thedrifter
06-04-09, 08:57 AM
Viet Vet: Never forget the POW, MIA
By Tammy Compton
Wayne Independent
Waymart -
A metal bracelet encircles Frank Roche’s wrist.
Without looking, the Waymart resident can tell you word for word what it says. “Daniel Raymond Phillips, US Army, February 7, 1968 MIA.”
A Vietnam vet, Frank never met Daniel Phillips. The day Frank landed in Nam is the day Daniel disappeared. That date ties them together. So too, does their service in Nam. And Frank’s not the type to forget his brothers and sisters in arms.
His T-shirt bears the unmistakable POW*MIA flag. Five words beneath the flag tell all. “Their war is not over.”
We can’t afford to forget them, he says. “We don’t want to forget about them. We have to keep after our government, to keep the search on,” he says. Quietly spoken, his words run deep with emotion.
“I have this thing about POWs. But yet, we’re all prisoners of war, even you. Now. All of us. We have soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan ...We can not get away from it, whether we’re for the war or not. You know, it’s our brothers, fathers, sisters, now,” he said.
“I mean, every time you turn on the news, that’s what they’re talking about. President Obama wants to get us out of Iraq. People are still complaining because President Bush put us in there. It doesn’t matter who put us there or who’s getting us out. The thing is, they’re there now. We have to support these men,” he said. “I’m not for this war in Iraq. But I’m not against the soldiers that are there,” he says.
Talking about Nam
He doesn’t want to talk about Nam, but he’ll share what he can.
“I don’t have a lot of good memories,” he says. Leafing through 40-year-old snapshots, he selects two. Vietnamese children, teenage and younger, fill the photo. They’re looking for food. “These are things that really troubled me. That’s the dump,” he says, holding up the photos. “And when I first went over there, a fella told me to me, ‘Take a ride on the garbage truck.’ All you did was pull up. You don’t get out. You stay inside. And the kids will just overwhelm your truck and empty the barrels. But that’s the dump. There’s nothing there. They take every single thing they can,” he says. “They had nothing. Those children had nothing ...That’s very sad. And that’s going on now in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan,” he says.
He’s not ready to put it all under the microscope. The stuff that haunts his dreams is private.
Frank was drafted in 1967. He completed basic training, then advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He received artillery training on 105 mm howitzers. “And then I went oversees,” he says.
He served in Nam from February, 1968 to February, 1969, part of the Army’s 101st Airborne, 2nd Battalion, 11th Artillery. “The Tet Offensive had started the end of January, so things were pretty hairy there,” Frank says.
“I have a very strange kind of story because I went with the 2nd Battalion, 11th Artillery, but that was the Americal Division. But the 101st needed the 155 howitzers, the split-tails, and that’s how I wound up with the 101st. They took the whole unit ... I did something that was rare. I convoyed half that country. We drove up Route 1, from Duc Pho to Phu Bai,” he said.
As he talks of the Tet Offensive, he says, “We won every battle, but why is it the way it is? And see, that’s where I go back to our politicians. They didn’t let us win,” he said. “Because, it was a political war ...I’m sure you’ve seen different movies. You go in and you control an area. But, then, a week later, you would leave ...And, as soon as you left, (the enemy) went right back into that area. So, what was that all about?”
“I had my faith”
In Nam, do you just concentrate on the mission at hand? How do you keep it together? “I had my faith,” Frank says. “I’m the youngest of six kids. And my parents were very, very strong on our faith. And you have your faith, and letters home, and a couple friends that were there with me. And if you got scared — which you were —nobody made fun of anybody ...We all supported each other,” he said. “We weren’t afraid to talk to each other, because we all had the same feelings. We had our little calendars that we would keep and check off the days until you went home. We encouraged each other to go on R&R’s.
“I had a fantastic 1st Sgt. He made sure everybody got to the rear for a couple of days, to get clean showers,” he says. Going back to Camp Eagle meant you could let your guard down, “and you got to have a good shower, hot meals, drink a few beers, hangout, just talk and relax. Relax.” Someone else had your back. Fellow soldiers were standing guard.
How did faith factor in? How do you draw on faith in a bad situation? “Believe that there is a purpose for all of this, for whatever it is. It’s not necessarily for me to know. But there is a purpose for all of this. And it’s up to us, man, all of us, to learn. Hopefully, to learn from our mistakes, so we don’t repeat them,” he said.
Not alone
When it comes to talking about the past, is it every man to his own decision? Talk about it, get it out? Share it with other vets? “Some do. Some don’t,” Frank says.
“I had just spoken with an Iraqi veteran. He was in the Marines. Myself and a Korean veteran were talking, and he was there. And he made the comment, ‘Stories. I don’t believe in stories.” I explained to him, ‘Listen to the stories, because someday, they’re going to help you.’ He still has a lot of anger. He doesn’t realize it, you know? And there’s older guys that will sit and talk with him and let him know he’s not alone.”
Where does that anger come from? “He don’t want the memories. He don’t want the whole conflict. He don’t want the war. So, he goes back to the prisoner of the war. He’s a prisoner of that war. It’s going to live in his brain now. He’s got the images, the smells,” Frank says.
If he fills in what he remembers, what were the images and the smells? What does he want us to understand that we can’t possibly imagine, because we weren’t there? “I don’t know how to explain it,” he says. “There’s a pin I saw for sale, and it says, ‘The one thing about Vietnam. It killed so many who have survived.’ But that’s not only Vietnam. Now, it’s the war in Afghanistan. In Iraq.”
VIETNAM VETERANS from Wayne County are welcome to share their story, which we will print in the newspaper and in a special hard cover book on Wayne County veterans this fall. Contact Managing Editor Peter Becker to arrange a time for an interview, by calling him at (570)253-3055 or emailing pbecker@wayneindependent.com.
Ellie
By Tammy Compton
Wayne Independent
Waymart -
A metal bracelet encircles Frank Roche’s wrist.
Without looking, the Waymart resident can tell you word for word what it says. “Daniel Raymond Phillips, US Army, February 7, 1968 MIA.”
A Vietnam vet, Frank never met Daniel Phillips. The day Frank landed in Nam is the day Daniel disappeared. That date ties them together. So too, does their service in Nam. And Frank’s not the type to forget his brothers and sisters in arms.
His T-shirt bears the unmistakable POW*MIA flag. Five words beneath the flag tell all. “Their war is not over.”
We can’t afford to forget them, he says. “We don’t want to forget about them. We have to keep after our government, to keep the search on,” he says. Quietly spoken, his words run deep with emotion.
“I have this thing about POWs. But yet, we’re all prisoners of war, even you. Now. All of us. We have soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan ...We can not get away from it, whether we’re for the war or not. You know, it’s our brothers, fathers, sisters, now,” he said.
“I mean, every time you turn on the news, that’s what they’re talking about. President Obama wants to get us out of Iraq. People are still complaining because President Bush put us in there. It doesn’t matter who put us there or who’s getting us out. The thing is, they’re there now. We have to support these men,” he said. “I’m not for this war in Iraq. But I’m not against the soldiers that are there,” he says.
Talking about Nam
He doesn’t want to talk about Nam, but he’ll share what he can.
“I don’t have a lot of good memories,” he says. Leafing through 40-year-old snapshots, he selects two. Vietnamese children, teenage and younger, fill the photo. They’re looking for food. “These are things that really troubled me. That’s the dump,” he says, holding up the photos. “And when I first went over there, a fella told me to me, ‘Take a ride on the garbage truck.’ All you did was pull up. You don’t get out. You stay inside. And the kids will just overwhelm your truck and empty the barrels. But that’s the dump. There’s nothing there. They take every single thing they can,” he says. “They had nothing. Those children had nothing ...That’s very sad. And that’s going on now in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan,” he says.
He’s not ready to put it all under the microscope. The stuff that haunts his dreams is private.
Frank was drafted in 1967. He completed basic training, then advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He received artillery training on 105 mm howitzers. “And then I went oversees,” he says.
He served in Nam from February, 1968 to February, 1969, part of the Army’s 101st Airborne, 2nd Battalion, 11th Artillery. “The Tet Offensive had started the end of January, so things were pretty hairy there,” Frank says.
“I have a very strange kind of story because I went with the 2nd Battalion, 11th Artillery, but that was the Americal Division. But the 101st needed the 155 howitzers, the split-tails, and that’s how I wound up with the 101st. They took the whole unit ... I did something that was rare. I convoyed half that country. We drove up Route 1, from Duc Pho to Phu Bai,” he said.
As he talks of the Tet Offensive, he says, “We won every battle, but why is it the way it is? And see, that’s where I go back to our politicians. They didn’t let us win,” he said. “Because, it was a political war ...I’m sure you’ve seen different movies. You go in and you control an area. But, then, a week later, you would leave ...And, as soon as you left, (the enemy) went right back into that area. So, what was that all about?”
“I had my faith”
In Nam, do you just concentrate on the mission at hand? How do you keep it together? “I had my faith,” Frank says. “I’m the youngest of six kids. And my parents were very, very strong on our faith. And you have your faith, and letters home, and a couple friends that were there with me. And if you got scared — which you were —nobody made fun of anybody ...We all supported each other,” he said. “We weren’t afraid to talk to each other, because we all had the same feelings. We had our little calendars that we would keep and check off the days until you went home. We encouraged each other to go on R&R’s.
“I had a fantastic 1st Sgt. He made sure everybody got to the rear for a couple of days, to get clean showers,” he says. Going back to Camp Eagle meant you could let your guard down, “and you got to have a good shower, hot meals, drink a few beers, hangout, just talk and relax. Relax.” Someone else had your back. Fellow soldiers were standing guard.
How did faith factor in? How do you draw on faith in a bad situation? “Believe that there is a purpose for all of this, for whatever it is. It’s not necessarily for me to know. But there is a purpose for all of this. And it’s up to us, man, all of us, to learn. Hopefully, to learn from our mistakes, so we don’t repeat them,” he said.
Not alone
When it comes to talking about the past, is it every man to his own decision? Talk about it, get it out? Share it with other vets? “Some do. Some don’t,” Frank says.
“I had just spoken with an Iraqi veteran. He was in the Marines. Myself and a Korean veteran were talking, and he was there. And he made the comment, ‘Stories. I don’t believe in stories.” I explained to him, ‘Listen to the stories, because someday, they’re going to help you.’ He still has a lot of anger. He doesn’t realize it, you know? And there’s older guys that will sit and talk with him and let him know he’s not alone.”
Where does that anger come from? “He don’t want the memories. He don’t want the whole conflict. He don’t want the war. So, he goes back to the prisoner of the war. He’s a prisoner of that war. It’s going to live in his brain now. He’s got the images, the smells,” Frank says.
If he fills in what he remembers, what were the images and the smells? What does he want us to understand that we can’t possibly imagine, because we weren’t there? “I don’t know how to explain it,” he says. “There’s a pin I saw for sale, and it says, ‘The one thing about Vietnam. It killed so many who have survived.’ But that’s not only Vietnam. Now, it’s the war in Afghanistan. In Iraq.”
VIETNAM VETERANS from Wayne County are welcome to share their story, which we will print in the newspaper and in a special hard cover book on Wayne County veterans this fall. Contact Managing Editor Peter Becker to arrange a time for an interview, by calling him at (570)253-3055 or emailing pbecker@wayneindependent.com.
Ellie