ELIZABETHTOWN — They have traveled the world and lost more, and gained more, than many in the country, sacrificing their families and comrades.
Monday is Memorial Day, and veterans at the Robert Curtis Hester Chapter of Disabled American Veterans feel the pain of their memories as sharp as if it was yesterday. Things happened that they dare not repeat. They can’t talk about it. They won’t talk about it.
But occasionally they will open up a little to allow a glimpse inside the terrors they experienced, as well as the lives that were lost in combat.
“I knew at least three people from Bladen County that died in Vietnam,” Tojie King said earlier this week in reflection. “One was Johnny Hopkins and Tommy Swann. Charles Coley died recently, and he had been in Vietnam.”
Coley was a door gunner. He did in May 2019 from pulmonary fibrosis.
At least 11 of the names that are listed as casualties of the Vietnam War came from Bladen County, according to the list provided at archives.gov.
“We like to honor the people that were before us, that were an inspiration,” King said.
This year they are not able to do some of the activities because of restrictions caused by the coronavirus.
“But it is more to honor them and their families than it is something for us,” he said. “It’s just to remember the folks. That’s the thing that I miss.”
King is saddened they they haven’t had as much participation from the county, but he did mention that the American Legion has had a ceremony at the armory and that there was a ceremony in Bladenboro by the DAV.
“One thing we do, is the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the VFW, we put flags out on the graves of the veterans,” King said.
Those flags are spread out all over the county, from Riegelwood to Dublin.
Floyd McKnight said that he was in the Military Police and went into the service at 19.
“I had never been out of North Carolina,” he said.
He had no major training before he was deployed to Vietnam, and his company ended up going a week before he did.
“So when I got there, I was an individual,” he said. “I stayed with the Green Berets.”
McKnight said that often he was more afraid of his own people than he was the enemy.
“They did things I had never seen before, because I was 19 years old,” McKnight said of the elite unit. “You asked a question, did I miss anybody. I had no friends.”
The men often found themselves having to be detached from the people they were working with out in the field, yet even still, those people are burned into their memories. The loss of life was striking to them, with things happening right next to them that were both terrifying and sad.
“You hear people talking about their buddies, but I didn’t have any buddies,” McKnight said.
In the case of these men, something else was lost to them because of their combat, and that was their health. Sometimes it was physical manifestations, others were mental. Yet they still remember, mourn, and think of those lost, each and every day, and especially on Memorial Day.
Darrel Gray, a Green Beret, recalls being in Vietnam on Jan. 4, 1968.
“Records in history indicate that that was the bloodiest year ever in Vietnam,” he said. “Back in those days they graded you on your efficiency on your kill rate.”
His team held the monthly record the entire year, averaging 900 to 1,000 in body count a month.
“We had seen a lot of people getting blown away,” he said. “We had someone in contact about 24/7 with the enemy.”
Gray was supposed to go up to a camp, and then one of the weapons leaders was killed.
“They recruited me to go on out and take his place,” he said.
Having a family history of military service, he remembers hearing about his father, and the lives that were lost in World War II. His father was among those landing on D-Day, and out of a 100-man company only five survived.
“I had a praying mother,” he said. “And she was praying for him, too. He went through the Battle of the Bulge and all that stuff.
“That’s the grace of God, and a lot of prayer. There was a lot of people praying for me, all over the nation, that knew me. That’s the only reason that I could survive the things I went through. It was absolutely impossible odds.”
One particular fight stuck out, losing seven people to include his bodyguard.
The biggest thing that has sustained them has been their faith, a faith that was developed after a crisis, a faith that was refocused because of tragedy.
And even outside of that, tragedy happens at home. King said that he was deployed to Iraq, and that he lost a very good friend and roommate stateside. His friend, Charlie Morrisey, roomed with King.
“He got run over,” King said. “A truck run over him.”
Bobby Carden, a preacher in Bladenboro, was in the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion with the Army in Korea.
“The thing about me being in Korea, and five major battles, is that the Lord let me come home,” he says. “He saved me for a purpose.”
Yet despite all the trials and tribulations, each one of the men would be more than tell you it was worth it. They would tell you that they would do it all again. And they would also tell you that most important thing is that they wouldn’t be doing it alone the second time.
Monday is Memorial Day. And for this group, there will be memories of their time served, and remembrances for those that didn’t make it back home.
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The Robert Curtis Hester Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans shared stories about their lost comrades and more. From left are Bobby Ludlum, Tojie King, Gary Arsenault, Darrel Gray, David Brown, Bobby Carden, Nelson Goodnight, Floyd McKnight and Luther Wright.
Bobby Carden served in Korea with the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion. He’s now a preacher in Bladenboro.