We’ve begun learning about Charlie Hettling’s Vietnam service in the Marine Corps to help us better understand the Vietnam War’s impact on our region.

Charlie Hettling grew up on a farm near Minneota, graduating with the Minneota High School class of 1961.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps in March 1965 instead of waiting to be drafted when he saw the local draft board would soon call him up. He completed Marine Boot Camp in San Diego and advanced infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California.

The Marine Corps assigned Charlie to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton. His battalion added the new Marines to its existing companies and platoons. Charlie explained, “We didn’t know it, but they were getting us ready for Vietnam.”

His new company sent Charlie to school to learn how to maintain the M274, a low-slung, motorized cargo and weapons carrier, affectionately known as the Mule.

“I went to Mechanic’s School to take care of the Mules. They used them for hauling ammunition. You could lay the steering wheel down and work the clutch and the brake pedal with your hands and just lay flat on there. They were 4-wheel drive.”

The Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines loaded their equipment aboard the battalion’s vehicles in January 1966 and departed Camp Pendleton in convoy for Long Beach and a troopship headed overseas.

Charlie described his role, “We were in a jeep and we were supposed to be following in case anybody broke down. One of them broke down, so we helped them out. Pretty soon we got lost because we didn’t have any instructions where we were going.”

One of the Marines in the jeep said they were supposed to load out on the troopship, USS Bexar, and she was always with the USS Princeton, a big aircraft carrier with the number 5. So the Marines in the jeep watched for a big 5 painted on a carrier’s island rising above the buildings of Naval Base Long Beach.

Charlie recalled, “We (saw) that from a distance, so we just started heading for that big number 5. We pulled in about when the last two (battalion) vehicles were pulling in the lot and we (were) right behind them. The Princeton was there and so was the Bexar.”

Charlie described the Marines’ task for the next few days; loading their vehicles aboard the Bexar.

“Some of them could be driven, but most had to be hoisted on with a crane. We had to load them on and anchor them down — turnbuckle them in. That was what guard duty was for in the hold in case one of them broke loose. Otherwise that thing would be bouncing around in the hold and tear other ones loose. Pretty soon you’d have a mess,” he said.

Accommodations for the Marines aboard the Bexar were sardine-like.

“The Bexar was a troop transport. You went down in the holds and it was like five people (stacked in bunks) a foot and a half apart. The aisles you could barely walk through. You had to have your sea bags and everything with you. When you went to bed, you had to throw them on the floor. So, the floor was solid sea bags. I don’t know how the guys on the bottom got out — they had to crawl through holes,” he said.

Charlie remembered the Pacific passage aboard the Bexar was hard on him, “Oh, did I get seasick! And then they gave you fire watch.”

He recalled that the Marines spent much of each day standing in the chow line.

“They had to feed a whole battalion on that ship. The cafeteria I don’t think held much over 100 people and there’s probably 800-1,000 of us on that ship. So, it took a while for them to go through. I hardly ever went through because I was so seasick. I’d just go through to get a handful of carrots and a handful of crackers and I’d put them in my helmet and nibble on them,” he said.

Charlie explained how he eventually found relief from his seasickness and the claustrophobic conditions in the troop berthing area.

“I got (fire watch) one time down in the hold where the trucks were and God, I felt good down there! It was cooler and it was lower, so you didn’t feel the rocking. There was a pile of camouflage nets and after that, every day I went down there and took a nap and rested in the hold on those nets. I took a book down there and read when I didn’t have to do guard duty,” he said.

The Bexar hauled Charlie’s Marine battalion west across the Pacific.

“Our first stop was Hawaii after a little over a week and then it was two or three weeks to Okinawa. We spent three months in Okinawa. We still didn’t know we were going to Vietnam, but we figured we basically were getting ready to go (with) jungle warfare training and getting all the equipment up to date,” he said.

Charlie’s company stood inspection one day on Okinawa and their Gunnery Sergeant confirmed what the young Marines had suspected, that the unit would be deploying to Vietnam.

The Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines again loaded their vehicles and gear aboard a troopship in April 1966 and steamed south to the war in Vietnam.