CAROLYN ROBBINS, The Republican
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — As veterans of the Vietnam War recall the beginning of the ground war there 50 years ago, local Marine veteran Daniel M. Walsh III said memories of conflict and lost platoon members have been flooding back to him.
“Fifty years, I can’t believe it,” he said during an interview at his home. Walsh, a former Springfield city councilor, veterans services director and husband of Councilor Kateri Walsh, sat in his second floor study surrounded by photographs of members of his platoon and military memorabilia including posters and model aircraft.
Walsh, who was a newly minted lieutenant when his company of 200 men was involved in an assault on a North Vietnamese stronghold in 1966, recalled the stifling hot day when he first experienced the horrors of war.
His company lost 10 men and 20 more were wounded, including Walsh, who is a recipient of a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among other service honors.
Before Walsh was wounded on his right side by a shot from enemy fire, he witnessed the death of his friend, Staff Sgt. Leonard Lenny Hulquist, who was fatally shot by the enemy.
Hultquist, a graduate of Boys Town, Nebraska, had three young daughters back in the states.
Springfield veteran Daniel M. Walsh III talks about the Vietnam War An excerpt from a conversation with Daniel M. Walsh III, former Springfield City Councilor and city Veterans Services director, was a United States Marine platoon commander in Vietnam when he seriously wounded during a fierce fire fight on March 5, 1966.
That memory was one of many that still haunt Walsh. Many of the men he served with called him or emailed him this weekend to recall how fortunate they had been.
One friend contacted Walsh to tell him that he had obtained the email of one of Hultquist’s daughters, Melody.
Walsh contacted her immediately.
“Your father died in my arms … on Hill 50 in South Vietnam,” Walsh wrote. “In my home office, I have a picture I took of your father returning from the tailor’s shop where he had sewn on the 12-year mark (chevron) in his Marine career.”
The photo was taken in Okinawa a couple of months before the group landed in Vietnam
“He was so proud to be a Marine, and he was one of the best the Corps ever had,” Walsh wrote. “Not a day goes by that I don’t have a little chat with your father. I miss him still and I am so sorry that you did not have this incredible man for you and your sisters to grow up with.”
Later on that bloody day on Hill 50, Walsh was also hit, but was saved by another platoon member, Patrick Barth, who lives outside of Atlanta.
Barth also gave Walsh a call. “I spoke with him today and I thanked him again,” he said.
The two remain good friends and see each other often.
With the perspective of 50 years, Walsh said he believes the Vietnam War was a mistake.
Walsh said he sensed that the Americans were despised and unwanted in Vietnam from his first days there. But he said his men heard little about anti-war protests back in the states. “We were doing our jobs,” he said.
Walsh said he has come to believe that war is futile and he prays daily for the those who serve in war-torn countries from Afghanistan to Iraq. “We’ve been at constant war since 1965,” he said.
For those who continue to serve, Walsh has the utmost respect. “They’re doing their job, protecting our freedoms,” he said.
March 8 marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the ground war in Vietnam with the deployment of 3,500 Marines.
By war’s end on April 30, 1975, nearly 3 million service men and women fought in the conflict that would take the lives of more than 58,000 Americans.
Of those who served during the Vietnam War, 258 were awarded the Medal of Honor. More than six out of 10 award recipients made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives while performing the courageous acts for which they were later honored. American military advisers had been involved in South Vietnam since the 1950s.
