On Friday, November 30 students from Alliance High had an eye-opening experience when Rick Debusk and John Orndorff, two Vietnam Veterans, came to AHS to talk about their time in the Vietnam War.
Mrs. Michelle Schnell’s Modern Literature class, her Honors English 11 class, and her AP English 11 classes have been studying and reading about the Vietnam War during the past few weeks and as a part of that study she wanted to bring in a Vietnam Veteran to talk to her students. That is when senior Sydnie Hiemstra, a student in her Modern Literature class, approached her with the idea of having her uncle John and his friend Rick come talk to students. They both served in Vietnam and have experience speaking publicly about it, she said. Mrs. Schnell then wrote a letter to John, inviting him to come speak and he readily accepted.
John graduated from Alliance High in 1966. He said, “At that time you went to college, went to Canada, or went to Nam,” which is what he did. He enlisted in the Marine Core and served from 1968 to 1971. He was sent to Vietnam and was stationed in the I-Core, which was in Northern Vietnam. He said he spent his nineteenth birthday in a different country, living a whole different life-style.
When he first arrived to Vietnam he lost twenty pounds in the first three months just because he wasn’t acclimated to the climate. During monsoon season in Vietnam it rains hard four times a day and during the dry season it is unbearably hot. Becoming accustomed to those weather patterns was a challenge for John.
John told students he lost most of his hearing when a mortar round, which is a small artillery shell, exploded near his head. He learned from his comrades that he flew one hundred feet into the air when this deadly weapon exploded. When John returned to the United States, he told students, many people hated him for surviving in Vietnam and were extremely disrespectful. He said, “We got called everything but a white man.”
Like John, Rick Debusk went to war right out of high school and served from 1968 to 1972. When the draft board sent him a letter he quickly enlisted into the Navy so he wouldn’t have to be a foot soldier in-country, or in the heart of Vietnam. Little did he know, that’s exactly what he would end up being anyway. In Vietnam there are rivers and canals that run through the whole country and Rick patrolled these rivers and canals on boats barely big enough for four people. He was a part of what was known as the Brown Water Navy. Rick was stationed in the 4-Core, which operated in the Makong Delta area of Vietnam. Also like John, Rick was injured during his time in Vietnam. On Halloween night Rick said, he and his comrades were attacked on a river. That attack left him with shrapnel in his leg, head, and arm.
Both John and Rick received a Purple Heart for their injuries, but they don’t view the medals as an honor. John said, “A Purple Heart means you screwed up and got lucky enough to survive.”
The two said their time in the Vietnam War left anger and hostility in their hearts and that it took decades and help from professionals to deal with those emotions. Soldiers from Vietnam weren’t treated the way soldiers are treated today. There were no parades or parties, or even any acknowledgements of their service and sacrifices. Rick said only one person even came to his house when he came home from the war to tell him thank you.
John, Rick, and all the other Vietnam Vets who served time deserve appreciation from the United States. They put their lives on the line to protect their beloved country and they will forever be heroes.
On a thank you card to John junior Brady Shimp thanked him for his services the country and said, “Your insight and experiences help me to better appreciate veterans and men in service today.”
