Vietnam veteran reflects on horrors of war
Sweetwater – Always faithful. Always loyal.
Those are the English translations of the Latin phrase Semper Fidelis, the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps. Spend one minute with Bob Lewis, and you will quickly learn that he exudes those traits: faithful and loyal.
A native of Hagerstown, Md., Lewis relocated to Graham County in 2010, sharing the same philosophy as many who choose to move here – serenity.
“I would come here on fly-fishing trips to Snowbird, Deep Creek and Cherokee,” the 75-year-old Lewis said. “The western North Carolina mountains provide a great getaway.”
A proud member of the Marines since 1966, Lewis has earned some peace and quiet.
Farm life
Lewis spent a lot of time on his grandfather’s farm in Hagerstown, which is where he first learned to shoot.
“Before I was 11, I was shooting his .22 rifle,” Lewis said. “After all the work was done on the farm, he told me to take the rifle and go into the upper field to shoot groundhogs. If a cow or steer would step into that (a groundhog hole), they would break their leg, and we would have to put the cow down.”
Later, a Marines recruiter visited Lewis’ high school. Impressed by the “dressed blues” the Marine had one, Lewis quickly decided what his next step in life would be.
“I had to have one of those uniforms,” Lewis said. “The Army was going to draft me in 1966, but I told them I was going to join the Marine Corps. I had been hearing, ‘Once a Marine, Always a Marine’ and Semper Fidelis.
“I had to find out what the Marine Corps was all about.”
Parris, Lejeune
After joining the Marines, Lewis was sent to Parris Island, S.C., in May 1966 for basic training. Much like any young soldier, the luster wore off quickly.
“The drill instructor starting yelling at us, and I didn’t know what I was getting into,” Lewis said with a chuckle.
Channeling the sharp shooting of his childhood, Lewis soon became a 0311 Expert Rifleman. Two months later – now stationed at the notorious Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in Jacksonville and with Advanced Infantry Training out of the way – Lewis was sent on a Caribbean cruise in the fall, which ended up in Panama.
He would undergo training for the terrain in Vietnam, which shared many similarities with Panama.
“We learned how to live off the jungle,” Lewis said. “We learned how to eat a monkey, if we had to.”
Following the Caribbean excursion, Lewis returned home, but received his orders in 1967.
‘The Walking Dead’
Right in the thick of what spiraled into a 10-year war, Lewis was quickly thrust into battle upon arrival in southeast Asia.
“We made a lot of ambushes at night and got involved in quite a few firefights,” Lewis said. “Hill 689 certainly stands out.”
The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines – later dubbed “The Walking Dead” – held Hill 689 at the end of the siege of Khe Sanh in April, 1968. Early in the morning of the 16th, Capt. Henry D. Banks of A Company led two reinforced platoons on a search-and-rescue mission, wading through 6-foot-tall elephant grass in search of bodies.
In the blink of an eye, they were greeted by small arms and sniper fire. The only choice the platoons had was to fight back and, sadly, American casualties totaled 43 when all was said and done.
Lewis was with H Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines and tasked with recovering bodies. Six members of Lewis’ outfit were killed in the four-day push and 55 were wounded – including Lewis, who still has shrapnel in his left calf to this day.
What the battalion discovered once it reached the bodies was terrifying.
“We had a hard time,” Lewis said. “The bodies were mutilated. They had quite a few of the Marines’ heads cut off and propped up on bamboo sticks in the direct sunlight.
“I can still that clearly in my mind. It will stay with me forever.”
Packing heat
Lewis’ 13-month stint in Vietnam was well guarded. Shortly after arriving in Asia, Lewis wrote home to his parents with a special request.
“I wanted a Smith & Wesson, .38 Special,” Lewis said. “They put in a box – probably illegal then, too – and they shrouded it with fruit cans and aluminum foil. It made it all the way to the jungle and the DMZ (demilitarized zone) where I was at. I had plenty of ammo, thanks to people that were around.”
The gun was lost in a rice-patty field during a shootout a short time later, but Lewis simply wrote home, explained his plight and wouldn’t you know it – another .38 was soon in his possession, direct from the United States.
“It saved my life,” Lewis said. “I sold it on my last day in Vietnam for $20 to another Marine.”
Hedge of protection
After finally being able to come home in August 1968, Lewis was soon awarded the Purple Heart for what he endured and survived while recovering fallen soldiers. He now has a custom case to display the Purple Heart and three other medals he received as gratitude for his service.
Just a few weeks ago, he acquired another .38 Smith & Wesson, this time engraved with his name.
“The good Lord has really helped me,” Lewis said. “He brought me home from Vietnam, and he’s still helping me. I’ve been through the mill, but I’m telling you, God has taken care of me. I’ll witness that to anybody.”
Lewis is focusing his Marine effort with the Buy-a-Brick program for the new pathway inside the Veterans Memorial at Konehete Park in Murphy.
“Things are picking up pretty well there,” Lewis said.
Bricks are 8x8x.2.25 and cost $50. For an additional $10, a service logo can be added. For details, call 828-557-3010.