Every veteran’s story is unique. Any local veteran you speak with will be the first to tell you they do not – and cannot – speak on behalf of all veterans.
However, for the local Vietnam veterans steering United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s United for Veterans committee in planning for the arrival of The Wall That Heals on the Iron Range, common sentiments have been shared – a reverence both for The Wall That Heals and the lives lost to the Vietnam War.
Some have been to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., firsthand (The Wall That Heals is a traveling ¾ scale replica presented by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund) and encourage fellow soldiers to see The Wall That Heals when it’s in their community.
“It’s a healing process, no matter your MOS (military occupational specialty),” said Retired Command Sergeant Major Ray Pierce Sr. of Hibbing. “It means a lot to sit and look at this and thank the soldiers you were with that gave their lives.
You can’t say hi to them, but it’s like you’re talking to them. You look back, and you see them. You’re older, but when you talk to them, you’re the same age again.”
Whether they’ve seen The Wall before or not, all local veterans asked have said they hope the public comes to see The Wall That Heals in Chisholm this June.
“We need these memorials so we don’t forget,” said U.S. Army veteran Pat Lamwers of Bear River.
They especially encourage young people to attend.
“I hope the young people here come learn what their fathers, grandfathers, uncles went through,” said U.S. Army veteran Bill Hanegmon of Hibbing.
“Freedom isn’t free.”
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Pierce volunteered for service at age 17 and served in Vietnam twice – first as an Army private with the 128th Aviation Brigade from December 1965 to December 1966. At that time, he was a door gunner in a Huey UH1B.
“I didn’t know anything about helicopters at first," he said. "I learned a lot in that year.”
He returned in September 1967 and served in the 173rd Airborne Infantry until March 1968. He was told the infantry had lost a lot of men; he was a replacement.
“I had no idea what was going on. We ended up in Dak To," he said. "… It was one of the worst battles in Vietnam. Not too many survived.”
Pierce survived Dak To, but his good friend John Barnes III did not. Barnes sacrificed himself to save his fellow soldiers on November 11, 1967. Pierce and his wife Sue always go see Barnes when they visit The Wall.
For his time in Vietnam, Pierce was awarded a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Air Medal, 17 Oak Leaf Clusters, and an Army Commendation Medal for Heroism.
Hanegmon volunteered for service at age 19. He served as an Army sergeant in D Troop 3/5th Air Calvary First Aviation Brigade (later, C Troop 3/17th) in Vietnam from May 9, 1970, to June 28, 1971.
He served as a door gunner on a Hughes 0H6A Scout helicopter.
“The pilots taught us to fly the helicopters in case they got shot,” he said, noting they did so with an 18-inch piece of mop handle used in lieu of a cyclic stick. “I flew two pilots out of the AO (area of operations) who were wounded.”
Hanegmon was shot down five times and awarded two Purple Hearts during his time in Vietnam.
"I escaped The Wall thanks to prayers, fate, and luck,” he said.
An ocean away in 1971, Lamwers enlisted in the U.S. Army 17 days out of high school. As a female, she was not likely to serve in Vietnam.
About 4 percent of soldiers serving in Vietnam were females; most who did go to Vietnam were nurses, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“But I wanted to serve my country,” she said.
She was stationed in Valley Forge, Penn., serving in an Army Operating Room at an orthopedic hospital. Many patients at the hospital were returning soldiers from Vietnam – amputees and prisoners of war.
“You could see the abuse the POWs had suffered,” she said. “They’d lost part of their life they were never going to get back. Their life as they knew it was over.
You’d look at them and wonder how they’d ever get through life. And the way they were treated when they got home…”
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The Vietnam war and political climate of the time made it a particularly difficult time to serve in the military, said U.S. Army veteran Jerry Forsberg of Chisholm, who served in Vietnam from 1971 to 1972 as a helicopter armament repairman and nighthawk door gunner.
“Good men sadly lost their lives while others returned home to an unwelcoming nation with their hidden scars,” he said. “Even today many suffer from their experience as well as numerous illnesses caused by Agent Orange.”
While returning soldiers before them had returned to parades, it was not so for local Vietnam veterans returning home.
Instead, many returned to protests, name calling, and worse.
“I was told to travel in civilian clothes when I got back, but I refused to,” Pierce said. “You were like an outcast in the airport.”
Hanegmon did not see protests when he returned, but he did feel isolated.
“Coming home I felt like a mercenary soldier,” Hanegmon said. “You left alone and came back alone. (Unlike World War II soldiers who left and returned as units.)
There was no one to share that with for Vietnam veterans. So you were protective of your experience, but you could share experiences with other combat vets.”
Unfortunately, Vietnam veterans were also initially unwelcome at VFWs; older veterans did not consider Vietnam “a real war,” Hanegmon said.
Local Vietnam veterans still found each other. Hanegmon said he feels especially fortunate he had his brother, Tony Hanegmon, to talk to.
Tony was a fellow Vietnam veteran, serving as a door gunner in a Charlie model gunship in the U.S. Army's 191st Assault Helicopter Company 1st Aviation Brigade from 1970-1971. He passed away in 2016.
While Vietnam veterans found community with each other on their own in early years, many have since joined service clubs, including Pierce, Hanegmon, and Forsberg.
“It helped to join the service clubs,” Pierce said. "It’s nice to walk in and see other veterans to talk to. I encourage younger veterans to join."
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Local veterans say they carry Vietnam with them to this day.
Seven years after returning home, Pierce joined the National Guard to train soldiers going to Vietnam. He retired from the service in 2001 and said it took him a long time to stop thinking about his time in the military.
“I don’t think a guy ever does,” he said.
Hanegmon joined law enforcement after returning home and retired from his role as a St. Louis County deputy sheriff in 2001. Like Pierce, Hanegmon found “it hits you” upon retirement.
“I’m sure I’m not the only one,” he said. “I’m sure it’s worse for the people who don’t talk about it.
Us combat vets lost our innocence, and our experiences will impact our lives forever."
Lamwers is quick to make the distinction that she is a Vietnam era veteran but did not serve in Vietnam.
However, she recently realized the war ’s impact on her when she was overwhelmed in a POW display at a Navy Air Museum in Pensacola, Fla., and had to walk out – flooded by memories of stories that been shared with her at Valley Forge.
“I didn’t realize until then I was still carrying that,” she said. “If you had any humanity, you couldn’t not be impacted by what happened then.”
These impacts are what makes The Wall That Heals so meaningful to the local veterans in support of The Wall That Heals coming to the Iron Range.
“Every name on The Wall…they paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Pierce said. “And every name on there, I can honestly say they’d do it again if called on. …I would, too.”
To learn more about The Wall That Heals' stay in Chisholm June 23-26, click here.