- February 18, 2025
“I was spat on and called a baby killer,” said Steven Gonzalez, at a “Meet the Vietnam Veterans” panel discussion on April 1 at the Ormond Beach Regional Library.
Gonzalez served two tours of duty in the controversial war that split the country apart in the late 1960s.. He choked up as he said what kept him going was he had his girl friend, now his wife, waiting for him.
“I also had a personal mission, to get home in one piece.”
KENNETH KINSLER, Vietnam veteran
“I would do it again if I had to,” he said, and that was the sentiment expressed by other veterans on the panel.
Some said they had never spoken publicly about the war, and a couple became emotional as they related 50-year-old memories.
“You can see it’s heart-felt,” said emcee Skip Keating, of Ormond Beach, a retired Army colonel.
Unlike other wars, Vietnam veterans did not return to welcome home ceremonies. But now, as they enter retirement years, the nation is finally saying thanks, as evidenced by the events during Vietnam Vets Appreciation Week, organized by Ormond Strong. There was a ceremony at Emory Bennett Memorial Veterans Nursing Home, a proclamation by the Volusia County Council and an Ormond Strong walk over the Granada Bridge on March 29.
On March 29, 2012, President Barak Obama proclaimed that day as Vietnam Veterans Day.
Gonzales served in the Air Force, supplying ordinance to an F4 Phantom Jet.
He said he had wanted to be a pilot, but after basic training, they gave him a different assignment.
“The tourists were asking who is telling the truth, Vietnam or U.S.:
Skip Keating, on a trip to the country after the war.
“They said, ‘we have a great job for you — working with explosives,’” he said.
His mother was worried, but he said, to audience laughter, that he told her don’t worry, it’s a job where you only make a mistake once
He also said he had not spoken publicly.
“I have stories but I don’t tell them,” he said.
Kenneth Kinsler, who was drafted into the Army 1967, related a mission to cut off a supply line. “I also had a personal mission,” he said, “to get home in one piece.”
His platoon went up a hill, where dozens were killed and almost 200 wounded.
“Only seven of us walked back down under our own power,” he said.
He pointed out the intensity of the war, saying that more Americans died during the TET Offensive than in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.
“But I would do it again and not regret it,” he said. “Not for one minute.”
Later, during the panel discussion, he had criticism for the U.S. government at that time.
“We were brainwashed before we went,” he said. “We weren’t killing soldiers, we were killing gooks. I’m ashamed to say that about the government. That’s why we were walking around with PTSD.”
Sam McCloud served as a Marine and won the Medal of Honor. He said he volunteered at a time when some were volunteering, others were protesting and some were doing both.
He spent his time on the panel honoring a friend who also had won the Medal of Honor.
He explained that in the war, there wasn’t enough personnel. A Marine squad should have 12 men, but they would go out with six men. His friend won the medal after continuing to attack the enemy even though he had six men against 100 of the enemy. He was killed in the battle.
Rod Philips, who served the Army, said to this day when he hears a Huey helicopter it gives him a good feeling.
“A helicopter meant we were either getting resupplied or we were getting the heck out of where we were,” he said. “I’m very grateful to the 1st Cavalry.”
He described Vietnam as fighting a guerilla war in a very dense jungle with treacherous mountains. He said by day he would see people tending rice patties with water buffalo, and at night they would be Viet Cong.
Frank Marriott, a circuit court judge since 2000, echoed how troops fought without full strength. Company commander of Charley Company in the U.S. Army, he said a full company was said to be 200 men and they fought with 80.
Noel Koeller served in the Navy on an aircraft carrier. He found that deck of an aircraft carrier was a very dangerous place, and people were even killed in accidents.
He recalled that once they lost all power and the ship, and drifted along so close to land they could see the jungle.
“We were sitting ducks,” he said. Later, power was restored.
Keating talked about a trip back to Vietnam. He said there are skyscrapers in the cities and in the country the ancient methods for growing rice are still being used.
He was upset on a tour of the Hanoi Hilton, the infamous prison, which displayed photos of American soldiers playing volleyball and eating cookies, when he knew it was a place of mistreatment.
“The tourists were asking who is telling the truth, Vietnam or U.S.,” he said.
Going there provided closure for Keating.
“I am grateful for peace in that part of the world and that I don’t have to send my son there,” he said.
