We have been learning about Bruce Pochardt’s Vietnam service. After graduating from Lynd in 1966, he farmed until the military draft took him in 1968. He completed Army training with his friend and classmate, Francis Maeyaert. The two deployed to Vietnam in August 1968.

Bruce described their first couple weeks in-country.

“We had ten days of “P-Training,” Preparatory Training, to get oriented and some of the things to expect and what to do.”

Bruce recalled their next surprise.

“We were supposed to go to different units. Then they said, ‘The 101st, Alpha Company of the 3rd of the 187th lost thirty-eight men one night when they got overrun.’ We thought we were going to different units, but we all went to that one.”

So, the Lynd friends reported to A Company of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division.

Bruce described their first company area at a fire base by Cu Chi, near the Vietnamese capital of Saigon.

“One day we put up concertina wire and that was our small, company area. You had a piece of ground where you laid down and went to sleep for the night. Somebody would wake you for guard duty. That same night we got hit — not on my side, the far side. We had in-coming small arms fire.”

Bruce realized the replacements were on their own to sort out what they needed to do.

“Not a whole lot was explained. You were there in the company. [The basic tasks of an infantryman] we learned in Basic, AIT, and in P-Training. After that you were expendable — a piece of equipment. You got used to it.”

Alpha Company patrolled around Cu Chi before redeploying to the northernmost, I Corps region of South Vietnam.

“They flew us to Hue. Phu Bai was the airport. From there we started working the A Shau Valley from fire bases. You are always in danger. All you have in Vietnam that you controlled is circles (fire bases and base camps). There is no front. We had the circles and the Vietnamese had the rest.

Bruce quickly learned the dangers of working that region.

“At the beginning of the A Shau Valley we were down by the river. Suddenly there was this tremendous blast. A friend of mine [about ten feet away] dropped like a box of rocks and sat. His backpack wouldn’t let him tip over. He was dead before he hit the ground. I remember yelling, ‘Medic! Medic!’ I went over; looked at him; and waved the medic off. That was one of the reasons nobody got very close.”

Bruce described preparations for patrolling.

“We had this pipe-frame backpack we loaded with fifty to seventy pounds. You had canteens and ammo pouches on your pistol belt. They said, ‘Put lighter stuff in the bottom and heavy stuff on top because that gets over your spine and pushes straight down, rather than hanging back on you.’ So, we knew how to pack them and, when you’re twenty-one, we could carry them.”

He soon occupied a recurring role with his platoon.

“They found out I was good at walking point (the column’s lead man) so I got that duty quite often. One squad leader said, ‘Pochardt, can you walk point today?’ I said, ‘I just walked it two or three times.’ He replied, ‘Well, you’re the fastest man we got! I’d like you to walk point.’ I was smart about it. I always made new [trails] where there wouldn’t be booby traps and snipers.”

Bruce recalled the incident that convinced him to cut a path as point man, rather than take an easier course.

“A guy was walking point and chose to go down this grass area. He got out there and got an AK-47 round in the forehead from a sniper. So, I chose to stay away from open areas and trails.”

He described the process of making a trail on point.

“You stayed in file, five meters apart in case of a hand grenade. The point man chopped his way through the jungle. He made an opening and the second man was supposed to make it larger. Behind him was the RTO (Radio Telephone Operator) with the antenna. If the second man wouldn’t do his job, you’d hear the RTO, ‘Somebody’s got to make these holes bigger.’ (Bruce chuckled) We wouldn’t go far. If we went 1,000 meters in a day, that was it.

Toward evening they located a nighttime position.

“You’d find a high spot and circle the top so you could look out all directions. You’d dig a foxhole maybe a foot deep. Everybody had your little shovel on your backpack. After that you’d have C-rations and, if you were lucky, someone would have C4, plastic explosive. We’d tear a corner off and start it with a match or lighter. That would cook your C-rations.”

The unit set a night watch with a quarter of the force on watch.

“You’d set on the outer side of this circle and watch and listen for two hours. Then you’d wake someone else for his turn. Then you’d go back to your spot; lay down; and (Bruce chuckled), hopefully, go to sleep.”

The next morning the unit had a C-ration breakfast and headed out for another day of patrolling before setting up another nighttime position.

So it went.

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