Hello, I'm SP/4 Thomas R. Hebert.
I was in the 92nd Aviation Co.
Qui Nhon,Vietnam - 1965-1966.

I drove a fuel truck on the airfield. My job
was to refuel all airplanes that landed
at the airfield.

I worked on weekends, and every chance
I had when I didn't have guard duty,
at the 85th Evac.

When flying in the spotter planes,
I was told by a guy that I was the only
one who never got hit by ground fire.
This same guy went up the next day and
got hit.

I was taken up for a ride in the
A-1E Skyrader, just ONCE,
but that guy made me wish I had stayed
on the ground.

I'm looking for service buddies or anyone that might
remember me in Nam...

There is a nurse that I particularly
would love to get in touch with...her name is:

LT Mary Trujillo

Please, if you know her whereabouts or
family, or you know me, please sign my guestbook to let me know.

Best Regards: "The Old Critter" Tom Hebert
Vietnam Vet:65-66-68-69

The following was written for a school project...
The War Alive In It's Veterans

by Kristen Myer, Karen Demeester
ENC 1145
Writing About the Vietnam War
and its lasting impact.
April 14, 2000

On July 13, 1965, Thomas Hebert,
already enlisted in the Army, received orders
to report to San Francisco, California.
He spent two or three days there and then
boarded an airplane for the Twenty-three
hour flight to Vietnam. He was 23 years old.
His tour lasted from July 13, 1965 to july 13, 1966.
After leaving Vietnam Mr. Hebert was
sent to Fairbanks, Alaska. He spent 18 months
there and was then sent to Ft. Campbell,
Kentucky, where a new company was being
started up. After about thirty days the new company
was disbanded and Mr. Hebert received
orders to go to Vietnam for the
second time. He tried to have his orders
changed but was unsuccessful. So, at the
age of 26 he served his second tour from
October 31, 1968 to November 28, 1969.

Mr. Hebert's M.O.S. was 55B20 - an
ammo storage specialist.
He worked in an ammunition depot
giving out ammunition to the troops.
In addition to his responsibilities as an
ammo storage specialist, he worked in
grave registration, where they sent the
soldiers who had died. "We had to clean
them up, wash them and put them in body
bags to be sent home to their mothers
and fathers. This job I really hated."
He also worked for a period of time in
the 85th evacuation hospital, "treating
the men who were shot all to hell." This
was something Mr. Hebert volunteered to do.
"I would ask the C.O. if I could go over
and give the help that they could use,
and with open arms they would make work.
I would give one of the nurses a little
break, and I was glad to help them. I
would change bandages and talk to them
to ease their pain. I got to read to
them the letters that they would get
from home...and somewhere I hope that
they will remember what I tried to do for
them."

During his first tour, Mr. Hebert
didn't see much action. "It was just like
being overseas. Nothing was happening
around where I was." Ironically, however,
he was injured only two weeks after
arriving in Vietnam. "I was not shot,
but got stabbed in the right thigh by
friendly forces. I got stabbed in
a bar fight." On the other hand, it
was during Mr. Hebert's second tour that
"all hell had broken out." He still
remembers watching, "...a monk dumping
gasoline on himself and lighting himself
on fire, and never crying out or screaming
while he burned himself to death."

Mr. Hebert does not have fond memories
of returning home to the United States. He
was treated with disrespect and bitterness
by people opposed to the war. "They spit
on me, and called me a baby killer. I did
not ask to be sent there, but I went
because I had orders to go. And I would
do it again if I was younger." The
hostile attitude that so many people
harbored only added to Mr. Hebert's loss
of trust in people. "I don't sleep at
nights anymore.
I have to sleep with a light on and a
loaded gun close to my bed. I don't trust anybody.
I sit with my back to the wall."

His wife has been to see it, but Mr.
Hebert has not been to see the Vietnam
Veterans' Memorial. "I can't seem to get
near the wall. I have never been to
Washington, D.C., and I plan never to go
there, because for me that would make me
less of a man than I am. I would cry my
eyes out, and I will never do that out in
the open." He too, like Mr. Kowski, has
lost a lot of respect for the government.
"They said they would take care of the
VETERANS, and they don't. But they help
the people that we fought against. We now
have to pay them back for the war we fought
for them."

By sharing their experiences and
feelings, war veterans help those who
didn't experience it for themselves to
better understand war and all it's aspects.
By giving the statements in history books
meaning, sights and sounds, faces and
emotions, they give future generations
information about history that cannot be
learned from a history book, only relayed
from experience. And in passing down a
deeper understanding of our history, each
veteran helps to secure knowledge that may
one day help the leaders of our country
when facing another war.

 

Music by LLerrah featuring Margi Harrell