We’ve been 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 and after completing training, deployed to Vietnam in April 1966 as an infantryman and mechanic with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

The 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines came ashore at Chu Lai, Vietnam before moving to their battalion base camp at Hill 69 northwest of Chu Lai. Charlie recalled it took a week for the fear from the changes and unknown dangers to settle into a manageable life in the dirt of Hill 69 and its surroundings. His most routine mission was maintaining his unit’s M274 Mules (cargo transports).

Life was pretty basic for the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines at Hill 69. They lived in tents with plywood floors and constructed sand-bagged bunkers and fighting positions around the perimeter of their base.

“Some were just a hole in the ground,” Charlie explained, “and some were quite nice-sized, fairly roomy inside with sandbags all around and a roof on top with sandbags.”

Charlie reported the Marines had four-legged company in their tents.

“Rats all over the place. Scariest time I had — I was dead tired and my footlocker was right next to my cot, about level with the cot. Two rats were fighting on that footlocker. I was too tired to care and was just lying there. All of the sudden one ran across my face. I could feel the feet and the belly go across and right behind another one came across. I tell you, I woke up right now! After that I would tuck myself in like a mummy because I didn’t want any rat to crawl up the blankets.”

Misery in Vietnam came in many forms other than rats. Vietnam service involved a lot of uncertainty. Charlie explained, “It wasn’t like there was something hot going on all the time, it was just once in a while, but that once in a while made you think you had to be ready all the time.”

Sometimes that once in a while took place during combat operations. Charlie described patrolling as part of larger operations.

“Combat patrols usually were designated for a certain area. They were like a special push where you knew there was a lot of Viet Cong or NVA forces. You’d go in there to see if you get in a firefight or they knew there were a lot of VC camps. Some of them were two weeks and some were three days.”

Sometimes that once in a while of combat took place during the Marines’ routine role as nighttime perimeter security.

“There was a lot of – I called them harassing attacks or probes,” Charlie recalled, “They’d come out and maybe hit the perimeter a little bit, but never really attack you.

He described the routine of nighttime perimeter security.

“There’d be usually three of us. You’d go out there just before dark and you’d be in that [bunker]. Everybody wanted the first or last watch. Nobody wanted the middle one, unless there was just two of you and you had no choice. Some nights it was pretty boring; some nights it was pretty active; and other nights you could talk a little bit about back home.”

Charlie explained that pulling security with newly-arrived Marines involved challenges.

“New ones always wanted to shoot everything. They were scared all the time, just like we were [at first]. So, if you’d get new guys, you had to keep reassuring them to make sure they knew the difference between fireflies or rats clunking tin cans and VC sneaking up.”

Whether the Marines were pulling nighttime security on a combat patrol; base perimeter security; or on a nighttime listening post, Charlie said the weather regularly contributed to their misery.

“If it was raining, the night was long. Especially if you got cold, because you just could not get warm, no matter what you did. It was like you couldn’t win when you were wet in the night and it was cold”

When the rains ended and the hot sun dried up the mud, the dust was another constant companion.

“Base camp had a helipad that was off to the side,” Charlie explained, “When the choppers would come in there’d be dust all over the place . . . it was like a windstorm of dust.”

But Charlie also remembered that the area around Hill 69 had its own beauty.

“To the one side was a village, a small village, maybe a quarter mile away. The other side was mountains and rice paddies. The mountains were covered with jungle and the (water-filled) rice paddies were pretty open. When the moon hit them, they looked kinda beautiful.”

Charlie found beauty in the quiet nights on perimeter security.

“When I had my watch I had time to think,” he recalled, “Sometimes it [looked] so peaceful out there you wondered how in the world can there be a war going on here?”

Around Thanksgiving of 1966 Charlie’s battalion moved further north to a new base at An Hoa, a base even more austere than Hill 69.

The Lyon County Museum is organizing an exhibit about the impact of the Vietnam War on Lyon County. If you would like to share Vietnam experiences or help with the exhibit, please contact me at prairieview pressllc@gmail.com or call the museum at 537-6580.