Vietnam War reenactment helps veterans heal

Of the many wars the United States has participated in during the past century, the war fought in Vietnam is probably the least understood by the American public today. U.S. involvement in the war occurred from 1964 to 1973, and even today, veterans from the war struggle to share their stories and experiences to the younger generations. Over the weekend of July 16-17, a Vietnam War reenactment was held at Camp Victory west of Greenwood for Vietnam veterans and the general public, providing all who came a place to learn and to heal.

The reenactment held at Camp Victory consisted of several parts, with various groups contributing to the displays. Upon entry to the site, visitors were greeted by a stationary display of a UH-1H helicopter from VVA 331, a pair of Vietnam-era military jeeps and a display tent from Historic Military Impressions of Kenosha. Further into the site, visitors could be taken out to the firebase military reenactment camp where a group of reenactors showed what normal, day-to-day life was like for soldiers fighting in Vietnam.

Education was an important part of the displays on July 16-17. Carl Bogar Jr., the founder and senior military historian of Historic Military Impressions, had numerous items on display as part of the organization’s “Vietnam Experience” tent. These items, he said, all have their own unique story on how they came to be a part of the display and gives insight to the tools and other equipment soldiers on both sides of the conflict had to use during the different stages of the war.

“I got a lot of stuff from a lot of people over the years,” he said. “All of it has a unique history. For example, the Marine Corps uniform was found at a garage sale. The relatives of the man whose uniform that was later found out that the uniform was sold and they searched me out. When they found out that it was a part of a historical display, they came back and gave me his dress blues.”

The canvas tent -- with its distinct scent -- was filled with many items that told part of the complex story that was the Vietnam War. Maps, photographs of everyday life, and plaques told the story of the different locations of the conflict while the weapons and equipment from different stages of the war showed how the passage of time brought with it advancements in technology. Each part, Bogar said, gives visitors a little taste of what life was like for soldiers over there and the simple struggles they had to experience.

“This allows people to explore what these guys experienced,” he said. “Whether it is the tent smell, which even on a cold day, you would come in and it would be 30 degrees hotter, the weight of the gear and the photos of everyday life. They were people just trying to live life.”

Besides serving as an educational point for nonveterans, Bogar said the main purpose of the “Vietnam Experience” display is to provide healing to those Vietnam veterans who pass through. Because of this, he said items like photographs are specifically chosen for their content to make sure the walk through the tent does not bring up difficult memories for veterans. Many times, he has seen this approach succeed in allowing loved ones to hear the rare stories about a veteran’s experiences in the Vietnam War, while for

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO others, it is one of their first steps to healing.

“We have multiple displays. Our World War II display is a display that is more about education,” he said. “There are only a few veterans left from that war. Our Vietnam displays are about healing. It is part of the healing process for these veterans. I have had people come in and share more in that tent about their time in Vietnam than they have in the past 40 years. I have also had guys come in and start to go around and have to leave halfway through because it is just so overwhelming for them.”

There were many Vietnam veterans who came to the reenactment camp over the weekend, reminiscing, healing and occasionally sharing a couple of their stories about their time in Vietnam. One such veteran was Ron Hernandez of Necedah, who was a combat engineer in the 544th Engineer Battalion stationed near Bao Loc. During the war it was his job to use explosives to quickly clear land for helicopter landing zones, a job which took him on many UH-1H Huey rides.

“I took many a ride in one of these,” he said. “There would be a half mile to a quarter of a mile that you would have to walk to them, especially when we were being shot at .... oftentimes we would come to them and they would be hovering two feet off of the ground because it was dangerous to go on the ground. When you did, you got into trouble.”

Due to the nature of his job, Hernandez said he saw a lot of violence and had to learn quickly how to survive.

“We would use C-4, claymores and blowout caps out there,” he said. “If we came under too much fire, between the explosives and yourself, you don’t save the box, you save yourself.”

As he stood near the UH-1H Huey that was on display that day, Hernandez said while his job was dangerous, the duties that fell to a helicopter pilot were perhaps even more so. He could recall many times when those men would come under fire as they came to rescue their fellow soldiers, sometimes losing their own lives in the process.

“There were only a handful of times when a chopper was blown up before we got to it,” he said. “One time the chopper could not stay in place and wanted to keep moving so we grabbed onto the landing gear. I once saw a rocket go through the open doors of the chopper, they got lucky. I saw at least three times when a chopper got hit. I take my hat off to the pilots, they did a good job.”

Another veteran sharing his experiences in the Vietnam War was Randy Howland from Dousman, who served with the 70th Combat Engineers from 1968-69. He was a part of operations that occurred in Pleiku and Ban Be Thout during that year of service, building or blowing up whatever they were asked to.

“We built stuff and we blew up stuff,” he said. “We built bridges, had roads we would do minesweeps of to make sure they were clear. We built roadways, buildings and paved roads over there.”

As a combat engineer, Howland said he saw many areas of soldier life as he traveled around to help build temporary bases such as underground field hospitals. He would watch as helicopters taking off and landing would often get shot at by enemy forces and often found himself training new recruits on how to use the strange assortment of equipment they had out in the field.

“We built underground hospitals, they would bring in the wounded, get them patched up and take them out of there,” he said. “We got helicopters around every once in a while and when they’re around you, you tended to get shot at a lot ... Another part of the job was when we would get new guys to train them with the stuff. It was never the same stuff that you were taught with in training. You would have to teach them how to set up claymore mines and tell them what was going on because they never knew when they got there.”

While there were plenty of struggles, there were moments of humor that would also come up from time to time.

“Me and some guys rode shotgun one time on bulldozers,” recalled Howland. “We were taking a run at a big tree and a snake came down, it was a 17’2” python. I took out my .45 pistol and started shooting. The driver pulled out his rifle and started shooting. Pretty soon we could hear machine gun fire in the distance because everyone thought we were getting attacked. But we got the snake.”

Through the memories that were shared at Camp Victory over that weekend, Bogar said he hopes the coming generations will come to understand the importance of the Vietnam War, its effects on the world and learn the truth about the conflict. So many today, he said, have been led to believe several falsehoods about the war and history needs to be revised to speak the truth.

“Vietnam was more important than people give it credit for today,” he said. “We won Vietnam, everyone today believes that we lost the Vietnam War in open combat in 1975 and that just didn’t happen. We won it in 1973, our guys left not in defeat but in victory, but the powers that be couldn’t see it that way. Every veteran today is thanked because that generation of veterans said, ‘Never again.’ Every vet after them owes them that thanks.”