thedrifter
05-17-07, 04:33 AM
In Uniform: Vietnam vet's story beats the history books
May 17, 2007
By Jim Hook Staff writer
Paul Kent wants to set the record straight.
He and his platoon of combat Marines helped rebuild villages during the Vietnam War, not destroy them.
His platoon didn't desecrate or mutilate the bodies of their enemies; they brought them back into the villages where they were reclaimed by their families and given proper burials.
Kent and his fellow Marines did not rape and violate civilians; they provided medical treatment and urged them to use reasonable sanitary habits.
And, finally, he and his fellow Marines did not shoot innocent civilians, but protected them as they went about their business of raising food for their families and trying to survive in dignity.
Kent tells his stories to students because he wants them to know that many men and women in uniform served their country honorably during the Vietnam War.
He recently spoke to a group of history students at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island.
The Palos Heights man spent a year in Vietnam as a member of the Combined Action Program, which consisted of a Marine rifle squad, a medical corpsman and a Vietnamese Popular Force platoon all living and fighting together.
Stopping often to maintain his composure, Kent told of the high casualties his platoon suffered during the year that began in the summer of 1969.
He talked about living in a jungle "full of booby-traps and thousands of hostile Vietnamese civilians."
"Images of fanatical Viet Cong pouring out of jungles and rice paddies hovered in the minds of each of us as we hunkered down for our first night of attempted sleep in such hostile territory," Kent told the rapt audience. "Each Marine or corpsman pondered the distance to the nearest American military base.
"We calculated how long it would take for help to arrive," Kent said. "We also knew that, when needed, help would probably not arrive in time."
But they pressed on.
They endured stifling, suffocating heat and humidity that threatened to suck the life right out of them.
He dropped 37 pounds from his 175-pound frame.
Kent remembered torrential rains that swelled the river banks 24 inches in one 24-hour period, and he recalled the army of red ants that floated by as well as the snakes and vermin that seemed to be everywhere.
"But we were Marines, and we knew we had a job to do," Kent said. "And we did it."
He remembers "Smitty" and "Foxtrot" and some of his other platoon members who were killed or injured by exploding booby traps.
Kent said he remembered the smells.
"In the summer heat after the monsoon season, the earth would reek of a decaying smell," he said. "We could smell the enemy when he was close by.
"When we smelled the odor of fresh dirt, we knew the enemy was nearby," Kent said. "Even today, when I smell fresh earth, my senses go on alert."
Depression and exhaustion were their constant companions.
"We all felt at one time or another that life was meaningless," Kent said. "We sometimes had to remind ourselves that we were Marines and had to overcome thoughts of home and press on."
He remembers seeing printed fliers offering $200 for every dead Marine. Laughing, he recalled saying, "We should be worth more than that."
Kent also remembers squeezing the trigger and "taking the life of a 16-year-old Viet Cong who had his rifle sights on me."
"And then I remember how young we all were," he said.
They weren't much older than the students hanging on every word Kent spoke.
The students said they liked Kent's vivid details, something most text books fail to provide.
"He told us in graphic detail what he and his fellow Marines went through," said Angel Nieves, a junior from Blue Island. "You could tell the pride he still has in being a Marine."
Daniel Zaragoza, a sophomore from Blue Island, said he enjoyed hearing Kent's firsthand accounts of the war.
"It sure beats what we read about in the books," he said. "This is the real thing."
Ellie
May 17, 2007
By Jim Hook Staff writer
Paul Kent wants to set the record straight.
He and his platoon of combat Marines helped rebuild villages during the Vietnam War, not destroy them.
His platoon didn't desecrate or mutilate the bodies of their enemies; they brought them back into the villages where they were reclaimed by their families and given proper burials.
Kent and his fellow Marines did not rape and violate civilians; they provided medical treatment and urged them to use reasonable sanitary habits.
And, finally, he and his fellow Marines did not shoot innocent civilians, but protected them as they went about their business of raising food for their families and trying to survive in dignity.
Kent tells his stories to students because he wants them to know that many men and women in uniform served their country honorably during the Vietnam War.
He recently spoke to a group of history students at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island.
The Palos Heights man spent a year in Vietnam as a member of the Combined Action Program, which consisted of a Marine rifle squad, a medical corpsman and a Vietnamese Popular Force platoon all living and fighting together.
Stopping often to maintain his composure, Kent told of the high casualties his platoon suffered during the year that began in the summer of 1969.
He talked about living in a jungle "full of booby-traps and thousands of hostile Vietnamese civilians."
"Images of fanatical Viet Cong pouring out of jungles and rice paddies hovered in the minds of each of us as we hunkered down for our first night of attempted sleep in such hostile territory," Kent told the rapt audience. "Each Marine or corpsman pondered the distance to the nearest American military base.
"We calculated how long it would take for help to arrive," Kent said. "We also knew that, when needed, help would probably not arrive in time."
But they pressed on.
They endured stifling, suffocating heat and humidity that threatened to suck the life right out of them.
He dropped 37 pounds from his 175-pound frame.
Kent remembered torrential rains that swelled the river banks 24 inches in one 24-hour period, and he recalled the army of red ants that floated by as well as the snakes and vermin that seemed to be everywhere.
"But we were Marines, and we knew we had a job to do," Kent said. "And we did it."
He remembers "Smitty" and "Foxtrot" and some of his other platoon members who were killed or injured by exploding booby traps.
Kent said he remembered the smells.
"In the summer heat after the monsoon season, the earth would reek of a decaying smell," he said. "We could smell the enemy when he was close by.
"When we smelled the odor of fresh dirt, we knew the enemy was nearby," Kent said. "Even today, when I smell fresh earth, my senses go on alert."
Depression and exhaustion were their constant companions.
"We all felt at one time or another that life was meaningless," Kent said. "We sometimes had to remind ourselves that we were Marines and had to overcome thoughts of home and press on."
He remembers seeing printed fliers offering $200 for every dead Marine. Laughing, he recalled saying, "We should be worth more than that."
Kent also remembers squeezing the trigger and "taking the life of a 16-year-old Viet Cong who had his rifle sights on me."
"And then I remember how young we all were," he said.
They weren't much older than the students hanging on every word Kent spoke.
The students said they liked Kent's vivid details, something most text books fail to provide.
"He told us in graphic detail what he and his fellow Marines went through," said Angel Nieves, a junior from Blue Island. "You could tell the pride he still has in being a Marine."
Daniel Zaragoza, a sophomore from Blue Island, said he enjoyed hearing Kent's firsthand accounts of the war.
"It sure beats what we read about in the books," he said. "This is the real thing."
Ellie