Lindsey Berney and Stephania Santana
March 21, 2014
King High Remembers
From 1954 to 1973, American lives were put on hold, ended, and dramatically and permanently
changed. Those who had not seen battle knew of others that had experienced it, not a person from the
time period was left unscathed by the controversy which was the Vietnam War. At the peak of the war
more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict and at its conclusion,
more than 6 million lives had been lost, 58,000 of which were American servicemen. The average age of
a soldier in the 20 years of the Vietnam conflict was between 19 and 21, because of this, the youth of
America lived in constant fear of personal enlistment or of the enlistment of those close to them.
The mid 1940s brought the birth of Greg Smith who, little did he know, would after being born and
raised in Welland, Canada, grow up to be one of the many Americans in the 50s and 60s serving to
protect the freedom and security of his country during the Vietnam conflict. At the age of 18, after being
asked to leave Miami of Ohio University for stealing a 5 gallon tub of ice cream, Greg chose to enlist in
the Marines. While being stationed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, Smith
received word from Miami of Ohio stating that he had been given the opportunity to return to the
university on a probational period. After notifying his commanding officers about his opportunity to
return home, Smith quickly learned that he was not going to be going home anytime in the near future.
He continued on to complete his training at Camp Pendleton, California before being stationed
elsewhere.
During his 6 years of service in the Marine Corps, Greg Smith served his country as combat
infantryman and during his service was stationed in Kaneohe, Hawaii at the Marine Corps Air Station,
Okinawa, Japan, both Phu Bai and Chu Lai, Vietnam, and Camp Pendleton, California. In his first
deployment, Smith was stationed in North Vietnam for a consistent nine months. His unit consisted of
seven men, all who served as a scout “snoop and poop” unit. During this time together the men became
tremendously close to one another and entertained themselves with practical jokes such as filling
sleeping bags with shaving cream or putting warm water on each others’ hands while they slept. Letters
were the only source of communication to the world these men had left at home, for Greg Smith, this
meant letters from a girlfriend he had left behind. Three letters arrived from this significant other, the
third of which he sadly found out to be a Dear John letter, ending the relationship and ties with a Marine
in a highly controversial war.
Although the men did their best to stay positive and entertain themselves while deployed, it took
little time to understand the horror that was their environment and the realization that it could not be
escaped for the next nine months. Soldiers, after landing in Vietnam, ran into the depths of the jungle
and began to dig holes that would unknowingly become their shelters. With Vietnamese weather being
humid and the season of monsoons imminent, evacuation due to heat stroke became the greater
statistic over combat wounds or fatalities. The men had to live amongst infestations of rats and leeches
and swarms of mosquitoes that carried deadly viruses along with the wildlife that the jungle contained,
for their time deployed, soldiers had to battle both the enemy and the environment.
American soldiers had been sent to defend and protect Vietnamese civilians against the Viet Cong,
but learned quickly that the enemy was not easily identifiable. Those who seemed allied with U.S.
troops, under the cover of darkness returned to betray the trust of the soldiers and opened in brutal
combat. While Smith was deployed, a local Vietnamese barber that had been trusted to work with the
troops and who had gained the friendships of many of the soldiers, had returned at nightfall to ambush
the same men he had befriended. Men in Smith’s unit were forced to kill the barber and those with him.
During his second deployment, Greg was stationed for ten months and was sent with a larger unit.
While being stationed, the men grew so in sync with their senses, that they were able to smell the
presence of a Vietnamese person and were able to prepare for it without taking visual note of their
location. Although Smith’s first deployment came home without a casualty, his second deployment
returned with 15-20% in American casualties.
After returning to the U.S., Smith was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California as an MP. While
serving, he met and grew fond of the daughter of one of his commanding officers and later on
proceeded to marry her and brought up a son with her. Even after 50 years from his service in the
Vietnam War, Greg Smith believes he has never and will never be able to return to what he would deem
as a “normal” life. His sacrifices in serving selflessly for the safety of his country, exemplify the character
of those in the armed forces, and for that sacrifice we as a country are every grateful and honored.