Date of interview: 16 May 2025
Dirk Plantinga is a Navy brat turned journalist with a passion for veterans’ stories. He’s dedicated to preserving the oral histories of military veterans through interviews, archival research, and writing about military history. Connect with Dirk online at IntruderLegacy.org or at the YouTube channel A-6 Intruder TV.
MWSA: How did you find out about MWSA?
Dirk Plantinga: A Navy veteran, author and member of MWSA gifted me a membership.
MWSA: What were your first few years of life like being a Navy brat?
Dirk Plantinga: I was born at NAS Pensacola in 1967 while my dad, Terrell S. Plantinga was training to become a Bombardier/Navigator in the A-6A Intruder. The sound of Navy jet engines buzzed through my brain on day one. To this day, when I hear that sound, I can’t help looking up in excitement.
It was me and my supremely brave Mom for most of my first two years, as my Dad and his pilot flew those Intruders in and out of danger. My earliest memory is from the flight deck of USS Independence (CV-62), where my Dad carried me up the boarding ladder and lowered me into the BN’s seat of an A-6 Intruder. Those few moments were my catapult shot into a passion for Naval Aviation that continues to grow.
After my parents’ death, I obtained my Dad’s Navy service record and found details I had never imagined. Research and data made the legacy even more interesting. And then, everything changed when I started to really listen to living, breathing veterans.
MWSA: What is your background in journalism?
Dirk Plantinga: It was the next chapter in my family’s journey. After the Navy, my Dad had a career with CBS News, directing the network’s coverage in other areas of conflict and war. Growing up knowing Walter Cronkite, Diane Sawyer, and Susan Zirinsky should make anyone want to be a journalist.
And, I did. I got a Journalism degree at The American University. Then I wore many hats working in local TV newsrooms from California to Tennessee.
The ability to interview people has always come naturally to me, I don’t use a list of questions. I’m deeply curious about a person’s life story, and let that guide the telling of a veteran's story.
MWSA: What’s a favorite article you’ve written?
Dirk Plantinga: I wrote a piece about two Navy photojournalists who both held the title “Military Photographer of the Year”, albeit about 50 years apart. One is a Vietnam/Cold War era Navy veteran who photographed the commissioning of USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in 1975. The other is a modern-day “MC” sailor in the digital age, earning her recognition for the images she captured of the same aircraft carrier 50 years later. Their stories were separated by decades, but deeply connected by the ship, the craft of storytelling, and the mission of military photojournalism. What moved me was that both knew their images would tell the story of USS Nimitz long after there’s nothing left of her to photograph.
MWSA: What drives your efforts to preserve the stories of Vietnam War era Navy veterans?
Dirk Plantinga: The drive is difficult, but necessary. We’re now more than 50 years removed from the end of the Vietnam War. The original Navy and Marine veterans of the A-6 Intruder community are leaving us quickly. I feel a sense of urgency to preserve their stories in their own voice.
I also believe in standing up for Vietnam-era veterans. As a kindergartener, I remember sensing veterans like my Dad were not loved by some. Later, of course, I realized that many of these veterans were mistreated, disrespected, or worse. I want to do my best to recognize and honor veterans of the Vietnam War right now. I mean to punctuate the bravery, resilience, and sacrifice it still requires to be a military family from that era.
MWSA: Do you have a book coming out in 2026?
Dirk Plantinga: I’ve recorded hundreds of hours of interviews, scanned thousands of photographs, and researched a wide range of documents and data over the years. In 2026, I'll finish the full squadron history of VA-65. It’s long overdue. The book will celebrate the stories, imagery, and professionalism of everyone who served in VA-65 from its formation through Vietnam and Desert Storm, right up to its decommissioning and the retirement of the Intruder.
It won't be a technical history. It’s about the sailors and their families, the airplanes, the carriers, and the action.
If you’re reading this and you served in the Intruder community—whether with VA-65 or another squadron—I would love to hear from you. Your story matters. It matters to me, and it matters to the history of the United States Navy.