We have been learning about Ruthton’s Leon Mortland, who grew up on the family farm and graduated from Tyler High School in 1964. He attended college at Mankato State and Winona State. He met Augustana College student Marilyn Hokenson and they married in August 1968. She began teaching in Winona, but Leon had used up his student draft deferments and received his draft notice that December.

Marilyn taught in Winona while Leon completed Army training and deployed to Vietnam in July 1969. The Army assigned him to the 5th Transportation Battalion (5th Trans), a helicopter repair unit and part of the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Eagle.

Leon recalled some unusual missions he pulled at Camp Eagle.

“Lieutenant Jones was once pay officer. We took our Jeep and picked up the payroll money in the morning. There was a good-sized area down by our office where we set up the pay table. Then he started calling enlisted men. He had his pistol laying on the table, right next to him. I had my M-16 locked and loaded just in case.”

Another day began with hopes for a special event.

“I had guard duty on Christmas Eve. Bob Hope was doing a USO show in the big amphitheater at Division Headquarters. Marilyn heard of the show and later wrote to ask if I had been there. I wrote back, “No.” By the time we got off guard duty we had seen a convoy of troops going by in Jeeps and anything else they could drive to get there. We concluded they were coming from all corners of Camp Eagle and figured what’s the use of us going up there? We would have been watching from the weed patch. So we just had some beers and went to bed.”

He also recalled days that brought small, but special, joys.

“Shortly after I got there, a guy got a CARE package from home. He was of Mexican descent. Somebody from the mess area got a few pounds of ground beef. We had makeshift grills, so we grilled that up and he added hot sauce and hot peppers that he furnished from his CARE package. Everybody else furnished the beer. A lot of guys got cookies and stuff like that. You shared it because somebody was getting something regularly and you just passed it around.”

During that same time Leon extended his tour. He explained his reasons for a decision that kept him in a war zone longer.

“I should have been coming home around July 20th. But this friend of mine was going home at the end of August. We figured out how many days I had to extend so that Number 1; we could come home together, and Number 2; I would be below the 150 day threshold. If you left Vietnam with less than 150 days active duty left, they would discharge you.”

He recalled an unexpected hiccup that delayed his departure from Vietnam in late August 1970.

“We got held up because when we were supposed to leave Phu Bai a casket was on board. One guy would not go on the flight. So, we had to take another flight from Phu Bai to Cam Ranh Bay. From there we flew back to Fort Lewis Washington. When we finished at Fort Lewis it was late at night and they took us to SeaTac. Northwest Airlines was on strike and we couldn’t get to Minneapolis so we flew to Chicago. There were eight of us. It was about midnight and there was nothing happening. This was at O’Hare and everybody had a wad of money because they paid us in cash; 50s and 20s.”

The returning veterans set up a night watch so that there were always two or three awake and walking around. In the morning they found a coffee and donut shop and then went their separate ways home.

“That morning I caught a North Central Airline flight to LaCrosse. I think some friends of ours brought Marilyn down there (Leon’s voice tightened with emotion) and then I was done.”

He described the course he followed upon his return.

“Within a few days I went back to college. I couldn’t get into student teaching because that had already started. So, I took a couple classes and took my student teaching that winter. I can’t say I felt any hostility. There were at least three other vets in our Winona apartment complex. We hung out together. If we had the same break on campus and were in the commons, there were other vets and that’s who normally hung around together.”

Leon and Marilyn accepted teaching positions in the Ruthton Public School and purchased a farm place southwest of Ruthton. Years later they renovated their buildings, opened a kennel, and raised dogs.

Leon reflected on what he learned from his Vietnam service.

“You had to learn to work as a team, no matter what you were going to do. I couldn’t fix those helicopters, but I could get stuff moving in the right direction. Then others would do what they were trained in and when they got that done and inspected, I called the company and said, ‘Your bird is ready to go.’ I helped start that process and there was a whole team that had to do stuff. Then it came back and I’d finish it. That’s one way you could look at it.”

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

©2024 William D. Palmer

You can reach me at prairieviewpressllc@gmail.com with any comments about or story suggestions for “Prairie Lives.”