“This place called Vietnam, (I) didn’t even know where it was at,” commented John
Thostenson during a recent seminar hosted by HFCC. He, along with two other
veterans, recently visited campus. They spoke on their experiences with the military
when deployed to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Conflict, also known as The
10,000 Day War.

For those that are unfamiliar, the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam Conflict was a result
of years of communist expansionism while the U.S. held to a policy of containment.
After WWII, Vietnam was occupied and manipulated by the East and West. By the early
1960’s, the French left Vietnam and America filled the void. By 1965, American soldiers
were fighting and dying. During this time, the speakers were sent to Vietnam for their
one-year tour of duty.

The first speaker, John Thostenson, was part of the First Cav. Mobile Unit from 1969
to1970. While there, and to avoid “the point”, he opted to carry an M79 Grenade
Launcher. Avoiding this extremely lethal position to the front of a squad movement
probably prolonged his life.

He recalls his buddies would come up with strange games to distract them from the
danger, one of which included making bets with other soldiers to see who could keep
the leeches on them the longest during their patrols into the jungle. The winner took the
“pot”.

Thostenson was eventually blinded by a trip flare and after recovering from that,
contracted Malaria. He told the attendees, “I am glad I was able to serve my country.”

The second speaker, Patrick Bush, served in the Navy and was stationed aboard
an aircraft carrier in 1973 and worked as a corpsman (also known as a “medic”). He
remembered being drafted: his number was three, which he knew was a guarantee he
was going to Vietnam.

He attempted to position himself to avoid unnecessary danger but was assigned to
the Marine detachment aboard “Huey” helicopters. His job was to provide medical
attention to those who were wounded. Needless to say, flying into and out of hostile
environments is not the safest thing to do. He recalls a memorable moment on Aug 12,
1973 when he was informed of his baby’s birth while at sea. During those days, news
took weeks, sometimes months to reach people.

The last speaker was Greg J. Osowski, HFCC’s Criminal Justice Program Director
who was stationed in Vietnam in 1965. He conveyed an interesting story about, of all
things, monkeys: As a result of being in the Air Force’s Signal Corp, he was assigned
to an area just outside Da Nang, high on a mountain. This was a radar outpost with
signal intelligence gear. There were tons of monkeys everywhere! Greg explained how
he “talked to the monkeys” and described how everything in the country was hot – hot
coca-cola and hot beer. Inexplicably, he craved a cold apple.

The country’s reaction brought all Vietnam veterans together. All were treated with
disrespect and called “Baby Killers”; the country believed the irresponsible. HFCC’s
speakers did not like war, and did not want to be there. They observed conflict and
people dying horrific deaths. Over 58,000 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam.
To help better visualize this number, just envision Yankee Stadium, full of American
soldiers.

As a veteran myself, I salute you! I thank you for your service and wish to remind this
country that freedom is not free. Do not ignore or waste the opportunities that this
great country has provided you - not the about entitlements, like the infamous “Obama
Phones” - but the ability of anyone to succeed if they work hard and earn it! These
soldiers make it possible.