Vietnam Life Illuminates History

Post date: May 13, 2021 8:19:43 PM

Jesalyn Laudrille, staff

As a young boy, he yearned to learn how to run heavy equipment when he got older, but he had no idea he would be drafted into the military later on.

Jon Gustafson, born July 16, 1950, was drafted for the Vietnam War at 18-years-old on January 6, 1969. Like every 18-year-old male US citizen who didn’t sign up for war, he was given a draft number.

“If you did not volunteer for the army, you were given a draft number,” Gustafson said. “My draft number was six.”

As he had to go to basic training for eight weeks and then to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for another eight weeks, he explained life as “upside down.”

“During that time,” Gustafson said, “we were told within our group, 95% of them would be going to Vietnam, and there was a 50/50 chance of not coming back home. Nobody really thought about the future.”

Entering Vietnam was something completely different and very unpredictable.

War took place in AnLoc Province, which is a part of South Vietnam. With his surroundings being a large and wild jungle, it would have been pretty difficult to spot enemies hiding within the vegetation, even if his main job was to drive a tank.

“A chemical called Asian Orange (AO) was used to stop the growth of the vegetation within the jungle,” Gustafson said. “With the leaves and plants decaying, it was harder for the North Vietnamese to hide.”

The US Government said that this chemical would not affect human life. Many years later, a lot of Vietnam veterans started coming up with strange illnesses.

“Something made us sick and they found out AO was responsible,” Gustafson said. “I found out I was sick when I hurt my back and had to get back surgery.”

Before going into surgery, doctors gave soldiers a physical check up. Before he could go, Gustafson had to have blood drawn to make sure he was healthy enough to go into surgery.

“My doctor said that my blood sugar was high, so he ran some tests and informed me I was diabetic,” he said.

Getting diabetes, however, wasn’t the only illness people have gotten from the war.

Apart from that moment, there was one a lot more terrifying.

Gustafson slept outside on a cot most nights. His guard duty was 2-4 a.m. At 4 o’clock, his tank commander relieved him from his post, and because it was so cold one night, he decided to sleep in the tank. At around 5 a.m., there was a large explosion next to his tank. They were under attack by the North Vietnamese army. It lasted for about 2 hours.

When it was over, Gustafson’s rear gunner said, “It’s a good thing you slept inside last night. Look where your cot was.”

Instead of a cot being there, there was a 3-foot hole in the ground.

If it wouldn’t have been cold that night, Gustafson would not be here today, telling about his experience.