Edward B. Adams - Property of the U.S. Army: A Vietnam Veterans Story of Survival and Recovery

PROPERTY OF THE U.S. ARMY

Property

of the

U.S. Army

A Vietnam Veterans Story

of Survival and Recovery

Edward B. Adams

As told to Kilee Brookbank

Copyright 2020 by KiCam Projects

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Adams, Edward B., 1950- author. | Brookbank, Kilee, 1998-

interviewer.

Title: Property of the U.S. Army : a Vietnam veterans story of survival

and recovery / Edward B. Adams, as told to Kilee Brookbank.

Other titles: Vietnam veterans story of survival and recovery

Description: Georgetown, Ohio : KiCam Projects, [2020] | Summary:

PROPERTY OF THE U.S. ARMY They had stamped it on his T-shirt, his footlocker, and the plastic stock of his M-16. Decades later, hed find

theyd stamped it on his soul. Ed was just twenty years old when a

Vietcong landmine ripped off both his legs below the knee. After only

four months and four days in combat, Ed found himself in a hospital bed

fighting for his life - a life he would barely recognize when he

returned to his small-town Ohio home. After five decades of struggling

through alcoholism, drugs, failed marriages, and physical abuse, Ed

shares his story for the first time, processing the lifelong impact of

combat ... of coming home to a nation that didnt want him ... of

physical and mental wounds that never fully healed. As Ed reveals his

truths to readers, he discovers something for himself: that war is hell

but that life and liberty are always worth fighting for-- Provided by

publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020034397 (print) | LCCN 2020034398 (ebook) | ISBN

9781734564204 (paperback) | ISBN 9781734564211 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Adams, Edward B., 1950- | Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Veterans.

| Veterans--Ohio--Biography. | Amputees--Ohio--Biography.

Classification: LCC DS559.73.U6 A43 2020 (print) | LCC DS559.73.U6

(ebook) | DDC 959.704/34092 [B]--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020034397

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020034398

Cover and book design by Mark Sullivan

ISBN 978-1-7345642-0-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7345642-1-1 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Published by KiCam Projects

Georgetown, Ohio

www.KiCamProjects.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all who have been wounded in war, especially those who were by my side on that fateful day in Vietnam fifty years ago.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction xi

Chapter One: The Day My Life Changed 1

Chapter Two: Growing Up Easy 7

Chapter Three: Basic Training 23

Chapter Four: Off to War 43

Chapter Five: Recovery and the New Normal 59

Chapter Six: Back to Civilian Life 77

Chapter Seven: Marriage, Family, Divorce, Repeat 87

Chapter Eight: Two Decades of Darkness 95

Chapter Nine: The Good Ol Days 105

Chapter Ten: Changes, for Better or Worse 113

Chapter Eleven: What Is and What Couldve Been 121

Conclusion 127

Appendix: Resources for Veterans 129

Preface

General William Tecumseh Sherman, who served under General Ulysses S. Grant both from Ohio, as I am during the Civil War, said, War is hell. And he was right. But what about a conflict? The United States never declared war on north Vietnam. But let me tell you: I was there. It was war. And it was hell.

I cant speak for all of the 2.7 million American soldiers who served in Vietnam during the conflict, but I cant imagine them describing it any other way. I am a double amputee and a proud United States Army veteran, and I am not alone. Seventy-five thousand American soldiers were severely disabled in Vietnam. Amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher in Vietnam than in World War II.

A total of 304,000 American soldiers were wounded in Vietnam, and I am one of them. Thats a staggering number of wounded. And we were the lucky ones. Why would I say that? Because 58,220 were killed in action, and many soldiers still remain listed as missing in action. Those young men gave their lives for their country for all of us. A lot of them were drafted, as I was, and they served and ultimately gave all. Just as it is an honor to be an American citizen, it is an honor to serve this great nation then, now, and forever.

Time is something we all have. Certainly, some get less time than others, but we are all given a precious gift. How you choose to spend your time on this earth is up to you. In my life, I had a brief moment in time that was decided for me, when I was drafted into the Army. But after my service, I still had plenty of choices to make. Upon reading this book, you might agree that I wasnt a very good decision-maker at times maybe for quite a long time. Ive certainly lived a life full of highs and lows. But Im lucky to have lived it, and Im grateful for every moment of it.

Introduction

Man, what a day. Warm, sunny a typical southern Ohio summer day. I was less than a year out of high school and working at a hardware store in my hometown of Lebanon. You know, for a nineteen-year-old, that was a cool job. I really liked it. I got to see a lot of people I knew when they came into the store, and I got to meet quite a few new folks, as well. It was a small-town hardware store that helped small-town people, like me.

After work, I checked the mailbox at home and saw a letter addressed to me. Written on the outer envelope were the words: The United States Army. I knew I needed to open it immediately. I went inside to do so with my mother and father around me.

Right away, I saw some scary words in big, bold type.

Greetings! You have been inducted into the United States Army.

Oh, shit!

My mother started crying while my father tried to console her.

I was in shock. I wasnt sure how a 110-pound-soaking-wet, five-feet-six-inches-tall teen-aged me was going to handle war. All I could think about was how I would survive. Of course, just like every other red-blooded, proud American especially young men of draft age, like myself Id kept up with what was going on in the Vietnam conflict. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what awaited me over there.

The letter stated the date, time, and location I needed to report for basic training: May 1970. I had about a month of freedom left.

When you get a letter like that, you dont know if you will be back home to see your friends and family again, so I wanted to make the best of the situation. So, after it all sort of sunk in, the first thing that came to mind was beer. And lots of it.

That night, I went out with my friends Deon and Dewayne. The legal drinking age in Ohio in 1970 was eighteen, so we partied and got drunk together. Dewayne was also drafted around the same time. We both needed to get away from life for a little bit. It was good to have someone to talk to who was going through the same thing I was. We went to a bar in our hometown and carried on for hours that night, talking about life, girls, friends, and whatever else kept us in the moment and out of the reality of what we were about to experience.

There is no good way to prepare yourself for war. So, I did what felt good to me at that moment I partied. Im sure a lot of men my age reacted the same way. Was it the right thing or best thing to do? I dont know. Is there a right way to respond when youre told youve been chosen to travel thousands of miles away from home to possibly have to kill strangers in a jungle?