Trending
In August, we opened a new exhibit at the Lyon County Museum. The Vietnam War and Lyon County exhibit shares stories, photographs, and artifacts from Lyon County veterans. On Saturday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m., we are hosting a Vietnam Veterans Panel. The panel includes local Vietnam veterans: Dan Dybsetter, Dan Markell, Rich Maurer, Karl Porisch, and George Seldat. Panelists will discuss topics related to their service during the Vietnam War. The presentation is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Below is an excerpt from an oral history interview with Vietnam veteran, Dan Markell. This part of the interview is featured in a kiosk in the exhibit and on the museum's website:
"Another Chinook Company. They wanted to try and keep some fresh troops so that everybody didn't leave at the same time. So, a bunch of us from the 271st got infused with the 132nd up at Chu Lai. Chu Lai is right on the coast and it's actually quite a beautiful area. At that time it was called 'Rocket City' for obvious reasons because it was always getting mortared. I was up there for a couple months and one of our missions was to fly to an off-shore island which was about 5 or 6 miles from the coast. We had an hour of downtime, so the pilots said, 'Do whatever you want.' That close to the ocean, we all went swimming. So, we were swimming and having a good time and I noticed that, 'Man there's blood coming up.' And it happened to be my foot. I had cut my foot. OK, so I didn't think anything of it until the next day when I couldn't get my boot on because my foot had swollen. What happened was I had stepped on coral. The coral is so sharp and there was enough coral that was -- coral is actually a living organism. If any of it stays inside your body, it gets infected. And they couldn't get the infection to go away. I was actually hospitalized for a week in Vietnam. They said, 'You know, we're going to have to get you to a drier climate. Maybe that would help.' So they sent me to Japan to Camp Zama. I was there for about 2 weeks and it still wouldn't get any better. They said, 'Well, maybe Fitzsimmons, then,' which is in Denver. Well, that's a good idea. So, I got sent home after about 9 months, so I didn't get to -- I actually didn't spend Thanksgiving or Christmas away from home. When I was at Fitzsimmons, I got Thanksgiving leave and then I had to go back. And it still wasn't any better. I got to go home for Christmas and at that time they said, instead of coming back here, we're going to ship you to Fort Eustis. So, that's kind of my -- the way I got out ahead of time. Which, I guess, is kind of maybe -- I don't know if it's fortunate because I should have been there through January of '69. But I got out of there in the fall of '68. But whenever Tet is -- is that January 1st -- whenever Tet is, that's when our company got overrun and several guys got killed and we lost a bunch of aircraft. So I wasn't there. That's the reason I wasn't there. So, my tour was only about 9 months."
The photograph featured this week is courtesy of Markell. It shows Dan in the pilot's seat of a recovery Otter in 1968.
The next monthly veterans coffee at the Lyon County Museum is Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 1:30 p.m. The monthly coffee is open to all veterans. Enjoy coffee, water, juice, and treats while visiting with fellow veterans in the ice cream shop at the museum. The Lyon County Historical Society (LCHS) is a nonprofit, member-supported organization. LCHS operates the Lyon County Museum at 301 West Lyon Street in Marshall. The Lyon County Museum is open year-round to visitors. To contact us, visit our website: www.lyoncomuseum.org, call: 507-537-6580, email: director@lyoncomuseum.org, or on our Facebook page.