Pam Dudding
Contributing writer
Vietnam was a time of controversy, both in America and overseas. Many soldiers that served never set their foot back on American soil. Many others simply were not welcomed back.
“I left for the Marine Corp at 19-years-old,” said Billy Lee at the recent Veterans Day Assembly at Craig County High School. “I was one of the oldest in Vietnam, as most were only 18. In fact, if you reached 20, we usually called you ‘grandpa.’”
He said that he and Danny McPherson joined together on the ‘buddy plan,’ “We went through boot camp and didn’t see each other again until four years later.”
Lee explained to the students that he was called a ‘grunt,’ which means an infantryman.
“Our patrol was on the DMZ which was the zone that divided north, and South Vietnam. We patrolled these zones trying to catch the enemy before they crossed over.”
Later, Billy said that all others were taken out of that area except for the Marines and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA).
“Supplies were hard to get also,” Lee noted. “I once went a month and a half with only one britches leg as one had gotten torn off.”
Lee showed students many pictures of Vietnam and of his platoon. “I’m the one with my shirt off and a cigarette in my mouth,” he said to them. “But cigarettes aren’t good for you so don’t do it.”
Lee also said, “When we first went over there, I wore a flight jacket, our camos and we carried a pack with three bandoliers, ammo, six grenades, four canteens of water and we had mortars and other stuff that went with us.”
Later, a new captain came in and took it all away. “He said that we will go just like they go, with only a t-shirt, britches, two grenades, one bandolier, ammo and a soft cup. We lost a lot of people from heat stroke.”
One picture showed of Billy and his fellow comrades on the new Ho-chi-men trail, which was the first time anyone had ever been on it
Lee talked to the teenagers about a “water run,” explaining that when everyone needed water, usually scouts were sent up and down the river, just a few at a time. Others filled up their own canteens. They eventually got a new lieutenant, and he let everyone go at the same time.
“We had a lot of new guys, and they just jumped in the water,” Lee said. On one particular mission, they were in Laos and there was a bunker complex on the other side of the river. Sadly, the NVA opened fire on all of them.
“I lost a whole bunch of friends that day,” said a somber Billy. “We had to go and get them out. Just to let you know how it really was, the river was running red. People don’t realize that a river can run red, but it can from all the blood.”
Lee showed one picture where he got to go to Thailand. He also shared that many Veterans revealed the scariest part about Vietnam was attending a Listening Post (LP), a place where two men were sent out about 100 yards in front of where the platoon was set up for the night.
“Your job was to listen for North Vietnamese enemies who were trying to sneak in,” he shared. “A lot of times, you’d hear them probing the lines, talking and it got really scary.”
The students listened closely to the many stories Lee shared. They seemed especially interested in a military dog named Satan who was with Lee’s battalion twice. He also had nine confirmed kills, meaning he killed them himself.
Lee mentioned one time the NVA overran the First Battalion – Ninth Marines where Satan and his handler were. ”When they were rescued, Satan was laying on top of his handler, and five NVA’s were laying around him where it appeared, he had killed them at the necks,” Billy said before adding, “On another night, they went out on an ambush with Satan who then stopped, and everyone was called back in.”
Though Lee called them back in, superiors told Lee to go anyway, suggesting, “dumb dogs don’t know nothing.”
Again, Satan refused to budge, and his handler assured them that there was something out there. They were finally called back, and mortars were dispersed on the area.
When daylight came, they encroached the area and the NVA had a U-shaped ambush set up where they would have walked into. “If it weren’t for Satan, I probably wouldn’t be here talking to you today,” Lee told the students who were in complete silence.
Bathing wasn’t a known pleasure in the war. “We took baths at a well when we crossed through a village or just in a river. Other than that, we didn’t get a bath,” Lee explained. “When we went on rest and relaxation, we would see people holding their nose. We couldn’t tell we stunk, but we did.” Food, also, was not plentiful.
The last story he shared was one that happened on Christmas Eve where they were on an ambush for NVA’s and had set up trip flares, as there was a curfew, and no one was supposed to be out. A trip flare was tripped, and a clay mortar went off which shoots off a buckshot-like substance.
“We opened fired, and it was dark, but we could hear one breathing,” Lee mentioned. “One Marine crawled out to the sound and came back as all was clear.”
Sadly, they had killed a water buffalo and eight cows. “We had steak for the first time in six months,” Lee said before adding, that the Marine Corp paid the villagers $500 for the buffalo and $300 for each cow at that time. The villagers all had a big feast and even invited them to eat.
Lee welcomed encouraged students to ask him any questions they have whenever they see him around town. Or if they just want to talk.
Lee and other Craig County Veterans have thanked Craig County for never turning their backs on them when they were both serving and came home from war. “They have always treated us with respect, honor and love,” they shared. “And for that, we are eternally grateful.”
