Veterans recall Vietnam War 50 years after

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Members of the American Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 251 gathered last week at their headquarters in one of the buildings of the former elementary school in observance of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, celebrated on Wednesday, March 29.
Established in 2017 via the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, the day is meant to pay tribute to the veterans of the Vietnam War, including prisoners (POWs) and those missing in action (MIA).
According to Vietnam Veterans of America (VVOA), more than 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam between 1955 and 1975, resulting in more than 58,000 American military fatalities, 150,000 wounded and 1,700 listed as MIA. The war also resulted in untold numbers of Vietnamese people killed, wounded and maimed.
Of those killed in action, according to the VVOA, 61 percent were 21 years of age or younger, with the average age being 23.1 years. It states that one of every 10 who served in Vietnam became a casualty and 75,000 were severely disabled.
About 300,000 African Americans served in the Vietnam War, according to the Library of Congress records. In 1965, African Americans made up 31 percent of the ground combat battalions in Vietnam, although they represented 12 percent of the general population.
Adding to the distresses of Vietnam veterans, their service was largely unrecognized by the general public and many of them experienced hostility when they returned home because of internal divisions caused by the unpopular war.
At the VFW Post 251commemoration event on Wednesday evening, three veterans who had served in Vietnam shared bits of their experiences of the war and after.
Ned Hill Jr., past commander of Post 251, spoke of his time in the airborne forces, ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault.
Hill told of going into combat carrying all his necessities on his backpack, his major tools consisting of his weapon, a small shovel and a machete. Once they hit the ground, he said, they were expected to dig foxholes, clear the area around their defense perimeter of trees and brush, and prepare to get hit by the enemy.
Being new, he was often assigned to point, or the forward position in line, he said. He recalled once being replaced by another solder, who moment later was blown up.
He told also of getting wounded another time, hit by enemy fire, as were the two men beside him.
“Charlie was tearing up our butt,” he said, Charlie being Americans name for the Viet Cong, often shortened to VC from Victor Charlie in the military alphabet code.
Hill also talked of his difficulties readjusting to civilian life once he returned home from the war because of post-traumatic stress and other war-related issues. Which situation, he said, he was finally able to overcome thanks to his wife Carolyn, professional counseling and the New Testament.
“I thank God for what I am now,” he said.
Lonnie Green, another Vietnam veteran, spoke of his 11 months and 29 days in the Southeast Asia country with little to no sleep, as the enemy would hit their base camp every night, he said.
“We were on alert every night,” Griffin said. “Every night they would penetrate our defense, trying to destroy our ammunition.”
His biggest shock, he said, was the anger and distain that he encountered when he returned to the states, as people reacted negatively to his uniform.
“You couldn’t walk down the street in your uniform,” he said.
It was this decided him to rejoin the military, from which he retired after 21 years as a chief warrant officer, he said. Griffin called his military experience largely a good one, except for the year spent in Vietnam.
He also spoke of returning to Vietnam with his wife in 2020 and not recognizing the place, it had changed so much.
“The place was like New York City,” he said of his visit to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly the capital of Southern Vietnam known as Saigon.
He also acknowledged that the war’s suffering had been equally visited on the Vietnamese people, many of whom were still suffering the aftereffects, he said.
John Nelson’s experiences in Vietnam are better known. Drafted in 1968 after graduating from college, he was able to avoid infantry and instead entered aviation military intelligence because of his high scores.
Despite graduating number one his aviation class, which was supposed to ensure one would remain stateside, his entire class was shipped to Vietnam, he said. The timing, he said, couldn’t have been worse, as it was the height of the TET Offensive, a large-scale series of coordinated attacks by the North Vietnamese across South Vietnam to foment rebellion and force the U.S to abandon the war.
Assigned to De Nang Base near Cam Ranh Bay, Nelson said it was his unit’s job to use low-flying planes to do surveillance and gather intelligence on enemy ground troop movements.
He credited God with protecting him from harm on several occasions; foolish as some his actions then were due to what he called youthful stupidity.
“Those of us who survived, have a lot to be thankful for.” Nelson said.
It was in recognition of the many who perished in the war, as well as to affirm their own fortunes and the healing power of fellowship that that the group celebrated the occasion.
“A gathering like this and fellowship it provide helps,” Hill summed it up.