I filled out the packet and when I got back to Idaho, they said, ‘come on down,’” he said.
When Jerry’s enlistment was nearing an end, he applied for a job at the U.S. Capitol in the audio/visual department. He extended his time in the service for four months as he waited on news whether he got the job or not.
“They hadn’t made a decision but I was in the final three for the job so I extended my time by four months,” said Jerry.
As he was preparing to move back to Minster — and the movers were at his house — he received a phone call with a job offer.
“I think I was meant to come back here (Minster),” said Jerry. “I came close to it being a totally different life for me.”
After Brian left the military, he joined a company where he is an IT engineer.
When former President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 98th birthday, Jerry was invited to Plains, Georgia, for the celebration. His wife, Mary, went with him.
“There were 130 former members of the Communications Department and their spouses there,” said Jerry.
In his research about the former president, Jerry discovered he had played American Legion Baseball while growing up. Jerry is involved with the Sidney American Legion Post 217 Baseball program, so had a home and away Sidney Legion jersey embroidered with the seal of the President of the United States. He presented the jerseys to Kim Carter Ford, the president’s niece, and Phil Wise, director of the Carter Center. President Carter, who was unable to attend the celebration, watched the presentation via a live video feed.
“It surprised me that the American Legion where he played had never done anything,” said Jerry. “We were in danger of losing that part of President Carter’s history. “
The former president has entered a hospice program in Plains, Georgia, due to his failing health.
