Let's travel back in time and do a little role playing. Now try to remember what your priorities and challenges were when you were 19 years old. Do you think that the biggest inconvenience could have been that the buttons on your shirt would be in the way?
For Chuck Sturkie on one hot humid day, the buttons on his shirt were in the way because thry was keeping him from becoming an earthworm. When there are a couple of dozen Viet Cong soldiers with machine guns pounding away at you and you are in an exposed position, you can not get low enough.
Like many young men of his generation, Chuck served a tour in Viet Nam. What makes this story rather unique is that Chuck returned to Viet Nam to the area of operations where he served with the the 5th Marine division from December of 1966 to January of 1968. Chuck had enlisted as a Marine after graduating from high school. He had been a football lineman for Red Lynch and Clyde Jones and had been a key member of the 1964 state championship team. As a member of that team he had received a memorial championship watch.
Chuck was stationed in what was called 'up north.' His unit's area of operations stretched from Da Nang to the DMZ. He served as a rifleman and has two purple hearts to show for his efforts. He also lost good friends in the fighing. His last month stationed there was during the Tet offensive. One night his unit got hit and has he was running for the bunker he felt his state championship watch slip off his wrist. Afterwards he retraced his path, but could not locate his watch.
One of the members of his Marine unit had returned several years ago to Viet Nam and began booking group tours. Chuck and his son, Shawn, joined in with 17 other members of his unit and last September the group returned to Viet Nam. The members landed in Hanoi and visited the infamous Hanoi Hilton [which was located in the middle of the city] and other war museums.
They moved south by bus and visited the various sites where they had been engaged in combat. Many of their former base camps,such as Khe Sanh, are now overgrown. Much of the jungle has been developed into farms and as most places the duration of 40 years has brought changes. There are still many thatched roof homes and the disparity between cities and farms income and daily life is still vastly different.
According to Chuck, there are still many similarites. The split dresses with pajama bottoms, the cone-shaped straw hats, the smell of the rice paddies and the water buffalo, the external sanitation, the squating by individuals,and the congestion of the cities are all constants. The first advice given to incoming troops is that the Vietnameese only know where the horn and accelerator are located and drive accordingly.
The cities are more westernized and the people are excellent host. Many of the neon lights and sounds, sights and activities of the night have returned. You have to remember it was a French colony for a long time. There are now many other nationalities working and living there and like most Communist countries they are appreciating capitalism.
Like any serviceman who returns to the area where they fought and lost friends, there will be the mysticism and flashback of the past. Because Chuck was with his fellow marines they were able to recreate and remember many of the experiences. Talking with his former comrades brought back vivid memories. The former radio operator was able to fill in the blanks and answer a lot of questions which had lingered for over 40 years.
The war in Viet Nam is a vivid benchmark in the life of the babyboomer generation. Whether you agreed with or opposed the war, we need to remember that there were 13 Kershaw County citizens who lost their life while serving in Viet Nam. Families such as those of Matt Hough, Michael Christmas, and Terry Hearon sent out brave soldiers who never returned. There are also an unusual large number of local returned vets, such as Rolly Jacobs, Bruce Rush, Caston West, Bobby Bruce, Rusty Brannon, Steven Edwards, and Robbie Anderson whose life was taken much too early by cancer.
Thank you for your attention.
Amen!
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