A big thanks from all go out to Darrell Barnes, Larry Henry and Roger Coffin for helping to bring us all together after so many years. Below are comments from Darrell about that process, his thoughts and pictures of his flag
During my tour in Vietnam from Sept. 1968 thru Sept. 1969, I met a lot of soldiers and many of them became friends. I wanted to remember as many as I could and came up with a fairly unique way of doing it. I acquired a flag of The Republic of South Vietnam and got many of my friends to sign the flag with their name and where they called home.
Larry Henry was my first contact by way of Classmates.com website. He told me about a website that would allow me to find addresses. I pulled out my flag and began typing names and towns. I found many addresses and began sending out letters through the regular mail. Within the letter, I listed my email address for those with email capabilities. I began receiving positive responses and I began to get very excited.
Everything was going well until I received an email from the daughter of 1st Sgt. John R. Wells. She informed me that her Dad had passed away. She apologized for not responding sooner, but they were in the process of putting her Dad in hospice care. She did say that they had received my letter and read it to him before he died. As I read the email, I began to ask myself whether I should continue my efforts. I was afraid that I might be bringing up memories of loved ones that some families may not appreciate. I was ready to stop.
I sent Larry Henry a message informing him of my feelings. He immediately replied. These are his words that persuaded me to continue.
I think what you are feeling is the reason I used for not getting hold of
Chaplain Bartley's family. In your case, though, it was something that you
couldn't have predicted...and very strange timing. All you can believe is
that your letter to someones father made them know he had made quite an
impression on someone. That would make me feel great to know that. I would
be proud to know that my loved one had touched someone enough for them to
try to find him 35 years later.
You and I are the lucky ones, I think. I have an idea that there are a
number of guys that are no longer around...or had a much tougher time of
coming to grips with the real world. But, you can't let that stop you from
trying. If it weren't for you, I would still be burying my past rather than
trying to remember it. I cannot thank you enough for that! As time goes
on, I am sure that Cyndi and her family will feel very much the same. Keep
it up.
I am so thankful that Larry persuaded me to continue. I found out about the efforts by Roger Coffin to put together a reunion. I was fortunate enough to attend and there were the faces of some of the individuals that signed my flag 35 years earlier. A lost part of my life was reborn.
Darrell
Larry Henry was my first contact by way of Classmates.com website. He told me about a website that would allow me to find addresses. I pulled out my flag and began typing names and towns. I found many addresses and began sending out letters through the regular mail. Within the letter, I listed my email address for those with email capabilities. I began receiving positive responses and I began to get very excited.
Everything was going well until I received an email from the daughter of 1st Sgt. John R. Wells. She informed me that her Dad had passed away. She apologized for not responding sooner, but they were in the process of putting her Dad in hospice care. She did say that they had received my letter and read it to him before he died. As I read the email, I began to ask myself whether I should continue my efforts. I was afraid that I might be bringing up memories of loved ones that some families may not appreciate. I was ready to stop.
I sent Larry Henry a message informing him of my feelings. He immediately replied. These are his words that persuaded me to continue.
I think what you are feeling is the reason I used for not getting hold of
Chaplain Bartley's family. In your case, though, it was something that you
couldn't have predicted...and very strange timing. All you can believe is
that your letter to someones father made them know he had made quite an
impression on someone. That would make me feel great to know that. I would
be proud to know that my loved one had touched someone enough for them to
try to find him 35 years later.
You and I are the lucky ones, I think. I have an idea that there are a
number of guys that are no longer around...or had a much tougher time of
coming to grips with the real world. But, you can't let that stop you from
trying. If it weren't for you, I would still be burying my past rather than
trying to remember it. I cannot thank you enough for that! As time goes
on, I am sure that Cyndi and her family will feel very much the same. Keep
it up.
I am so thankful that Larry persuaded me to continue. I found out about the efforts by Roger Coffin to put together a reunion. I was fortunate enough to attend and there were the faces of some of the individuals that signed my flag 35 years earlier. A lost part of my life was reborn.
Darrell
Hello God
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was a vowed atheist and a member ofthe ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes." The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.
Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God".
I'm still waiting. It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What is the matter with you"? Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me."
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was a vowed atheist and a member ofthe ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes." The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.
Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God".
I'm still waiting. It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What is the matter with you"? Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me."
Tribute to Mike Bonomo, M.D.
I was a young, green 19 year-old medic when I met CPT Mike Bonomo at LZ Baldy, home of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade and the Charlie (Medical) Company.
Charlie Co was like a free-standing ER, with a small 30 bed hospital, primitive X-ray and lab facilities, and type O Blood in a cooler. Most of the seriously ill and traumatized victims of war were “medevaced” by Huey helicopters to our unit from a large geographic area. This included civilian, ARVN (South Vietnamese soldiers), Viet Cong, NVA (North Vietnamese soldiers), and of course many sick and wounded American GI’s. We only had about 8 litters (served as beds), and there were many times that “incoming wounded” would be triaged out of our bunker on the ground, sometimes by the dozens. We also received the dead, and had members of graves registration as part of our team. There were about 60-70 medics, and 4 doctors, one of which was Mike.
It was in this setting that I showed up in 1968, during some of the worst fighting and the highest casualty rates of the Vietnam war. It was a “hell hole,” and every time a helicopter would land at our small facility the smell of helicopter exhaust, cordite (explosive) and blood would permeate the air, accompanied by the dust from the Medevac and “Slick” choppers.
My first impression of Mike is firmly imprinted in my psyche: a confident, skilled young doctor with empathy for all (including enemy soldiers). He was especially nice to the many young medics, who had only 8 weeks of medical training. He imparted his wisdom, confidence, and skills, and never berated them for their obvious lack of formal training. He was responsible for saving many lives, and was kind and thoughtful to all.
On a personal note, he taught me how to care for minor fragment wounds, suture, provide rapid resuscitation to serious trauma victims, establish difficult IV’s, diagnose malaria, parasite infestations, and a myriad of other acute illnesses, including many cases of what we called “jungle rot” and immersion foot in the infantrymen (affectionately referred to as “grunts”).
His tutelage and confidence building “sessions” provided an extension of his life saving skills to me, as I eventually transitioned to a role as combat medic in the jungle and mountains as one of an infantry company’s 4 medics, to serve as the only medical people in that unit. The grunts called us “Doc.” He was responsible (through his training to me), for saving many lives.
So strong was his influence on my life, that I aspired to be a “real doctor” just like him, after the war. I graduated from medical school in 1978, did my internship, and then my residency in Emergency Medicine.
Now, I am in the twilight of my career, and I can look backward and “connect the dots”. They take me back to the time when I was a young medic, and had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Mike Bonomo, who not only taught me the art and skills of treating sick and injured people; he also showed me the importance of living well and always giving. I am glad he had a wonderful life, fulfilling career and such a devoted family. Thank you Mike for your kindness and inspiration to me.
Ron Hagen