Local Vietnam Veterans Recall Their Service in Vietnam
Written by Justin D. Lamb
The history of the Vietnam War is one we must never forget. From 1954 through 1975, approximately 2,709,918 Americans, both drafted and enlisted, answered the call to serve in Vietnam. As the war dragged on by the late 1960s, it raised many doubts, fears, and questions among the American people and never before had an American war been protested so loudly at home. Due to the war’s unpopularity, many soldiers returning home from Vietnam were robbed of their well deserved hero’s welcome.
If one lesson can be learned of the Vietnam War it should be to remind us to thank our military personnel for putting themselves in harm’s way and for the pain and suffering they may have suffered. It reminds us to think of the families of these brave Americans, their worry and anguish, and be grateful for their sacrifice. And it reminds us to remember those still missing and unaccounted for. With the Vietnam War Memorial Wall coming to the region this week, it is only fitting that we remember our fellow Marshall Countians who served honorably for our country in the jungles of Vietnam.
Larry Pearson
“I was only 16 years old when I joined,” recalled Vietnam veteran Larry Pearson who enlisted in the United States Navy on November 21, 1962. “My mother had to sign a paper stating I was 17 in order for me to join,” he said.
Pearson went to basic training for 3 months at Camp Pendleton in San Francisco and the experience was challenging to the young teenage boy. “Boot camp was rough back then,” recalled Pearson. “If an instructor didn’t like what you were doing he would slap you around,” he said. “There were 60 people in our platoon and there were 3 others besides me that were from Kentucky,” Pearson remembered.
After basic training, Pearson was assigned to the U.S.S. Pyro (AE-24). “When we first shipped out, we went to the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam,” recalled Pearson. When asked what he recalled when he first arrived near the coast of Vietnam for the very first time, Pearson replied “It was a funny feeling that I can’t describe.”
In the early 1960s when Pearson was in service, America was just in an advisory role in Vietnam. The primary mission of the crew on the U.S.S. Pyro was to rearm aircraft carriers and surface combatant ships at sea normally by means of connected replenishment wherein customer ships steam close alongside and received either tensioned or non-tensioned wire rope rigs upon which ammunition is passed “My main job was to replenish ammunition,” Pearson said, “and it was a highly stressful job.”
Pearson was later reassigned to the U.S.S. Tappahannock (A0-43) near the Mekong Delta. The duties of the oiler ship was not glamorous, but was very vital to effort off the Vietnam coast. During the deployment, the Tappahannock steamed 15,000 miles and delivered nearly 135,000 barrels of oil and gasoline.
“I made three tours of duty with my last being in 1967 just as things began to get real bad in Vietnam,” Pearson said. “I was going to re-up, but when they told me I would have to go back to Vietnam, I figured I had been lucky and I didn’t want my luck to run out so I decided not to re-up,” Pearson said.
By the time Ronnye Riley was drafted in 1968, the war had escalated drastically with over 500,000 American boots on the ground following the Tet Offensive, which was the largest coordinated military action to date by the NVA and Vietcong which caught the American forces by surprise and alone killed 16,592 American servicemen. The Tet Offensive is seen as a major turning point in the war which turned the American public against the cause.
Ronnye Riley
“I was drafted in May of ’68 and took basic at Fort Campbell,” recalled Riley. “I arrived in Vietnam on the 4th day of October 1968 at Bien Hoa just outside of Saigon,” Riley recalled, “I was an infantryman and I was part of 25th Infantry Division, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, ‘Manchus.’” The Manchus served in the Ben Luc, Tay Nihn, Cu Chi, Ho Bo Woods in Vietnam and while assigned to the 25th Division, the 4th Battalion received two Presidential Citations and added 12 campaigns streamers to the Regimental Colors for Combat operations in the Republic of South Vietnam. “We slept when we could and the number goal was survival,” recalled Riley.
While Riley was in service he became close to his platoon sergeant, Larry T. Miller. “Larry and I were real close. While we were over there, he and my sister Darlene started writing each other and they eventually got married,” Riley said. “Every one brings a souvenir home from the war, I guess Larry was mine,” Riley joked. Larry Miller passed away in 2005.
When asked to give a reflection on his service in Vietnam, Riley concluded, “I was just like everyone else over there—young and scared.”
On behalf of a grateful nation, we thank each and every Vietnam Veteran who served this country and say “Thank You” and “Welcome Home!”
May your service never be forgotten.