Combat soldiers have a story worth telling but will they be told?

by Gary Chamberlain

Our country is blessed with many veterans who have served their country in combat, to our media I would say “The stories are out there will you seek them out?”

One month before each Veterans Day and Memorial Day I plan on sending this story to our media with the hopes that if it is published, other combat veterans will share their stories.

I believe we would be a better country if every boy and girl had to serve their country for two years in the military. By serving their country, our youth would have skin-in-the-game, achieve some discipline and respect for those that have served their country.

Veterans, if we don’t tell our stories publicly or at least share them with our families, we are missing an opportunity to make those that never served our country aware of our sacrifice. Those who have never walked in our shoes will never know the sacrifices we have willingly made for our country.

Not every combat soldier is the recipient of a citation however their sacrifice for their country is just as important and they have their own story to tell.

I met a lady veteran in Cherokee County, NC who was the recipient of a Bronze Star and I would love to know what she and other veterans did to be the recipients of these honors. Veterans Service Offices would be a good place for our media to determine who might be willing to tell their stories.

It is my hope that by sharing my story, other veterans or their family members will publicly share the stories about the sacrifices they and all of our combat soldiers have made for our country. Some of these combat soldiers are alive and some are not, all of these stories are important because they have had a lasting impact on the soldier and their families.

As a 20 year old in 1967, I was leaving for Vietnam from Oakland, CA on the USS General Nelson Walker with many other soldiers and we knew not what our fate in Vietnam would be but on August 27, 1967 my fate was revealed.

I offer the details of that day for which I was the recipient of a Purple Heart and Silver Star and an excerpt about my experience through the eyes of my Troop Commander Captain David Staley in a book titled “Search & Destroy” by Keith Nolan.

Captain David Staley is a man I totally respected for his leadership and willingness to lead from the front and by example. Captain Staley was also the recipient of a Purple Heart and Silver Star.

I honor those that never returned to their families or their country in my writing of “We are their Voices”.

This is my story about “We Are Their Voices”

Only surviving combat soldiers can tell the stories of other combat soldiers with any accuracy, for we have walked in the same type of boots at some point in time. Not all of our stories are identical but those of us that returned from combat must honor those that didn’t by being their voices.

Every Veterans Day and Memorial Day my American flag reminds me of my last minutes in Vietnam after being airlifted out of a combat zone, full of morphine with my best buddy next to me in a UH-1 helicopter. We were heading to a safe location for medical attention. I would eventually be going home due to my injuries and was one of the lucky ones so to speak.

More importantly to this story is my recurring memory, not of my circumstance, but of the two American soldiers, whose names were Edward Moldovan and Francis Schmaltz. Their names were recently revealed to me by my Vietnam First Sergeant, Jim Johnson from Killeen, TX.

These two men, like many others, lost their earthly voices on October 27, 1967. They did not return home and their Western Union telegram to their families read much different than mine!

At the time of the incident, I didn’t know who these two American combat soldiers were but I was on the friendly side of an NVA bunker when I spotted them on the ground. These two American soldiers had encountered the full wrath of enemy NVA machine gun. I will never forget the desire to help them and be close enough to know that they were wounded so badly that their fate was most likely sealed but we still tried to help them. “Leave no soldier behind” was instilled in us!

In the end, try as we might to help them, they perished. They would be remembered as two soldiers that gave of themselves for the good of their combat partners and our country.

On Monday, May 25, 2015, my First Sergeant Jim Johnson emailed me, with this message that is worth repeating and passing on, “Yes, Gary, I remember that day pretty well. We had about 10 of our men hit that day including 3 medics on the (APC) armored personnel carrier behind us. I loaded Moldovan and Schmaltz on a chopper with a medic trying to keep them alive but they were probably already dead. Later, Captain Staley and I loaded some more men from the 8th CAV-First Cavalry Division who were dead for sure. The next day, I went to the medics down at Chu Lai to check on our wounded soldiers and raised hell with the medics because they hadn’t even washed your face from the previous day (now that’s the kind of leader our First Sergeant was and still is!). Hope you and your wife have a good Memorial Day and God bless both of you - - - Jim.”

As veterans and families of combat soldiers, we must keep our combat stories alive with the hope that those who live in this country appreciate the sacrifice our combat soldiers have paid for them.

There were 58,220 Armed Forces members that lost their life and voices in Vietnam. For me, my heart has much empathy for those that serve our country and especially our combat soldiers of any war.

On a lighter note, I spent my 21 birthday hospitalized in Japan, watching “Bonanza” in Japanese and receiving a phone call from my parents. I feel very blessed to be able to be a living voice for those that had their life and voice silenced by all wars.

Veterans, we have an opportunity to continue serving our country by mentoring our youth and there is nothing more satisfying than doing so.

How do you honor those that have served our country and especially those that gave their life?