My Grandpa's War

Review Written by Bernie Weisz, Historian,Vietnam War November 20, 2011 Pembroke Pines, Florida U.S.A. Contact: BernWei1@aol.com Title of Review: "Teaching Our Youngest About Vietnam: Sometimes Something Good Can Come From Something Bad!" Can a small twenty page "comic-like" book really explain what the war in Vietnam was like to our youngest generation? The answer is unequivocally "yes!" Former Vietnam Veteran, politician and now author Dave Volk has wonderfully crafted a poignant and concise book that explains very complex issues of American history in an amazingly forthright manner. Of course, this is an oversimplification of the Vietnam War. Nevertheless, this publication is designed for readership by our nation's youngest minds, penned in a frank, comprehensible manner. Vietnam remains as insignificant today for our elementary school students as it did for most of the men that were drafted right out of high school to serve as its combatants. The "Domino Theory, Communist containment and Iron Curtain" are equally trivial. There is no mention in "My Grandpa's War" of the power vacuum that was created in Indochina after the two big bangs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 settled the score of World War II. Neither is there a reason to mention the French being reinstated over the Japanese as colonial masters in Vietnam and their consequent 1954 Viet Minh served debacle at Dien Bien Phu. So is the French exodus from the S.E. Asian mainland not to be found. Explanations of the main players of this conflict and their roles are absent as well. The fact that this was a proxy war, contested between North and South Vietnam with a divider at their 17th Parallel is also omitted. And for that matter, neither is it stated that North Vietnam was supported and supplied by its Cold War communist allies of Red China and the Soviet Union thereby taking on the U.S. supported government of South Vietnam in a bitter civil war. Incidents like the "Tonkin Gulf, Hamburger Hill, Ripcord, the Cambodian Incursion and the Fall of Saigon" are irrelevant to a 10 year old audience. Dave Volk intentionally designed this book so that it would serve as a segue of knowledge from grandfather to grandchild, stimulating further clarification of what this war was about to the men that fought it. It was 1965 when America officially entered the conflict in Vietnam, an ideologically and militarily divided nation that was separated from the U.S. by eight thousand oceanic miles. With the signing of the "Paris Peace Accords" in early January of 1973, our role of upholding and supporting a democratic South Vietnamese government had officially ended with "Vietnamization," and "Peace with Honor." That eighteen year old serving in Vietnam in 1973 is now almost sixty years old. South Dakotan and "Baby Boomer" Dave Volk is one of those "sexagenarians." Of the 2,709,918 Americans that served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be 54 years old. Volk is among the last one third of all the U.S. Vets who served in Viet Nam alive, making it imperative that he carries the torch of knowledge to our youth. In "Draftee," a book the author wrote before this one, Volk clarified his feelings: "History has always been one of my passions, and I have always lamented that so much history is lost before it can be recorded. The huge events, of course, are covered and recovered, but the minutiae of everyday life-the small things that make up people's existence day to day-are too soon forgotten." With an average of 390 Vietnam Veterans dying every day, only a few will survive by 2015. Volk's response to mortality and history is as follows: "Because I did not want to lose those minutiae-the stages, the plots, and the cast of characters of my incredible journey as a soldier-I have decided to try and put it down before time and old age takes it out of reach." Born in 1947, Volk grew up with four other brothers in Mitchell, South Dakota. After graduating from college in 1969, he was drafted into the Army, and spent a year of that "In Country." As previously mentioned, he has a book of his experiences as a combat photographer with the famous 101st Airborne Division entitled "Draftee." Following his tour in Vietnam, where he was awarded both the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal, he became at age twenty five the youngest person ever elected to state office. Serving as South Dakota's State Treasurer, he was reelected four times. Even with Volk spending an additional eight years as his state's Secretary of Commerce, Vietnam was never far from his mind. Appointed by then President Reagan, Volk served as the Chairman for the Vietnam Veteran's Volunteer Program and made it his mission to initiate and maintain an outreach program for troubled veterans suffering from war related issues ranging from PTSD to Agent Orange sickness. The genesis of this book is twofold for Dave Volk. Not only did he feel that it would be a tremendous educational aid to write an exciting, incisive story that would allow youngsters to learn about Vietnam in a more colorful manner than the current scholastically monotonous textbooks in place, but he had the spirit of a close friend inspiring him as well. Vietnam Veteran turned author Rick Eilert was a Marine who in late 1967 suffered serious traumatic leg injuries he incurred while participating in combat. Awarded a "Purple Heart," Eilert endured countless surgeries in a valiant attempt to save his legs from amputation, and in 1968 retired from the Marine Corps as a result of his wounds. The Purple Heart is an American military combat honor award given to those who are wounded or killed in any action against enemy forces. It symbolized Eilert's courage, braveness and dedication he displayed while dealing with mortal danger. Married with two children, Eilert worked at Union Oil Company until frequent surgeries on his leg wounds permanently disabled him. Tragically, in 2010 Rick's left leg was amputated, and on June 9th, 2011 he suffered a fatal heart attack. He documented his ordeal in Vietnam in his 1983 memoir entitled "For Self and Country." However, Volk modeled the "grandpa character" in this book on Eilert's travails. He was also able to bring forth qualities he learned from Eilert as well as ones he himself witnessed in Vietnam and passes on in this book. "My Grandpa's War" is a stirring story that displays a reciprocal love between a ten year old girl named Mae and her grandfather. With "Mae" as the narrator, she gives her simplistic ten year old version of her Grandpa's ordeal in Viet Nam devoid of politics and prejudices. While Dave Volk keeps this interplay of a tender grandfather explaining the deadly, brutal business of war to his little princess, some of the most sensitive issues of the war are poignantly brought forth. One of these is the draft. The fiercest years of the Vietnam War were between 1965 and 1970. In "Draftee," Volk, who served as a two year inductee between 1969 and 1971, points out how much things had changed between these time frames. His following comment in his first book sure rings true: "If life does imitate art-and I happen to think it does-then movies of the times are excellent examples." The hawkish "The Green Berets" was released in June of 1968, a watershed of this war. It played in theatres across America just when the negative fallout from the January, 1968 "Tet Offensive," Dr. Martin Luther King's April 4th and Bobby Kennedy's June 5th 1968 assassinations gathered steam. The film's theme was a tribute to the Green Berets in South Vietnam as well as both pro Saigon and anti Communist. With what was going on that summer, not to mention the August racial riots at Long Binh Stockade in Vietnam as well as the disaster at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, not even John Wayne could reverse public sentiment. America had transformed too fast to believe "The Green Berets" connotation that Vietnam was like the "Cowboys and Indians" of the Wild West." While in 1965 there was no such thing as escaping the draft by running to Canada or Sweden, by 1970 an estimated 70,000 "draft dodgers" had moved north of the border. In "Draftee," Volk added; "I think the biggest problem I had was the number of people who wanted to argue about the war and just assumed that, as a Vietnam Vet, I was pro war. Nothing could have been further from the truth. By 1970 all of us knew the war had been lost." In 1965 you could hear slogans like "My country, right or wrong," "No glory like old glory: and "America;"Love it or leave it." Just five years later popular chants were; "What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam," "One, two, three, four! We don't want your f**king war!" and "Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?" This was not very inspiring to someone recently drafted, who must have thought that he didn't want to be the last to die in a war fought all for nothing." The whole issue of loyalty and gratitude to one's country is highlighted when "Mae," whom Grandpa called "Sarge" in honor of a close friend he served with in Vietnam, explains that she had studied up on the draft and knew of the Canadian exodus of draft evaders. A smart 10 year old, Sarge asked Grandpa what he thought of the draft. Volk could have brought up personal responsibility in this book, like what happened at the My Lai Massacre. Just like there were men in Lt. William Calley's command at My Lai that knew what they were doing was wrong but went along with the slaughter anyway, there were many people in the U.S. that felt that Vietnam was a war to make Colt and Dow rich and that the Tonkin Gulf affair was a charade. Volk handled Sarge's question to Grandpa masterfully. Using "reciprocity and obligation" as the basis, Volk's "Grandpa" answered as follows; "Sarge, this country has been very good to me and our family, and sometimes debts come due that have to be paid." Another interesting facet Volk inculcates within the framework of his story is the conditions a newly arriving soldier in Vietnam had to endure. Scorching heat, daunting triple canopy jungles, monsoon torrential rains and bugs of every shape and size are described. Another very delicate issue Volk handled adroitly was when Sarge asked Grandpa why people were allowed to protest against the war while at the same time he was serving his country and fighting. Ever the politician, Volk countered by having Grandpa explain; "When you live in a country like America, people have the right to do things that you don't understand or might not agree with." Certainly, Vietnam was different from all other wars. Never in a million years would a U.S. Citizen be able to chant in 1944 pro "Hitler or Hirohito" slogans. There are many other nuances and sentiments covered in this unique scenario Volk set up between a loving Grandfather and an adoring granddaughter, all heartwarming to say the least. Beneath these emotions, there are real issues that plagued America during a very difficult time. Bud Willis, author of "Marble Mountain," was a Huey helicopter pilot out of Danang in the early years of the war. A Southerner, Willis eagerly signed up for Vietnam in the early years of the war when most Americans believed they had a mission as the world's policeman to check communism wherever it reared its ugly head. Although a year of flying dangerous combat assault and medevac missions in I Corps would change his opinion of America's chances for success in this war, it is interesting to note what Willis wrote about enlisting in the early days of the conflict: "When you grow up in Tennessee you are likely to be taught the pledge of allegiance before you learn the "Lord's Prayer." That's just how we roll. We were raised on a steady diet of patriotism, and Douglas MacArthur had already lectured us that "no man should consider himself entitled to the blessings of freedom if he was not diligent in its creation." There may have been some crafty ways of avoiding the draft, but most of us weren't handicapped by that kind of privilege, nor did we care for the label "draft dodger." Throughout the South and in Tennessee in particular, we belonged to a culture that made us want to do our part. After all, if Elvis Presley could be drafted, anybody could! What other place in the world could claim the title of "The Volunteer State?" This was not a "Southern thing." Joseph Ward, a Marine Scout Sniper in Vietnam and author of "Dear Mom: A Sniper's Vietnam" hailed from Longmont, Colorado. Ward wrote of his enlistment in the spring of 1967 the following; "I'm from a family with a long and honorable military history, but there hadn't been a Marine in the family yet. I decided to be the first." Christopher Ronneau, author of "Blood Trails" enlisted in mid 1966. His description of that was as follows: "For me, Vietnam was better than a poke in the face with a sharp stick. I got a lot out of it. I grew there. I didn't like the giant global monolith there that was communism and, like the hawks in our government, I believed in former president Eisenhower's domino theory. If one small country in Southeast Asia fell to the Red Menace, the others would soon follow suit, falling like a row of dominos and then everyone involved would be miserable. Wanting to do my share, I volunteered for the Army. In what could only be described as a monumental attack of nearly terminal stupidity, I enlisted only after being guaranteed an assignment to an infantry unit. I had joined the infantry so I would see combat. Such was the state of my adolescent mind." Ronneau came very close to losing his life, narrowly surviving an AK-47 round to his jaw towards the end of his tour. Although it is almost nonexistent to find a memoir of enthusiasm towards enlisting after the "Tet Offensive," A.J. Billings summed up his feelings most eloquently in "Seawolf 28." Billings wrote: "In the early days of the war, bands in clubs would play "God Bless America" themes. To see these young men stand at attention and sing along with the band was something to behold. It was such a contrast from the late days of the Vietnam War, when we had to listen to all the long haired, dope smoking hippies and newspapers trash us." A.J. Billings added this as well; "When I looked at young American sailors standing there, I felt a tremendous sense of pride and at the same time sorry for the hippies. They would never know what it was like to be an American serviceman. They had nothing but themselves and a few illegal drugs to prop up their false courage, knowing full well they would never be put in harm's way. They would never understand what we shared. These men had each other, the Navy and their country to believe in. God, I loved it." Another serious issue Dave Vol