Lessons Learned from a Former American Soldier

Two million seven hundred thousand American soldiers served in the Vietnam War; 57,939 lost their lives. Some may not have died there but all will be emotionally, physically, or spiritually damaged for the rest of their lives. During 1969 alone 11,500 soldiers were killed and 70,000 were wounded.

That same year a man named Joe Knuesel was ordered to leave for Vietnam in September. He was an E-5 Sergeant and in charge of his own platoon when he got there. He was twenty-three. Joe learned lifelong lessons through the hardships and experiences he had as a young man fighting in Vietnam.

When he received the orders that he was going to Vietnam, his thoughts were how dangerous and life threatening it would be. He knew that being in combat had its risks and both sides would have casualties.

Joe also knew that many other people would depend on him during theses dangerous times. There are about thirty-four men in a platoon, but since there was always a shortage in men in Vietnam, eighteen to twenty-four men was the average size of a platoon.

In the beginning, Joe was very pro-active. He believed with the right leadership and some luck, the U.S. could solve the conflict. He hoped it would end up much like the Korean War. 

When he arrived in Vietnam, Joe couldn’t believe how hot and humid it was there. Living in Minnesota did nothing to prepare him for this climate. Joe remembered how the air smelled when he got off the plane. He said, “It was very distinct and foul. It was a combination of the water buffalo dung, human feces, and the smell of burning bamboo”.

His infantry company had four platoons (about 136 usually but in Vietnam it only totaled maybe 100 because of the shortage). They would spend three weeks in the field doing combat patrols. Then they would rotate with another company and pull security for a near by artillery base. That week was like a vacation compared to fieldwork. 

As an infantry man, Joe carried an M-16 with twelve magazines. Each magazine held 18 rounds. That meant about 216 bullets to keep you from dying. He also carried two hand grenades, one smoke grenade, one claymore mine, and one flare. 

Initially Joe’s morale was high but as time went on, and more people were killed or wounded, he started seriously questioning why they were there. His company had sixteen people killed while Joe was serving in Vietnam. Thirty more people were wounded badly enough that they were sent home.

“War is bad and some thirty years later it looks as if I had a 46% chance of getting wounded or killed. The real miracle is that my platoon did not have one casualty the whole time I was there. Did I do something special? I don’t think so. Was I lucky? Oh yah you bet I was. Did I pray a lot? Oh yah”. When he returned to America in June 1970, he quietly slipped back into society.

Two weeks ago while vacationing in Florida with his wife, he went to Sea World. While there, a video sponsored by the CEO of Budweiser was played that gave a special tribute to the men and women fighting in Iraq. Joe was very touched because nothing like that had happened to him and other men returning from Vietnam.

I asked Joe what he would change if he could relive those years. “I am very proud that I served my country and what I did in Vietnam”.  

Joe also realizes in hindsight that if he had the chance again, he would not serve. If the U.S. were attacked such as on 9-11 he would serve again because it would justifiable and right. However he would not fight in Iraq because it is immoral and unjustifiable.

“History has shown how easy it is to start war but how hard it is to win the occupation. Somehow you need to make things better so the natives see the benefits of converting to democracy. Vietnam was so poor and democracy was so corrupt that communism was a better alternative.

"The American public failed to make President Johnson accountable for going to war in Vietnam, and 50,000 + lives later they pulled out with their tail between their legs”.