Faces From an Earlier War

[darrels joy]

Faces From an Earlier War
By ADRIANA JANOVICH
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


If Paul Ackerman had never gone to war, his wife Pegi might never have met him.

She was standing at First and B streets in downtown Yakima about 8:40 one morning in May 1968, watching the Yakima-based 737th Transportation Company's procession head to Vietnam.

He was looking for his parents, brothers and sister, who were standing near their family-run service station, so he didn't see Pegi. But she sure saw him.

"I stood there crying," says Pegi, who was 28 years old at the time. "I was just thinking of the guys going over there and what they would have to go through and it just made me cry."

When Ackerman's truck rolled by, she had a different thought: "I'm going to marry that man." She didn't know his name. And she'd have to wait until ? or even if ? he returned.


BEFORE THEIR FLIGHT ARRIVED in Vietnam, "the chaplain said look around because you're not all going to be here," remembers Clare Brower of Yakima, a former squad leader with the 737th. "We heard that all the time: You're going to lose (soldiers.) You're going to lose them. And we didn't."

Brower and Ackerman ? along with all 184 other members of the Army Reserve company ? came back after 11 months of hauling fuel and supplies more than 500,000 miles through Vietnam.

And this weekend, the old soldiers ? along with their spouses and guests ? are reuniting to commemorate their 35th homecoming anniversary.

About 60 people are expected to attend the reunion. Nine have died and 12 haven't been found. Some have moved away, but most remain in the Yakima Valley. After all, this is where two-thirds of the company, which mobilized on May 13, 1968, came from.

They'll share war stories, catch up with each other's lives and have dinner and maybe a few drinks. They'll also sign an American flag, which they will present to the current 737th Company now serving in Kuwait and Iraq.


ACKERMAN HOPES they too return without loss. Like the generation before them, the current 737th is hauling fuel and supplies. The older group is already planning a welcome home party.

"I know it's going to be a long, hard time to muster," says 57-year-old Ackerman, relaying what he'd like to say to the troops. "But the Almighty's watching over you. We'll all be waiting with open arms when you come home."

His memory of Vietnam: "Hot. Humid. Stinky. Smelly. Dangerous."

While the current 737th is dealing with sand, dust and desert, his soldiers contended with monsoons.

"It rained solid, day and night," he says. "It rained so hard some of the guys would just take a shower in the rain. There are times I remember lying on my cot, wondering what the heck are we doing here?"

Others also had mixed feelings. They missed their homes and loved ones. At times, they felt afraid. And proud.

"Very few reserve units went over there," says Brower. "I didn't know where Vietnam was, never heard of the place until the war started.

"The first month we were there, we hauled eight-and-a-half million gallons of fuel. We started hauling the night we got to (Vietnam). We had constant sniper fire. That happened every day. All of our vehicles had bullet holes."

Today, many are grandfathers with scrapbooks filled with yellowed newspaper clippings and faded photographs from Vietnam. There's a July 19, 1968, clipping from the Herald-Republic showing Ackerman at Fort Lewis, handling an M16 rifle before being shipped overseas. There are cartoons by 59-year-old Bill Timmermans of Yakima, along with photos of him in front of the "hooches" where they lived when they weren't on the road.

"We stuck together and looked out for each other," Timmermans says. "Those (other soldiers) had to have supplies. You had to stick it out. You couldn't go back."

These days, the veterans don't look back very often.

"I don't think about it, unless a program comes on TV about Vietnam," says Bob Wilson, a former assistant platoon sergeant with the 737th. He's helping organize the reunion with Jim Swearngin, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The 78-year-old was a platoon sergeant with the 737th.

"It's kind of hard to talk about some of it," Swearngin says. But he's looking forward to the reunion "because I enjoy being with the people I was in Vietnam with."

Swearngin's a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Yakima Warriors. And he's still in contact with many of his men.

"I stick pretty close to them," he says, "'cause I respect them."




If you go

What: The 35th anniversary of the U.S. Army Reserve 737th Transportation Company's return from an 11-month tour in Vietnam.

Who: 737th Vietnam veterans and their guests

When: 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: Veterans of Foreign Wars, 118 S. Fifth Ave.

Cost: $12 per dinner

BRIAN FITZGERALD/Yakima Herald-Republic
Clare Brower, left, Bill Timmermans, center, and Bob Wilson served with the Army Reserve's 737th Transportation Company during its 1968-69 tour in Vietnam.