Page 93 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2025 - Online Magazine

army | vietnam

other trucking companies. I retired after ten years of
combined service.

“My family had known my wife Josie’s family when I
was kid. I used to go over and play with her brother. We
didn’t see each other again until I got out of the service
and we met on a blind date. She said, ‘I know you; you
used to come over to my house.’ After dating for two
years, we got married on March 22, 1970. We have one
son, five daughters, seventeen grandchildren, and six
great-grandchildren. As proud as I am of my service, I’m
most proud of my loving family. I love them and know
they love me.”

speak with them, but their Spanish dialect was different Martin was awarded several medals for his service
than mine. We had Montagnard or Vietnamese mountain in Vietnam including an Air Medal, National
dwellers who acted as interpreters. Later, we became Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of
“Airmobile.” They would fly us into different areas in a Vietnam Campaign Medal, and Combat Infantry and
Bell Huey UH-1 or a Boeing Ch-47 Chinook with two .50 Sharpshooter Badges. While all veterans deserve our
caliber gunners on each side of the choppers. The pilots respect for their service to our country, combat veterans
wouldn’t land on the ground, so we had to jump out of deserve an extra measure of gratitude for their courage
the door, about six feet off the ground. We’d get a lot of in the face of danger.
fire coming into an LZ (Landing Zone). I saw more than
one chopper shot down. You’d see a lot of smoke rising
when they crashed.

“I had a few close calls but never got wounded. Once,
I almost stepped on a pongee stick (a booby trap made
of sharpened bamboo sticks hidden in a hole in the
ground). It went up my pants leg but missed my leg.
The scariest time was when we were climbing up a hill
to get to the enemy. The VC shot the sling right off of
my weapon. I immediately slid down the hill. Just a few
seconds one way or the other, and I wouldn’t be here
today!

“When your year was about up in country, you’d start
counting the time until you get out. They would kind
of start looking out for you. They’d put you in camp for
that week and give you guard duty or some other job
like cleaning out the latrines—not fun, but definitely
safer. I finally flew out of Saigon on a commercial plane.
After a short leave, I was assigned to Fort Hood until
I was discharged. A buddy of mine drove me back to
Lubbock.

“I went back to work at Farm Pack for a year, then
went to truck driver’s school and drove for Red
Arrow Freight Line, Overnight Trucking, and several

Lubbock Senior Link 93