by Marty Luebke-Post 23
Author’s note: As we approach Veteran's Day I can't help but think of all the Post 23 members who are no longer with us. Wouldn't it be great if we could make a new friend for every one that passes on? I was recently introduced to Ron while playing golf and we hit it off and am pleased to add him to my dwindling list of friends. In visiting with Ron, it was obvious that he had a story that needed to be told and remembered. He has allowed me to share it with you and although not from Garretson, I think you will find it worth reading.
It seems the value of family and friends become more important as we age. One sad aspect of getting older, is the loss of those close to us. However, the reverse side, which I really like about getting older are all the new people I continue to meet. It is always great to meet new special folks who become good friends. Ron Lewis from Brandon is one of those special people who I can call ‘friend’. In life we are all dealt a different deck of cards and we each handle those cards in different ways. The way Ron handled the cards given him was pretty amazing and worthy of recording. With his permission I have the privilege to relate some of his story and record those lessons in life for future generations.
For some, the Vietnam War seems like ancient history that took place before they were born. The Vietnam War was actually a prolonged struggle in an effort to prevent the spread of Communism, and it ran from 1955 to 1975. It resulted in over 3 million deaths (58,315 from the U.S. and 303,644 wounded). It is important that we remember and learn from history. There is no one better way to learn from than those who experienced firsthand what took place. Ron Lewis is another person who can tell us about some of his own “eye witnesses” to this piece of history. However, before we share some of Ron’s story let’s start from the beginning.
Ron was born Sept 26, 1945 to Wendell and Luella Lewis. He grew up on their family farm NE of Britton SD with one older brother and 3 younger sisters. He graduated from Britton HS in 1964 and went on to attend ND State School of Science majoring in mechanics. He married his HS sweetheart, Mary in 1966 and started ‘the good life’ working as a mechanic in Aberdeen. Life seemed too good to be true. One summer day in 1966 that all changed when he opened a letter from Uncle Sam saying “WE WANT YOU”.
Ron was not about to shirk his patriotic duty and found himself in Ft. Bliss TX for Basic Training. As luck of the draw would have it, his next assignment was Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. Polk Louisiana. After infantry he was given a short 3 week leadership training class. As Ron told me some of his experiences, I could tell in spite of everything that happened there, he had not lost his sense of humor. So follow along as Ron told me his story.
“In the back of my mind I knew all along that I was going to end up in Viet Nam. We don’t like it but I had an obligation to answer the call when our country needs us. Thinking back I really didn’t know what to expect in Viet Nam. It was midnight as we descended to land and everyone was nervous. To avoid becoming a flying target all our lights were turned off as we approached the landing field. After we landed I had to go to the bathroom and was told the latrine was way over there. But I spotted this outhouse not far away so thought I’d go there. I soon realized it was an ‘officer’s only latrine’ but it was a nice unoccupied 5 hole outhouse so I went in. I proceeded to do my duty and when the door opened I expected some high ranking officer would chew me out. Instead in came two Vietnamese women who sat down on each hole beside me to do their own duty. We didn’t communicate but at least I knew I wasn’t the only one who disregarded the ‘officers only’ sign.
"We were all hungry and they had a huge mess hall and were serving food 24/7. To our surprise they had fresh milk and we loaded up on milk. It turned out the milk wasn’t so fresh and everyone who drank it became sick and were vomiting all over the place. I knew I needed to get out of there or my next duty would be cleaning up all the puke.
"After that things happened pretty fast. I was assigned to the 25th Infantry and a specialized elite unit called the ‘Wolf Hounds’. Squad leaders were often the first fatalities and had to be replaced. Within a month I was promoted to SGT to replace a fallen squad leader. Every day we had a seek and destroy mission. The first 6 months we repeated a 3 day routine. 1st day seek out and destroy, 2nd day be on 100% alert outpost and 3rd day be on 50% alert outpost. We got very little sleep and always had to be alert to an ambush or snipers. No mess kitchen followed us into the jungle and we had to survive living off the land. I’m not proud of what we did but we did what we had to do to survive. Our food was not cooked to perfection and for 50 years I would not eat another chicken.
"I learned an important lesson one of my first encounters as squad leader. I was looking ahead with night goggles always looking for danger. All of a sudden I spotted 3 helmets less than 50 yds. away. We opened fire with everything we had. We never hit a one! They were smart, fast and had their own home court advantage. My lesson quickly learned--never underestimate them. I later learned there were underground tunnels everywhere and some of them as long as 25 miles.
"In another fighting encounter I clearly saw a women carrying her small baby. They all disappeared in the tall woods. To make a long story short, we eventually had to call in an air strike. I later learned the woman was a nurse trying to help their wounded. There was no underground tunnel there for her or her baby to escape.
"One strange thing about that jungle was I never saw or heard a bird. Perhaps they were smarter than us and got the hell out of where all the shooting was going on. The firepower of airstrikes were beyond description. In the heat of battle mistakes are made. On one occasion a miscalculation of coordinates resulted in 30 of our men being killed by friendly fire before the coordinates were corrected.
"During my entire tour of duty we never took a prisoner. Our orders were to kill and complete a body count. It was kill or be killed with sometimes combat engagements we were within 5 yds. of each other. Visibility is poor and sometimes it’s hard to know who the enemy is.
"The hardest part was losing buddies. Billy and I looked after each other and always had each other’s back. On one assignment he hit a trip wire and it blew him in half. I lost 34 men in my squad and after a while you don’t want to get close or even know their names. I had a nickname for everyone. We were tired and miserable in sweltering heat and always soaking wet (no socks or shorts and even our toenails dropped off). No one wore rank or dog tags (which made for difficult body ID but silence and stealth was more critical). You had to be mentally and physically strong to survive. I learned to cry without shedding a tear.
"On another encounter a sniper took out two of our men and I got mad and lost what most would consider common sense. I just went after that sniper and by the time I got closer to him I could tell he was already wounded laying on his back with his bolt action rifle across his chest. I couldn’t see him clearly in the tall sugar cane but told him in Vietnamese to surrender. When I heard his rifle bolt action open and close--I fired first. I received the Army Commendation Medal.
"I will never forget the day of May 16. A 51 caliber machine gun was taking out our men. I couldn’t believe it but our orders were to charge and to overrun that machine gun. Soon we were laying there like sitting ducks and 3 men were already killed. If we didn’t charge and overtake it we would have all been killed. Our seven remaining men tried to overrun that machine gun. Two of us made it and I got within close enough range to take it out with a hand grenade. For that I was awarded the Bronze Star of Valor and a 3 day pass.
"After about 6 months I was finally granted some much needed R and R. I went to Hawaii and met my wife. We rented a convertible and had a grand time. At the end of R and R, the last thing I wanted to do was go back to fighting. I was sure I’d never get out alive or in one piece. As I walked to board my plane I hesitated and a Colonel walking behind me must have known what I was thinking. He said ‘soldier, keep going-don’t look back’. And so I did and returned to fighting in the jungle.
"After I was getting short (30 days left) they thought I’d had seen enough combat fighting and was assigned to base loading choppers with supplies and helping identify bodies at the morgue. The morgue was a horrific place and those assigned there had an awful job. They did their best trying to drain the last blood before putting dismembered parts in body bags. However, my duty was short lived as a major battle started and I was told they needed me back.
"Everyone has heard of the TET-OFFENSIVE which was the beginning of the end of the war. This was like going from the frying pan into the fire. The first 48 hours I was there it was never dark because of all the sheer firepower and explosions going off all around you. There was no place to hide so you tried to find the best protection possible—next to or behind dead bodies. Sometimes the stench was so bad you had to find another body. Anyone who has hunted knows the sound of a rifle report when it is a solid kill hit-I heard a lot of those ‘thugs’. (Editor Note-I can’t imagine what that must have sounded like when you know it was a dead comrade that took the bullet meant for you). I received my second Bronze Star. Again I don’t know how I survived but fortunately my time was soon up and I was told to turn in my rifle and board a 727. I said I wouldn’t turn in my rifle until I was on that plane and they didn’t argue with me. There were no seats and we all laid on the floor as they put big straps across every row of soldiers.
"We landed in San Francisco and all I wanted to do was get back home. By then I knew the best thing to do was tell them what they wanted to hear so they wouldn’t keep me there. At the airport there were protesters everywhere and I didn’t really know what was going on. Finally they let me go home for some R and R before returning to Ft. Bliss. When I got to Ft. Bliss they said, based on my experience, they wanted me to help train new officers who were going to be sent to Viet Nam. I really didn’t want to do that and as I was talking to a guy about wanting to get back home on the farm he said he could help. Before I knew it he had made the right connections and I was given an early out to help my dad farm.
"I remember going to Fargo where they gave me my discharge physical. After running some tests everyone got real excited and said my ‘triglycerides’ were off the chart and rushed me by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital. There some Dr. was giving me a bad time about wanting to get VA disability pension for my high triglycerides. I told him, ‘hell I don’t even know what a triglyceride is and all I want to do is get back home’.
"I got back home and just tried to get back to that of a normal farmer raising a family. I used to do a lot of hunting but I gave away or sold all my guns (I acquired some again later but have no intention of killing anything). I was involved with community and joined our American Legion Post and served as Commander of our Color Guard. About 2 years after returning home I was working in the shop when a big black Limo pulled into the yard. Someone in a military uniform stepped out and said General so and so wants to talk to you. So I was dumbfounded--what did I do now to get in trouble! The General told me that after reviewing my service record they wanted me to serve on the local draft board for Marshall and Day County. I had no desire to do that and told him so. He gave me his card and said give me a call if you change your mind. Later as I thought about it, I decided it might be a good opportunity. I called and was appointed and after serving two months I was the head of the draft board (eventually included Brown County). Between the times I was chairman and when the draft ended 2 years later, we never drafted another person.
"Farming was tough and 18% interest rates were squeezing many out. It appeared the best thing for our family was to let my dad continue farming while I got a job. I was offered a manager position in California but turned that down. Cenex in Wisconsin offered me a truck driving job and I soon after became a dispatcher. Before long a manager position opened in Aberdeen and they asked if I would take that. Soon IA and NE were added to our region and I was ask if I would move to Sioux Falls and take over as regional manager. I did and we kept growing, expanding and specializing which allowed us to even do work for our competitors and this worked out very well.
"In 2010 I retired and have been enjoying the good life. I enjoy working in my shop, fishing, golfing and traveling. We have been spending our winters at our home in Florida. Mary and I raised two daughters and now have 5 fantastic grandchildren. We also enjoy spending time with family and friends at our cabin on Lake Poinsett."
When I ask Ron about his thoughts on young people entering the military he said his feelings were mixed. “Unfortunately some politicians and high ranking generals put money and other things ahead of a real concern for people. In war there is little respect or value to life. When I was drafted my pay was $97.00 a month. Today’s government is subsidizing everyone and almost everything. Military pay and benefits are sometimes better than the private sector. If we have future wars I’m afraid they will be far different and not won with bullets and bombs. It could impact everyone considering our vulnerability of things like our food and water supply or our power grid. Just look what Covid has done to our country and the world.”
In conclusion, I realize it was not easy to share many of the above experiences. Even though Ron saved many lives he does not consider himself a hero but someone who did what he had to do. You won’t see a purple heart with his other metals but he should have one. When Billy was killed Ron was also wounded but he patched himself up and just kept going (never reporting it). Ron will never forget Billy or his other lost comrades. However, knowing Ron as I do, the number of men who might have lost their lives would have been far greater without his bravery and leadership. We thank you Ron for your service, sacrifices and sharing a small part of your story. We just scratched the surface and Ron should write his own book.
When I ask Ron if he believed in ‘Guardian Angels' he said, “If there was ever an example of a walking talking miracle, I am surely it.”
Ron’s final words of wisdom were, “We come into this world alone with nothing and leave the same way. Life is short so do what you enjoy and do it while you still can."
