Editor’s Note: “The Vietnam War was a ‘protracted conflict’ that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. It lasted from 1954 to 1975.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)
March 29, 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the end of that war. For the next several months, the Webster Parish Journal will feature area men who fought that war and made it home.
JUST BEING A STUDENT
“In response to criticism of the draft’s inequities, on December 1, 1969, the Selective Service System conducted two lottery drawings – the first draft lottery since 1942 — at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., to determine the order in which men of draft-eligible age (men born between 1944 -1950) were called to report for possible induction into the military in 1970.
The draft lottery was based on birth dates. There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates (including February 29) placed into a deep glass container. The capsules were drawn by hand, opened one by one and then assigned to a sequence number that started at 001 and went until 366. The first date drawn was September 14, followed by April 24, which was assigned to “001” and “002” respectively. The drawing process continued until each day of the year was assigned to a lottery number.
The lower the number was, the higher probability men with the corresponding birthday would be called to serve.” Students of History, “The Draft and the Vietnam War”
By Marilyn Miller
Mike Harper was working and attending the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) in the fall of 1970 when he was called by the Selective Service System to take his physical. He had been in the second lottery drawing.
“I had a lot of friends in the first lottery, so I knew how it worked, and I hoped I had a high number. I remember I was fishing on Lake Murvaul when I got a call. I was No. 10. I felt like I was gonna go.”
When Harper passed his physical, he KNEW he was going to go (to Vietnam). So he withdrew from USL (the University of Louisiana today), and prepared himself as much as a 20-year-old college sophomore could.
“I was actually inducted on May 3, 1971 at the draft board office in Shreveport,” Harper recalled. “They lined us up and told us to take a step forward, then told us we were in the Army. Oh, and they made us take a pledge.”
The next stop for the new soldier was U.S. Army Fort Polk in Leesville, a little over four hours south of Shreveport. And it was summer in Louisiana. Hot enough for the 230-pound Harper to drop to 180-pounds over eight weeks of intense physical training and marching.
According to the U.S. Army, in June of 1962, Fort Polk “became the Army’s largest Infantry Training Center. Its mission: To provide basic training for individual Soldiers, many of them draftees. Fort Polk offered them their introduction to the military, and most would never forget the experience.”
“The number of Soldiers who trained at Fort Polk grew in correlation with the increased Army presence in Southeast Asia, where the U.S. was propping up the non-Communist government of South Vietnam. Training American Soldiers how to fight in difficult jungle conditions became a top priority, and again Fort Polk’s environment fit the bill. And so, Tiger Land was born….”
“More than one million soldiers trained at Fort Polk during the Vietnam War. They trained in two simulated Vietnamese hamlets at Tiger Land which featured earthen berms, sharpened bamboo stake defenses, and booby-trap simulations. A sign at the entrance to the mock, thatched village welcomed trainees to ‘Tiger Land – Home of the Vietnam Combat Soldiers.’”
“Basic Training (at Fort Polk) was teaching the Army way,” Harper explained, “from something as simple as a salute to the handling of rifles, pistols, and explosives.”
An aptitude test that was given to all soldiers revealed that Harper qualified for Officer Candidate School (OCS). All he had to do was sign up for two more years. Harper declined.
“But I thought, maybe I scored high enough to get a good job (Military Occupational Specialties, MOS).” Instead, Harper was assigned to the Infantry. And Advanced Individual Training (AIT) began.
They ran, and marched, and crawled, training in the hot and sticky simulated jungle. Most of the drill sergeants who trained them had already served in Vietnam, so they knew what their new combat soldiers were going to go through.
On top of the physical training, Harper was elected to a leadership position in his barracks, which added two weeks of intensive leadership studies to his AIT. He was made an “acting” E5 (an enlisted man assigned to the responsibilities of a Sergeant but without the rank and pay, often called a Buck Sergeant).
“Toward the end of AIT, they posted a list of duty assignments,” Harper explained. “Twenty-five percent of the company went to Vietnam, 25 to Germany, 25 to Korea, and 25 stayed in the U.S.”
“Ten days later we went to Vietnam.”
Harper was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, 23rd Division. He well remembers stepping off the plane at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam in August of 1971 and breathing in the oppressive air, filled with the odor of burning feces. After “a couple of days” he was sent north to Chalay for in-country training.
“This was new training in tactics…the latest tactics the enemy was doing, including using OUR explosives in booby traps very effectively.” Harper explained that unexploded ordnance was usually taken and blown up. “But if it was too big, we called for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit.” New training also included the “drug talk” – how not to become involved in the many drugs – marijuana, psychedelics, heroin, — that a soldier could get on the black market.
(WATCH FOR PART 2 ON THURSDAY)