MARSHALL — The Vietnam War ended more than 50 years ago, but its veterans still keep it alive by sharing their stories.

Marshall’s Adult Community Center hosted a panel presentation Wednesday featuring Vietnam veterans Dan Dybsetter of Porter and Pam Barrows of Farmington. The program was moderated by Bill Palmer, a veteran and history teacher who has researched the experiences of soldiers.

Palmer presented factual information showing that 3 million troops were deployed to South Vietnam between 1965 and 1973.

Of those deployed about 58,000 were killed in action. Another 300,000 were wounded. The figure does not include all soldiers who didn’t come home since some died of accidents and diseases.

Dybsetter graduated from Canby High School and then from South Dakota State University in Brookings S.D. with an animal science degree. He was drafted shortly after his college graduation. He served in an infantry unit in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta in 1969 and 1970.

The delta region, in the southernmost portion of Vietnam, was filled with rice fields bordered by streams and woodlands. Enemy soldiers from the Viet Cong (rebels seeking a Communist takeover of South Vietnam) often occupied the woodlands.

Dysetter described the Mekong Delta as “flat as a pancake and wet.” Infantry units never went on missions longer than five days because of the health risks of having wet feet. Soldiers to the north in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam often had missions that lasted as long as 30 days.

His first impression of South Vietnam was the sauna like heat he encountered when stepping off the plane in the capitol city of Saigon. He recalls carrying 65 pounds on combat missions. He remembers how at first he didn’t know anyone who traveled with him into Vietnam, but how bonds formed from being united in a war effort.

“At first I didn’t know a soul,” Dybsetter said. “That changed almost right away. It didn’t take long to know each other and care about each other.”

Barrows, a graduate of Marshall High School, was deployed to South Vietnam after finishing nursing school. She took part in a program offered by the Army to pay a portion of nursing school tuition in return for service.

Some nursing students were interested in going overseas because of the chance for adventure, for something different than an assignment to a military base. She served from 1967 to 1969, and arrived in Vietnam shortly after then January, 1968 Tet offensive invasion by the North Vietnamese.

“Some of us thought we might as well go to Vietnam,” Barrows said. “We didn’t have a clue. We were so naive and dumb back then.”

She was stationed near the city of Pleiku in the Central Highlands. Her hospital unit was located next to an ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) base and a short distance from a U.S. Air Force base.

Nurses worked 12-hour shifts, sometimes at night. She formed friendships with fellow nurses, but said they didn’t have time to form the kind of bonds seen in troop units because of frequent reassignments and shift work.

Noises often provided clues to activities taking place near her hospital. Helicopters meant incoming wounded soldiers. Whistle sounds usually meant a rocket attack. A blackout signified ground fire in the vicinity.

“We weren’t behind the lines,” Barrows said. “There were no lines in South Vietnam. We were right in the middle of it.”

Wednesday’s program was one in a series of recent local activities highlighting the Vietnam experience.The Lyon County Museum has featured Vietnam on its veterans wall for the past two years. Palmer taught a Southwest Minnesota State University GOLD College class on Vietnam a year ago. He has also written a series of newspaper columns for the Independent.

“We had a very young army in a foreign place that they didn’t understand,” Palmer said. “Now we want to give the public an awareness of what it was like to serve in Vietnam. We want audience members to ask questions.”

Dybsetter said it’s particularly important to create awareness among teenagers and younger adults who are far removed from the Vietnam era.

“When I show them my draft card I often get a blank look,” he said. “They don’t know what it was like to live with the possibility of getting drafted.”

He said he’s motivated to take part in Vietnam awareness activities because of the chance to educate the public, and because of the need to honor soldiers who were killed or wounded.

“There’s nothing special about me,” Dybsetter said. “There are thousands of senior citizens who went to Vietnam, and we all have a story to tell. We know what life was like in our corner of the world.”

Audience member Trudy Madetzke of Marshall said she enjoys learning about Vietnam. She recently read an account of dog training in Vietnam written by veteran Royal Hettling of Minneota.

“It’s important that we hear about the experiences of veterans, what it was really like,” Madetzke said. “I always learn by hearing their stories. It’s like actually being there.”