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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2016)
Page 14A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Saturday, May 21, 2016 VIETNAM: Nichols remembers thinking ‘I don’t want to die naked’ Continued from 1A Nichols. One day at the Quang Tri base in central Vietnam, Nichols remembers standing in line for the showers after coming back from patrol. He stepped into an outdoor shower stall, his lak jacket, helmet and weapon close by. The shower came to an abrupt halt as the base came under attack. “Rockets and mortars started coming in,” Nichols recalled. “The alarm sounded over speakers. I remember running to the perimeter and thinking, ‘I don’t want to die naked.’” As he and another Marine ran side-by-side, a rocket exploded “10 meters behind us.” Nichols, knocked out for a short while, awoke to see the other man dead, only yards away. Later, after medics had taken the soldier away, Nichols noticed a jagged and bloody piece of shrapnel embedded nearby. He removed the chunk of metal and still has it, a poignant reminder of the brutality of war and the randomness of who died and who didn’t. Other memories haunt Nichols, too. He remembers a boy riding a water buffalo toward the perimeter of Camp Carroll. Though warned to turn around, the boy kept on coming. An oficer ordered Nichols and other Marines that if the rider came any farther, they were to shoot him. He crossed the perimeter and, in seconds, the boy and the water buffalo lay dead. “Later, we learned he was retarded,” Nichols said. “He loved the chocolates the Americans gave out. That’s why he had come.” The experiences kept coming. More often than not, Nichols admitted he “was pretty damn scared” in Vietnam. This is tough stuff. Every veteran has their own searing memories. On the tour bus, the veterans told their stories over a microphone to the others, usually just before arriving at a destination signiicant to the speaker. Many of the stops brought strong emotion. The group hiked with one Photo by Skip Nichols Bill Stilwagen (blue shirt) tells vets about the Long Hung Catholic Church, a refuge for women and children caught in a crossire between South and North Vietnamese troops after Americans pulled out of Dong Ha. Photo by Skip Nichols Photo by Skip Nichols Paula Nichols shows off photos she took to children gathered at the old Quang Tri Airield. Workers hauling tree trimmings inside The Citadel in the Imperial City at Hue, Vietnam. of their members to the spot where her father had died. She carried photos, lowers, medals, a letter he had written to her shortly before his death and a poem she had penned in his honor. She read the letter and the poem. The veterans saluted as “Taps” wafted from a recorder. They accompanied a fellow veteran to a village where he had spent time. He met a woman who he gave medicine to when she was a 15-year-old girl. She rode up on a motorcycle, and both of their faces lit up with recognition. She invited the American veteran to her home. In 1968, Nichols’ time in Vietnam ended so abruptly that he’d never said a proper goodbye. The young Marine was called home to Texas when it appeared his mother was dying from an aneurysm. When his mom recovered, he got ready to return to the war. Waiting for his light, however, he got word his father had suffered a stroke. Nichols never made it back to Vietnam. Later, he learned many of the men in his unit had died in an artillery attack. “Honestly, I have always felt guilty,” Nichols said. leave Harney County during their 41-day occupation of the refuge to protest federal land-use policies. A recall election will be held by June 28. Earlier in the week, Harney County citizens voted decisively in this week’s primary for candi- dates who opposed the armed occupation of the refuge. Harney County had more candidates on the ballot than in any primary election in recent history, according to Oregon Public Broad- casting. In discussions about federal lands, some candi- dates echoed the rhetoric of Ammon Bundy and other occupation leaders. But voters were clear they preferred candidates who opposed the occupation. For the county judge seat, to be vacated by Grasty, current county commissioner Pete Runnels got 53 percent of the vote. That means he’ll take ofice without a November runoff. For the county commis- sioner race, two candidates who also opposed the occupation will face off in November: political newcomer Mark Owens, who works in the hay and farming industries, and incumbent Dan Nichols, who decided to run at the last minute because he felt LIFE FLIGHT NETWORK PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE Sat. May 21 • 9am-1pm 5250 NW Doolittle Lane Pendleton, OR want him to face it alone. Plus her husband didn’t like to talk about Vietnam and she needed to know more. “It made me more understanding,” Paula said. “I found out more in two weeks than in 46 years of marriage.” Nichols is glad she insisted on coming. “It made an important connection for us,” he said. Together, they visited such places as the Highway Paid Advertisement Rogers Toyota of Hermiston JUDGE: Harney County had highest voter participation in the state with 72 percent Continued from 1A “It still eats at me. Maybe I could have made a difference.” Probably not, though, he admitted. He likely would have come home in a cofin just as they had. Nichols’ wife, Paula, experienced her own awakening during the Vietnam tour. At irst, Skip hadn’t wanted her to come along to a place that had caused him so much pain. But she insisted. She didn’t of Horror, the Tu Duc Tombs, Hamburger Hill and the Vinh Moc Tunnels, a complex of passageways dug by locals to evade U.S. bombing. They took a dragon boat cruise and walked on China Beach. Nichols said he loves the country and the people, despite Vietnam being the site of so much violence. During the trip, he felt amazed by the people’s warmth. “They didn’t seem to hold any animosity,” Nichols said. “They were warm and welcoming.” “Everyone wanted to talk,” Paula said. “We’d draw a crowd. They wanted to practice their English.” Nichols said even though he returned to Vietnam, he realizes now that it wasn’t possible to really go back. The Vietnam he knew doesn’t really exist anymore. Take Da Nang, for example. “I didn’t even recognize it,” Nichols said. “I had thought of it as my 18-year-old self, but it has changed.” Nichols remembered two-story buildings, shacks and Quonset huts near the airport. He and Paula found skyscrapers, golf courses, luxury hotels, private villas, resorts and even a Dragon Bridge that breathes ireworks and spouts water. But, standing back on that red Vietnamese soil, he felt some of his demons loosening their grip. Visiting his own list of signiicant places and those of others brought some of Nichols’ murky memories into focus. After seeing Camp Carroll, Quang Tri and other spots and talking to fellow veterans, he can now ill in some of the gaps. “Before, I would try and put the pieces together into a giant puzzle where I didn’t even know what the picture was,” Nichols said. “This trip allowed me to add my pieces to others’.” ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. Harney County needed consistency in leadership after the occupation. Harney County had the highest voter participation in the state, with 72 percent of eligible voters submitting ballots. 1550 N. First St. Hermiston OR 97838 HUGE INVENTORY SELL DOWN Now Through Tuesday, May 31, 2016 HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY! NORMA FRENCH MAY 29 th ! 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