An Infantryman from Illinois

“We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10,000 miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.”

Lyndon B. Johnson during the 1964 Presidential campaign

Uncle Steve

After college, my wife Jean‘s favorite aunt Geraldine moved in with her sister Ruth to help care for Jean and her brother Charlie. Ger’s husband Stephen Ezell, a hard-working and gregarious man with a robust sense of humor, has always been willing to speak frankly about his life experiences. “I met Ger and Ruthie at the VFW [Veterans of Foreign Wars Post] after I got out of the Army,” Steve remembered as we sat and chatted in the sitting room of their Illinois lakefront home. “I fell in with a bad crowd,” he said with a smile, and we both laughed. “Everybody looked at it the other way around, really. I was kind of wild when I got back. I thought, ‘What are they going to do? Send me to Vietnam?’ ” He said Ger was at the VFW because she liked to dance (“I sure did!” came a cheery voice from the kitchen), “And I was there because I liked to drink beer.” Steve chuckled, then told a joke about a fellow that swatted three flies, one male and two female. “How could you tell? asked his buddies.” “Easy. One was on a beer can and the other two were on the telephone!”

I Didn’t Enlist!

Steve has lived nearly his entire life in the same southeast Illinois town, and when he was drafted in 1969 he reported to St. Louis for processing. “I was an arm’s width away from being a Marine,” the Army combat veteran told me. As he and another young man from his home town were walking down the hall, a non-commissioned officer put his arm between them to redirect Steve and the men behind him toward the Army door.

“Was it a two-year enlistment?” I asked him. He looked at me pointedly. “I didn’t enlist,” he replied. “I was drafted. It was a two-year draft.”

Steve underwent Basic Training at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri, then AIT at Ft. Lewis, Washington (“Advanced Individual Training,” Steve clarified. “It wasn’t all infantry training there. Mine was though.”) where he was taught hand-to-hand combat, squad tactics, map reading, and battlefield communications. After a 30-day leave back in Illinois, Steve was shipped off to Vietnam for the expected tour: 365 days in-country.

The 4th “Ivy” Division

“I was with the 4th Division the whole time, initially with the 1st-35th,” (1st Battalion of the 35th Infantry Regiment). The 4th “Ivy” Division operated within II Corps in the Central Highlands near the tri-border area of Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam. U.S. Army Infantry Divisions like the 4th were partitioned into brigades, then regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, and squads. The numbers fluctuated but a squad was ideally about 12 men, a platoon usually 3 or 4 squads (30-50 soldiers), a company consisted of 3 Platoons (120 or so), and a battalion about 4 companies. When I asked Steve how many soldiers would have been in a regiment or a brigade he reflected for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “That was above my paygrade.“

It Didn’t Look Like Any Oasis to Me

Landing Zone (LZ) Oasis near the town of Pleiku in central Vietnam was initially established for the 1st Cavalry Division in 1965 for the la Drang Valley Campaign. By the time of Steve’s arrival in August of ’69 it was assigned to the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Division, to which the 1-35th was attached. “It was monsoon season,” Steve commented. “It didn’t look like any oasis to me.” Just eleven weeks earlier an estimated 500-600 North Vietnamese troops attacked LZ Oasis on Mother’s Day, resulting in 15 U.S. soldiers killed and captured.

Memorable Incidents

“We were all over the place, didn’t stay in the same place all the time – you got your pack on your back and everything you got you got with you. We’d operate out of the fire [support] base [FSB] where our support units were. Companies would rotate out in the boonies. Really regular patrols, search and destroy stuff and securing perimeters.” Steve and a squad of about 6 were on night ambush patrol outside the wire of LZ Oasis, shooting off M-79 grenade launchers every now and then “with mortars and artillery popping off all night” from the firebase to deter any potential attacks. The squad surrounded themselves with trip-wire activated Claymore mines; Steve was asleep as others were on watch.

“We were laying in a depression. There was no real cover. I woke up to a flash of light and a big boom not very far away. I scrambled for the radio. By the time I found it I heard a thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.” [the sound of more American mortars being launched] “STOP THOSE F–ING MORTARS!!!” he radioed to the FSB. “There were impacts on both sides of the Claymores.” Steve laughed at the memory as I gaped in disbelief.

“The next morning we went on a sweep. Some Vietnamese civilians were going through our trash, and we shot some CS tear gas to scatter them. Someone must have seen [them] running. As we were coming back through the wire (I was walking drag with the M-79) I heard a big boom behind me and small arms started going off. As we hit the dirt I thought, ‘This is a hell of a place to be!’ “

“As for the Thanksgiving day convoy ambush [noted on the map above], I was not on the convoy. Bunch and Chumley [two of Steve’s life-long friends, both from Tennessee] were on it in a gun jeep. Our platoon CAed [Combat Assaulted] out from the Oasis to help, and there was a civilian vehicle burning in the road. It was passing the convoy and got hit by a B-40 rocket. We made a sweep of the area, but didn’t find the enemy. I don’t think any of our guys were hurt.”

In another memorable incident, a chopper landed nearby from which a dozen beautiful women unexpectedly emerged. It was the 1969 Miss America USO Tour. “I think Miss America was from Illinois that year,” Steve recalled.

R&R, Stand-downs, and SP’s

At the much larger base camp near An Khe – located about 60 miles east of LZ Oasis – “We were on the perimeter. It is a BIG perimeter! There was a mountain range between us and the base camp. Me and Bunch were in a machine gun tower and stayed up during a 24-hour stretch.” Steve had been approved for a 7-day rest and relaxation (R&R) tour to Hawaii, and one came available while he was on the perimeter with his friend. “We were in triple-canopy jungle with no LZ for a chopper to land.” A (UH-1) Huey was lowering gas cans and chainsaws on a cargo net near their location, and on short notice Steve was given permission to ride back to the nearest LZ in the net.

Steve lost his helmet as the Huey rose above the treeline, zigging and zagging to avoid any potential anti-aircraft and small arms fire. The young soldier was holding on for dear life and searching vainly for the promised “nearby” landing area. When they finally arrived at the LZ a colonel who met the Huey remarked, “You must have wanted to go to Hawaii pretty badly!” When Steve mentioned his adventure to a friend who was a door gunner on a chopper the friend asked, “Do you know how those ropes are attached? They’re just held on with a magnet.” Steve laughed out loud at the memory. “If I’d have known that I might not have taken the ride!”

Steve flew to Cam Ranh Bay on a C-10 cargo plane, then took a commercial flight to Hawaii. Just seeing the city lights there at night was a big deal. Even the occasional sights of the larger base camps were memorable. “Lights!” he said. “Vehicles! Trucks!” “We’d be [at the FSB] for 7-10 days, then we’d ‘saddle-up,’ carrying our hot, heavy pack with a mortar round and a D-handled shovel on top. We’d be out for two months at once.” Steve described their few stand-downs or “mini R & R’s” in base camp during which the battalion would supply barrels of iced-down beer and soda and the men would enjoy showers, play cards, catch up on sleep (with no middle of the night sentry duties), listen to Armed Forces Radio, write letters, and eat real food, as opposed to their typical C-rations. They appreciated too the occasional SP’s (Sundries Packs) that contained cigarettes, candy, gum, toothbrushes, razors and soap.

1-12th Infantry Regiment

American troops were gradually being withdrawn from Vietnam, and upon his return from Hawaii, “The 3rd Brigade of the 4th Division went home, so to speak, except they didn’t take the people with them. When the 3rd Brigade colors went home I went to the 1st of the 12th.” [1st Battalion – 12th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Division’s 2nd Brigade].

Twelve Days in May, 1970

“When Rivera got killed he had 23 days left. I remember he had “SHORT” written on his helmet.”

Steve on a fellow 1-12th Alpha Company soldier

As described in the book Twelve Days in May by Jerald W. Berry (Xlibris, 2010) subtitled “The Untold Story of the Northern Thrust into Cambodia by the 4th Infantry Division (Operation Binh Tay I) in May 1970,” Steve and the 1-12th were asked to seek out and destroy enemy supplies, bunkers, and hideouts and to secure a specific area along the Ho Chi Minh trail across the border in Cambodia in an effort to make it easier for the South Vietnamese Army once the U.S. completely pulled out of Vietnam. “The northern thrust would be made exclusively by helicopter assault,” wrote Berry. “reminiscent of the WWII D-day invasion of Normandy, yet on a much smaller scale.”

“This was the biggest air mobile assault of the war,” Steve said. The 1-12th were providing security at an FSB north of An Khe when the orders for the operation were received. The men were moved by truck convoy to LZ Oasis, where Steve could clearly see something big was happening. It was rare to have the company all together, much less the battalion. In this case three brigades were to be involved, including seven infantry regiments and hundreds of helicopters, artillery, and logistical support. The men were given briefings, and most took time to write letters home.

Combat Assault into Cambodia

“Always when we went in an LZ like that when we were anticipating action I was always glad to get off the chopper because you feel like a sitting duck coming in, [but] as soon as I left I wished I was back on it!” Steve laughed. One soldier was quoted by Berry, “When the helicopters got six or seven feet from the ground the door gunners started yelling GO! GO! GO! [Soldiers] with 85 lb. or better rucksacks were bailing out of the choppers into elephant grass about six feet tall.” Steve and his squad would have then set up a defensive perimeter and secured the LZ for the rest of their company who had not yet arrived. Some of the numerous LZ’s were extremely hot with enemy rockets, small arms, and machine gun fire, and two choppers were shot down, with many others being forced to abort and return to Vietnam. The 1-12th also lost a helicopter on the first day of their combat assault, theirs due to catastrophic engine failure. Four of Steve’s mates died. “In our company there was Bebo, Kangas, Barber, McCarthy. Bebo was the first guy I met when I was sent to the company.”

The Bamboo Bridge

Companies set up FSB’s at their individual LZ’s, and their platoons and squads set out on separate search and destroy missions seeking enemy hamlets, bunkers, support bases, and supply caches. The 4th division engaged in numerous small firefights, destroyed dozens of small to large enemy bases and tons of supplies, and ran into three or four significant enemy ambushes during their “Twelve Days” in Cambodia. “The 1st of the 12th took more casualties over there than about any of them,” Steve shared. “I was in A [Alpha] company, 3^rd platoon. We weren’t in any big battles” up until that time, “but mostly small unit conflicts, all with intense automatic weapons – a constant loud roar.” His company was inserted into a new LZ near where a large weapons cache had been discovered a day or two before, and they were given permission to investigate some huts they had seen on their approach. Expecting them to be abandoned, they were surprised by sniper fire which killed the Second Platoon point man and wounded the platoon lieutenant, followed by automatic weapons fire at the gunships that came to support them. (The point man, or “walking point,” is the term for the lead man in a formation. This is a crucial and dangerous assignment.)

First Platoon discovered and destroyed an enemy hospital complex after the defenders apparently fled, and scrutinized a series of 50 gallon oil drums along a large trail leading toward a bamboo bridge over a creek. A squad was sent to secure the area around the bridge. The point men, Sgt.’s Wallace and Rivera, were crossing the bridge with their backups in the clearing behind them. “At that instant the whole world seemed to be coming to an end. The noise of rifles and machine guns firing and rockets exploding all at once was deafening. Bullets were flying by me so thick that there seemed to be no pause between them,” recalled the A Company medic. Steve’s Third Platoon was called in, and the entire company was pinned down for much of the afternoon. Only after nightfall were they able to retrieve their wounded and their dead, the latter including Wallace and Rivera. Steve reflected that he had walked point only the day before the Bamboo Bridge ambush. “When Rivera got killed he had 23 days left. I remember he had “SHORT” written on his helmet.”

A Lifetime Bond

“Having your life at such risk is something that you can only understand if you have experienced it. There is a bond that forms with people who have gone to combat together. I wish that there would never be a reason for people to learn that bond.”

Alpha Company Medic D. Hodo as quoted in Twelve Days in May pg 269

I Was No Hero

When asked if he looked back at this time of his life with some nostalgia, Steve thought a moment and said, “In some ways, but it’s not like it was a good experience. It was anything but. It was a memorable time in my life, and sometimes very exciting when the adrenaline was running. but it was not like it was a good experience.” Did he feel a sense of pride or accomplishment? “All I did was my job. I was no hero.” Did he ever feel guilty for surviving when many he knew didn’t? He looked at me sternly. “Why should I feel guilty? People are going to be hurt. I just hope to hell it ain’t me!” He softened as he looked away and quietly said, “I do still think about them though.”

Cousin Billy’s Funeral

“Billy White was my granddad’s brother’s son,” Steve told me. “He died in Korea. His was the first funeral I went to.” According to the Korean War Remembrance Project: “Private First Class White was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on August 2, 1950 and died while a prisoner on October 17, 1950. His remains were repatriated.” As Steve recalls being about three years-old at the funeral, the repatriation was no earlier than 1952.

The William K. White AmVets Post in Palestine, Illinois is named for Steve’s forever-19 year-old relative who was drafted to serve in a foreign war. The parallel to his own life was clear. “I never wanted to be in Vietnam,” he told me. “I didn’t defend my country. The only thing I was defending was a corrupt government of South Vietnam.”

“Most Americans would rather just forget about the Vietnam Era. …Those who served… live with the pain, the loss, and the life-altering memories of war in the jungles and rice paddies of South Vietnam and Cambodia. These men were soldiers once, and very young.”

Jerald W. Berry, Twelve Days in May

We are standing on the deck overlooking the lake. The morning rain has given way to sunny skies, and the afternoon is tranquil and calm. Steve and Ger raised their three daughters here, and he remembered that when the lake froze over the girls would occasionally take a shortcut across the ice to catch the school bus. Steve has just retired from the local oil refinery, and he now enjoys spending time with their grandchildren, five boys and one girl. On their visits they will usually ask to take out the fishing gear, and in fact we have just enjoyed a fried fish lunch, fish that one or more of their grandchildren caught on a previous visit. As we stand here contemplating the view, all is peaceful and we find we don’t have much to say. And that’s okay with Steve.