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Vietnam Veterans Day serves as reminder to share service members’ stories

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Members of the Northeast Iowa Vietnam Veterans Association gathered in Colesburg on March 29, the designated National Vietnam Veterans Day. Group members Gary Meyer (left) and Mike Schmelzer presented fellow member Ron Soppe (right) with a display case for his medals, which include three purple hearts, a bronze star and distinguished service cross. (Submitted photo)

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

 

Members of the Northeast Iowa Vietnam Veterans Association gathered in Colesburg on March 29, the designated National Vietnam Veterans Day. The date signifies March 29, 1973, as when the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam.

 

“Last year, we gathered in Colesburg. One of our members has a restaurant/bar over there, and we thought we’d continue on with it. We had a great turnout, almost 25 members and their spouses and other supporters,” said Dennis Mason, a Marquette resident who recently spoke about the event with fellow veterans Mike Schmelzer and Gary Meyer, both of Garnavillo.

 

While last week’s get-together served as a meeting for members to discuss the process of establishing personalized license plates for Vietnam veterans, Mason said it was also a social gathering and opportunity to recognize member Ron Soppe.

 

“He’s a pretty well decorated soldier. He’s got three purple hearts, a distinguished service cross, a bronze star,” Mason shared. “Mike and Gary made a display case for his medals.”

 

According to Schmelzer, earning three purple hearts is rare.

 

“It’s very seldom you return to the field three separate times,” he explained, “but he was a combat medic.”

 

Soppe’s distinguished service cross, which is recognition just below the medal of honor, was for his 1968 role in rescuing and getting several other service members to an evacuation helicopter during an enemy assault. Despite being wounded himself, Soppe refused to evacuate so he could aid others until the next helicopter arrived.

 

“He did his part,” said Schmelzer, “and we thought, being it was Vietnam Vets Day, we should make sure he got recognition.”

 

Soppe’s story has been recorded in a book.

 

“It’s a diary of what he wrote himself,” Meyer described. “Then, on the opposite page, he has word by word what the unit did, what they engaged in or what their mission was that day.”

 

It’s a rare perspective into the Vietnam War, as is the story of another member, Dan Hefel, a Guttenberg resident whose POW experience was chronicled in a documentary.

 

These stories, said Schmelzer, serve as a reminder of the importance of recording all Vietnam veterans’ personal experiences.

 

He cited a recent article from a Vietnam War magazine that noted, as of 2019, only an estimated 775,000 of the 3 million Americans who served in Vietnam were still alive. An average of 400 veterans have died each day since, shrinking that total even further.

 

“We’re getting fewer members and fewer Vietnam veterans period. In about five more years, there won’t be many people to tell their stories,” Schmelzer said. “The magazine recommended that the Vietnam vets who are alive, that it would be a good time to do a biography on the Vietnam War.”

 

“Everyone has their own story,” he continued. “I was Army infantry, Gary was in infantry. Dennis was in the Marines. We have Navy who were on boats and the Air Force was support for those in the field. Then, not only all the different branches, but the different units. And every spot in Vietnam—some were up north, some were down Saigon way, some on the Laos border and some on the Cambodian border. That makes us unique as a group.”

 

“It’s quite a mix of history when you visit,” Mason added. “A lot of those stories aren’t told or passed on.”

 

Few service members were able to keep a diary, like Soppe. Schmelzer and Meyer said letters were even rare.

 

“For me, when you were in the field and wrote and got letters, it was a no-no just to keep them. In case you got captured, they could write back to your parents and say, ‘We’ve got him, we’re torturing him,’” Schmelzer stated.

 

Some survived, though.

 

“I’ve got every letter I wrote home to my mother. She saved them all,” Meyer noted.

 

Mason said letters he wrote to his sister have also been kept.

 

When asked how difficult it might be for some Northeast Iowa Vietnam Veterans members to share their experiences, Mason simply stated, “Some will, some won’t.”

 

It will help, said Schmelzer, if they do it together.

 

Despite coming from different families and backgrounds, the service members—many of them drafted and at that time barely even adults—bonded through shared experiences in Vietnam. And they, unfortunately, shared the same experiences returning home.

 

“You didn’t even want to wear your uniform when you came back because you were treated like a dog,” Schmelzer recalled.

 

“You were spit on and called names,” Mason added.

 

When the American Legion wasn’t so welcoming, Vietnam veterans banded together to form their own groups, like the Northeast Iowa Vietnam Veterans Association. Members have supported one another through both physical and mental health issues and fought to gain benefits for not only themselves but veterans from other wars.

 

Vietnam Veterans Day can be used as a time to heal, to celebrate as a group, Schmelzer said. “It takes a special person to open up. But I think our get-togethers make it a lot easier for people to do, especially as a group than an individual.”

 

“It’s full circle. That’s why we’re supporting Vietnam veterans,” Mason reflected. “It’s not only for ourselves, but to educate others who want to learn more. We’re going to continue as long as we can.”

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