thedrifter
09-30-06, 06:37 AM
Widow overcome with gratitude after corpsman's help
Charles Kelly
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 30, 2006 12:00 AM
Ruben V. Rodriguez, 60, of Avondale, was a Navy corpsman with the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marines during the Vietnam War, serving in 1965 and 1966.
His unit was volunteered for many missions and he saw much combat.
During the monsoon season in late 1965, his unit was based at Chu Lai, about 56 miles south of Da Nang on the South China Sea, when it got word that a big South Vietnamese outpost was under heavy attack by the Viet Cong. Rodriguez's battalion was to go help the South Vietnamese Marines defending the outpost.
Visibility was so bad because of the rain that the Americans could not helicopter to the site of the battle until two days later. As they neared the end of their 30-minute flight, they could see that the big mountain where the battle was taking place had smoke all around it. The Marines on the helicopters could hear the rattle of machine guns and the cracking of rifle fire.
When they landed and started to move up the mountain, they could see the bodies of many Viet Cong. When they reached the mesa on top, they saw many corpses of South Vietnamese Marines laid out in rows.
"It was a horrible battle, with hundreds of dead," Rodriguez says.
The American Marines dug in for the night, believing the Viet Cong were regrouping for another attack. But no attack came. American artillery units rained shells around the Marines to discourage the enemy from coming in.
The next day, South Vietnamese women who had traveled with their husbands were brought to the top of the hill to be reunited with their husbands or to claim their dead. When the women found their husbands dead, they would wail and cry, rolling on the ground, beating their fists on the ground, pulling their hair and throwing dirt on themselves.
Rodriguez recalls that the South Vietnamese Marines were making fun of one woman who was grieving and pleading for help. They did so because her dead husband had been a Christian and they were Buddhists. Their behavior upset Rodriguez and some of the other Americans. He was asked by his lieutenant to help her and did so, communicating through a South Vietnamese interpreter.
She said she wanted to put a fresh military uniform on her husband for his funeral. But his fellow soldiers would not help her because they didn't want to touch the body of a Christian.
"Through the interpreter, I told her to go get the uniform and we would change him," Rodriguez says.
Rodriguez and an American Marine went to get the body but had to walk over many other corpses to get to him. When they did find the right body, it was stiff from rigor mortis and they had to break one of the hands and an arm to get the shirt off. After the corpse was dressed in a fresh uniform, the interpreter told the woman that Rodriguez and his fellow Marine would help load her husband on a truck so she could take him to his burial. Because she had become ill, Rodriguez gave her several aspirins.
"I was flabbergasted at what happened next," Rodriguez says. "The woman threw herself at my feet. With tears in her eyes, she kissed my feet. She wrapped her arms around my legs and talked to me in Vietnamese. Turning to our interpreter, I asked what she was saying. He said that she was saying, 'Thank you, American. Thank you, American. God bless you.' "
Ellie
Charles Kelly
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 30, 2006 12:00 AM
Ruben V. Rodriguez, 60, of Avondale, was a Navy corpsman with the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marines during the Vietnam War, serving in 1965 and 1966.
His unit was volunteered for many missions and he saw much combat.
During the monsoon season in late 1965, his unit was based at Chu Lai, about 56 miles south of Da Nang on the South China Sea, when it got word that a big South Vietnamese outpost was under heavy attack by the Viet Cong. Rodriguez's battalion was to go help the South Vietnamese Marines defending the outpost.
Visibility was so bad because of the rain that the Americans could not helicopter to the site of the battle until two days later. As they neared the end of their 30-minute flight, they could see that the big mountain where the battle was taking place had smoke all around it. The Marines on the helicopters could hear the rattle of machine guns and the cracking of rifle fire.
When they landed and started to move up the mountain, they could see the bodies of many Viet Cong. When they reached the mesa on top, they saw many corpses of South Vietnamese Marines laid out in rows.
"It was a horrible battle, with hundreds of dead," Rodriguez says.
The American Marines dug in for the night, believing the Viet Cong were regrouping for another attack. But no attack came. American artillery units rained shells around the Marines to discourage the enemy from coming in.
The next day, South Vietnamese women who had traveled with their husbands were brought to the top of the hill to be reunited with their husbands or to claim their dead. When the women found their husbands dead, they would wail and cry, rolling on the ground, beating their fists on the ground, pulling their hair and throwing dirt on themselves.
Rodriguez recalls that the South Vietnamese Marines were making fun of one woman who was grieving and pleading for help. They did so because her dead husband had been a Christian and they were Buddhists. Their behavior upset Rodriguez and some of the other Americans. He was asked by his lieutenant to help her and did so, communicating through a South Vietnamese interpreter.
She said she wanted to put a fresh military uniform on her husband for his funeral. But his fellow soldiers would not help her because they didn't want to touch the body of a Christian.
"Through the interpreter, I told her to go get the uniform and we would change him," Rodriguez says.
Rodriguez and an American Marine went to get the body but had to walk over many other corpses to get to him. When they did find the right body, it was stiff from rigor mortis and they had to break one of the hands and an arm to get the shirt off. After the corpse was dressed in a fresh uniform, the interpreter told the woman that Rodriguez and his fellow Marine would help load her husband on a truck so she could take him to his burial. Because she had become ill, Rodriguez gave her several aspirins.
"I was flabbergasted at what happened next," Rodriguez says. "The woman threw herself at my feet. With tears in her eyes, she kissed my feet. She wrapped her arms around my legs and talked to me in Vietnamese. Turning to our interpreter, I asked what she was saying. He said that she was saying, 'Thank you, American. Thank you, American. God bless you.' "
Ellie