We have been learning about Bruce Pochardt’s Vietnam service. After graduating from Lynd in 1966, he farmed until drafted in 1968. He completed Army training with his friend and classmate, Francis Maeyaert. They deployed to Vietnam together in August 1968.

Last week Bruce revisited his battalion’s involvement in the ten-day battle for Hill 937. He does not have many clear memories of his last couple months of his year-long tour. But he does recall his R&R to Sydney, Australia that he enjoyed.

“We got to have the real R&R. I went to Australia. It was two weeks or ten days. I remember getting to see that Opera House. They had a nice zoo. It was quite a bit like here, except they drive on the wrong side of the road. I never drove. I just walked or maybe had a cab once or twice.”

Bruce recalled another day that started out the same as any other day on a succession of fire bases.

“I walked straight up to Jimmy Stewart. The Jimmy Stewart. (Bruce laughed) He was there on tour. He and Santa Claus were about the only celebrities I saw. But I shook hands with him and said I was proud to see you here. He said, ‘Well, you’re the heroes here. I’m just proud to see you.’ That was one of my highlights, seeing him. Unbeknownst to me he had a son in Vietnam [who] was killed.”

After that long, 365 days in Vietnam, Bruce described his final couple of weeks and departure.

“Well, you know you’re just there for a year, so we had little count-down pieces of paper to DEROS — Date of Estimated Return from Overseas Service. We’d make our own and X off the days. A week or two ahead they’d pull you in and you didn’t have to go out in the boonies anymore. You get picked up in the field with a helicopter and got on a C-130 cargo plane to Saigon and then on a commercial plane.”

Bruce made it to Saigon when he experienced a hiccough in his DEROS.

“I remember being bumped and having to stay overnight. That was one of my scariest nights. I thought, ‘This is an extra night here. I am going to get hit.” I didn’t even have a rifle. I slept in the hanger on the cement floor. The next day I was more a priority, so I wouldn’t get bumped off.”

Bruce was on his “Freedom Bird” flight home.

“We landed in Japan for refueling. I don’t think they could non-stop those days. We flew into Seattle. It was nighttime and I had no encounter with protestors. We went to a scheduled steak supper and I found a flight to Minneapolis. I caught a bus out of Minneapolis and told my dad, ‘Pick me up in Montevideo.’ From there on I was home.”

Bruce still had six months of service. So after a month’s leave, he reported for his final military duty. He and his friend, Francis Maeyaert, who had returned to duty after recovering from his wounds, finessed it so that they could complete their service together.

“After a month off, I had orders to go to Fort Collins, Colorado, but Francis was in Fort Ord, California and another guy there knew how to manipulate things. He said, ‘We’ll get him over here,’ and I ended up at Fort Ord with them. They called it P-Training — I was preparing cooks, medics, and anyone who didn’t know anything about a rifle. We had to teach them how to use a rifle before they left for Vietnam. That’s what I did from October to March — six months.”

Bruce did not find it difficult to transition back to living and working on the farm.

“I handled that quite well. Like Francis said, I took my green clothes off; threw them in the corner; put on my farm stuff; and went to doing that. [It was] pretty much like it was before or, ‘Back to the World’ as they called it.” (Bruce chuckled)

Bruce found satisfaction in farming, but found greater difficulty dating.

“I had given up when I finally ran across Chrystal or she ran across me. There was a group of girls [that] lived on Main Street in Marshall. I was trying to date one of the other girls, but I was way too old. I was eight years older than they were, but Crystal was interested. One night they abandoned her and I took her home. It mushroomed from there, I guess.”

Bruce and Chrystal married and jointly operated Bruce’s family farm in rural Lynd, where they raised their family of four kids, all adults today. The two eldest sons continue the family’s farming tradition.

Bruce has found great satisfaction in his family, his farming, and his life-long partnership with Chrystal – the young woman who took a chance on the older guy. He is proud of his Army service, but like most veterans, does not advertise that pride. He is reminded from time to time of his Vietnam service in a way that brings him back there for a few minutes.

“If a helicopter goes over I just love to listen to that as long as I can until it’s gone.”

Thank you for your Vietnam service, Bruce. Welcome home.

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.