Vietnam, George Shepherd

While serving in Vietnam, there were several times when things got pretty tense and my palms would get sweaty.

I was drafted into the Army on June 6, 1968. After basic training, I was sent to Fort Gordon, Ga., where I learned to use a Teletype. During the first eight weeks, we learned to type at least 30 words a minute with no mistakes and how to make paper tape for transmission. You only had two chances to learn how to do it or you flunked out and were sent to another branch of the Army.

Then I went to cryptographic school. The FBI had to run a background check, so I was able to have secret-crypto clearance. I learned how to encrypt messages on various encoding machines.

In January 1969, I received orders to go to Vietnam. We flew to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, and landed in the afternoon. It felt as if we had stepped into a furnace, it was so hot.

I went by bus from Binh Hoa to Long Binh and noticed there was steel-mesh wire fastened to the outside window. This was to protect against the Viet Cong throwing hand grenades or some other type of explosive. During our trip, we had some small arms fire come at us. We had gun jeeps with us and they returned fire. We went on through to the 90th Replacement Company. This is where the majority of all Army troops came into the country.

I stayed at Long Binh and was assigned to HHD 1st Logistical Command, 472nd Signal Detachment. I reported for duty Feb. 22 and started my first shift. It lasted from noon to midnight. Before our shift was over, I was ordered to accompany one of the older guys on a courier run to 44th Signal Company, the main command center on post. We left about 10:45 p.m. and I was told to take two M-14s and four ammunition magazines with us. When we arrived at the 44th, it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. We finished and returned to our command center.

We were all tired and were about to go to sleep, when all hell broke loose. Little did we know at the time, but the Tet counteroffensive had started. We were having mortars and 122-mm rockets incoming. They were trying to hit the officers’ compound across the creek from us. We didn’t waste any time and got into our bunker. We finally got our gear and headed back to the command center. As we were returning to headquarters, a machine gun opened fire on us. No one was hit though.

We could see the North Vietnamese Army trying to get through the main perimeter at a place we called Tanker Valley. They got through, but were beaten back by morning. When we got to the command center, we went to work. We had to be ready to destroy any and all classified documents and equipment, in the event that we were going to be overrun. Luckily, that didn’t happen. We continued to keep the command center in operation. Before we got the all-clear, we worked four hours on and four hours off for 36 hours. We slept in the repair room on the floor.

While in Vietnam, I also spent time working with the reactionary force. It was not any fun at all. In fact, it was downright spooky.

One night, while we were waiting for a truck to take us back to the company, Joseph Heiser Jr., our commanding general, came out for a minute. We didn’t recognize him. We saw an incoming rocket and we all hit the ground. It landed about 150 feet from us and threw shell fragments all around. None of us were injured, but all of us were scared, including the general.

The closest calls I experienced included a piece of shrapnel landing about five feet away from where I was resting and a rocket hitting our mess hall and barracks.

I finished my time in Vietnam working in the message center and delivering messages to the 44th. The night we were processing to get out, we were read the riot act. We were told we had to discard anything that said U.S. government on it or that we wouldn’t be going home for a while. We boarded a United Airlines plane and cheered when it took off. We were so thankful we were going home and returning in one piece.