I can honestly say that I never planned on or even thought I would ever write about any of my life’s experiences. However, back in 2002, I began to think a little differently. I had returned from marching in a Memorial Day parade with my two grandsons, because I was an assistant Cub Scout leader at the time. To continue with our patriotic spirit that day, we went back to my daughter Sharon’s house to watch the movie “We Were Soldiers”.
The film was based on the book “We Were Soldiers Once…And Young,” by General Hal Moore, which I had read. I had been eager to see Mel Gibson’s film version. When I told my plans to my wife Eileen, she complained that she wasn’t interested in seeing any war movies and she hated anything with blood and gore. When I went alone to see the film in a movie theater, I had a rather unusual experience afterward. I’m the type that sits at the end of the movie and watches the very end, until the last credits roll. Usually I’m the last one to leave the theater, but after watching “We Were Soldiers”, a young couple had stayed behind and was talking and taking their time gathering their things. I had gotten up and was watching the credits near the exit. Finally the young couple walked toward me to leave, but then they stopped.
“Were you in Vietnam?” the young woman asked me.
I was taken by surprise and I paused for a moment, but I managed to say, “Yes. Yes, I was. In fact, I was in Vietnam when the incident occurred that the film was about.”
The couple looked at each other and then back at me. “Wow…thank you.” The young man said. They smiled and went on their way. I stood there for a second in disbelief. No one had ever thanked me for serving in Vietnam before. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was both flattered and surprised. I wondered if other people would actually be interested in hearing about my Vietnam experience.
That Memorial Day, I had suggested to my son-in-law Will that he get the DVD. I felt it was the first movie that seemed to portray America’s involvement in Vietnam in a positive way and I was interested to see what Will thought of it. My other daughter Dawn, and her husband Ray, had a young daughter of their own, and probably wouldn’t have been interested in watching it, but my grandson Liam was in the 3rd grade and was growing increasingly interested in history and the military.
As I watched the movie with Will and Liam, I pointed out that I was actually in Vietnam when the battle portrayed in the movie took place.
I guess I should have expected the next question. Liam asked if I had shot anyone while I was in Vietnam. I told him I had not, and added that it was probably a good thing I never had to try, because I was not a very good shot.
Now my grandson, being a very sharp and thoughtful boy, asked, “If you were not a good shot, then why did the Army send you to where there was a war going on?” That question had such a complicated answer and I didn’t know where to begin.
I simply said, “I guess they kind of made a mistake,” and let it go at that.
For many years, I had contemplated writing a letter to radio personality Paul Harvey about an incident involving him while I was on KP duty during my time at Fort Gordon. After having Eileen look over my letter, I asked Sharon if she could help me find out how to send it to Paul Harvey for the “Rest of the Story” segments featured on his show. She looked into it and submitted my letter via e-mail.
“You know, Dad,” she told me. “That was an interesting story. I know nothing about your time in the Army. You’ve never talked to me or Dawn or anyone about what it was like for you in Vietnam. You should write more about it.”
My first reaction was that perhaps I should. I had been frustrated with how little Liam and my other grandson Riley learned about Vietnam while in school. I doubted they would learn about the Vietnam I had known, and the Vietnam I felt was worth protecting. I did not recall Sharon or Dawn ever learning much about Vietnam in school. I was critical about how vague, politically correct and inaccurate anything to do with Vietnam has been portrayed over the years. Upon hearing I had served in Vietnam, most people probably assumed I had been drafted, and had no choice but to go there. That was not the case. I volunteered to join the Army and at one point, had been willing to re-enlist to stay in Vietnam longer.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized there was more to the story than just Vietnam. There was the story of how I got into the Army in the first place, and how it changed my life. It had been the 1960s…a time when most people think of peace, enlightenment and “finding themselves”. I know my experience led me to become the person I wanted to be.
Thinking back to Liam’s question, I knew I could give him the answer as to how I got to Vietnam, but explaining it all would be a story itself. It would be necessary to do some backtracking to understand it…trying to figure out where to begin brought me all the way back to where my life began on our family farm. I decided to take Sharon up on her suggestion. I would indeed tell my story.