We have been learning about Cottonwood’s Dave Harris, who was raised by his grandma in southern California, and with grandma’s permission, enlisted in the Army at 17 in May 1968.

The Army deployed him to Vietnam and assigned him to the 71st Aviation Company in Chu Lai where he served as a helicopter door gunner.

His aircraft was shot down or crashed seven times and he was shot on another mission, an injury requiring surgery and two weeks hospitalization. But his tour also included down time away from combat and flying.

“Every six months you are in combat, they take you on R&R (Rest and Recuperation) for a week. I thought I’d go to Bangkok. As soon as I got in the motel I opened the door and there was a guy standing there with two girls. (Dave laughed) He said, ‘Which one do you want?’ I took the girl who looked younger. She was really nice. She took me to her home and I met her parents. She took me to good places to eat and we saw a lot of the culture. The second time I went to Sydney, Australia.”

But the war reached out to Dave even on R&R.

“My crew chief was from Vermont. They had a mission that day I left for R&R. I said, ‘I’ll go on the mission and when we get back, I can go on R&R.’ He said, ‘Nah, man! Just get out of here.’ So, I went to Bangkok and while there I heard over the military radio (Dave’s voice tightened with emotion) two Hueys went down, one of them on fire. That was my ship that I flew in with my crew chief.”

The 71st Aviation Company had many losses during Dave’s tour.

“We had a lot of memorials. We lost a lot of guys that day I got shot. We had a pilot who volunteered, saying, ‘When I get back, then I can take off.’ He was going home. He got killed that day. It tore up the sergeant who asked him if he would fly.”

Dave continued flying missions until the day the postal clerk came to see him.

“The postal guy said, ‘Your orders came in.’ I replied, “I don’t want orders.” He said, ‘These are orders to go home.’ A sergeant came over and said, ‘You’ve got your orders. You won’t be flying anymore.'”

Dave soon began his journey home.

“It was helicopter from Chu Lai to Danang and from Danang it was a jet.”

Dave’s return to the U.S. was filled with unexpected experiences, many of them unwelcome.

“When I got off that plane, my stomach was this big (indicating small) because you didn’t overeat there. You are on the go all the time and half the time you are eating out of a can. At Fort Lewis, Washington, they measured for your new uniform and then, they’ve got a steak dinner for you and a big plate with French fries. It was pretty good, but I ate a corner and I was stuffed. Then you go in and get your clothes; you got your orders; and then they take you to the airport.”

Civilian airports quickly felt like unfriendly places.

“Everybody is looking at you. I got to California and got off the plane and it seemed like everybody was staring at you. A bunch of long-haired people came up and one asked ‘Hey, did you just come back from Vietnam?’ I replied, ‘Yeah.’ He asked, ‘Did you kill any babies over there?’ A cop came in and said, ‘Don’t go outside.’ It was a bunch of protesters. I got in a corner; called my friend; and said, ‘You come down and get me! I’ve got to get out of here or I’m going to flip out!’ He drove down and we were gone. I took that uniform off and never put it back on.”

Dave explained that his homecoming was the most difficult part of his service.

“The feeling was that nobody cared. We were at a party once. A guy looked at me and said, ‘Vietnam vet, huh?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He asked, ‘Did you kill anybody?’ I got to the point where if somebody asked, ‘Were you in the service?’ I said, ‘No.’ Coming home made me feel not proud of anything. Even your parents couldn’t understand. You couldn’t explain to them how you felt because they didn’t understand why you were that way. That’s when it started setting in on me hard that you are on your own. I pushed everybody away.”

Dave carried those feelings of not being understood and not understanding himself for decades. He wrestled with bad dreams, excessive drinking, and a bad temperament. But he immediately identified when things changed for him.

“In 2005, I finally got help where I saw people who would understand what I was saying and didn’t give me (negative) feedback. I was in talk groups with WWII and Korean veterans and they had the same symptoms I did.”

Dave stopped drinking; received 100% disability from the Veterans Administration due to his PTSD and Agent Orange exposure; and rebuilt a good life with his spouse.

“It’s hard, but I go on with my life and I’m happy. I’m not pissed off at the world. My time in the service was a learning experience. I’m more proud of myself now than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Thank you for your Vietnam service, Dave. Welcome home!