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Introduction
In May of 1965, my grandfather was drafted into the United States Army to serve in the Vietnam War. He was drafted shortly after graduating from Young Harris College, in Young Harris, Georgia with his associate degree in Chemistry. The letter he received in the mail read "Your friends and neighbors have selected you to serve in the United States Army." I asked him about when he was drafted and his time in the service. These are the stories he told me. -
Being Drafted
I asked him about about his initial experiences getting drafted, this was his response. "I had been out of college maybe 2/3 months and I got drafted. I got on a bus and headed to Knoxville, we came across the mountains, went through Murphy, Andrews, Toptin, Robbinsville, dropped down into Gatlinburg. This was before daylight in Hayesville, we left before dusk and arrived after dark, they put us up in the YMCA. The next morning, we got our physical exams... then we got on another bus." -
Basic Training and Going to War
I asked my Pa about his regiment in basic training, he detailed it. He was proficient in shooting and took a particular liking to Artillery. After being sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Fort Ord, California, he was sent to war. "They put me on a plane to Hawaii going to Vietnam. It took three airplanes, with two malfunctions to get to Saigon. We took a helicopter ride to Qui Nhon, then took trucks to base camp." "When I got on the airplane I knew the Lord's prayer, and I guess that got me home." -
Central Vietnamese Highlands
He detailed his time. "We stayed in tents, for almost two months, and that's when we were going on patrol, hitting the rice patties. They started hauling in a bunch of lumber and pouring concrete, and that's when we started building Barracks." "I was over there before the big buildup of troops coming across. I was very lucky going into the service when I did." "When they would go on a mission we would follow with the guns, we had free rein to bomb the mountain all night long." -
Discharged on Emergency Leave
In March of 1967, my great grandmother had a heart attack likely due to worrying over her son in the war. "The Red Cross had sent a helicopter to take me back to Saigon, from there I got on a C-130 back to the states. The army wouldn't take me any farther than Atlanta, so I started walking, and I got to the interstate and hitchhiked with a professor from Young Harris. He dropped me 8 miles from home, and 99% of the time I ran all the way." "Two weeks later, they sent me back." -
Coming Home
"One of the first things most guys asked for was a calendar, and we counted the days." I asked about him coming home, "I had some free time in Saigon, so I started walking through the barracks. They were jam-packed with wounded soldiers, and it was a traumatic experience for me, everywhere you looked there was pain." So, I asked about his reception at home, "I was met with protesters at the airports, but I was so thankful to be back in the United States I didn't even care." -
Discharge Paperwork
"After I got back from Vietnam, I got married, then was sent to work in the honor guard at Ft. Rucker, and all we did was bury people all over the state of Alabama... When it was time to see the man, he asked me to re-sign, and I said no. When I left the fort, I pulled over and stopped at a pine-thicket to change into my civilian clothes, and after removing all of my identification I buried everything. The army took two years of my life, I wanted nothing to do with it anymore." -
Revisiting
In the fall of 2009, I visited the capital, Washington D.C. with my Grandparents. This photograph is of me and my grandfather at the Vietnam War memorial, detailing all 58,000 names of fallen soldiers. I asked for his reflection, "That was probably the greatest experience, you'd always heard about it, and you saw it on TV, but there is nothing like being there in person, and touching that wall." I asked on his reflection in the service and he said, "There was nothing to be proud of." -
Conclusion
My grandfather has always been a man of simple means. He doesn't argue, doesn't complain, and doesn't talk much. He has lived an incredible life filled with joy and phenomenal stories. Him allowing me to share these stories is special. He never took the government handouts, and he never wore veteran's attire due to the public shame he was afraid of. He had never wanted to be a soldier and has since redefined his life as so much more than a soldier. [need to add a few secondary sources]