Monday, May 30, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Green Beret remembers heroes

Army Special Forces officer takes pride in Vietnam service

Special Forces veteran Al Hendley is surrounded by Army memorabilia Thursday in his Henderson home, where he talked about his experiences in the Special Forces helping the Montagnards, or mountain people, of Vietnam's central highlands 35 years ago. Photo by Ronda Churchill. A rug depicting the Army seal is a centerpiece of Al Hendley's "war room," where he displays Army memorabilia. Photo by Ronda Churchill. Marc Cruz, a Junior ROTC cadet, serves as a color guard Sunday during a memorial service by the Special Forces Association Chapter 51 at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Memorial Day means a lot more to Henderson's Al Hendley than a family picnic and a day when children are out of school.

To the retired Army Special Forces officer and his comrades in the Special Forces Association Chapter 51, today is a day they will privately reflect on the Green Berets who lost their lives and the troops who continue to fight in the nation's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'm proud of the service of all my contemporaries and what they feel they did for the country," Hendley said.

He said he will remember "the great loss of life we had. There are a lot of sad memories."

On Sunday, members of Chapter 51 and veterans on motorcycles converged on the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Jerry Hocking, a Special Forces veteran, built the statue around which they planned to gather.

The Green Berets are not necessarily about combat, Hocking said last week.

"We liberate. We defend. We teach. We heal. We build," he said. "That child in the statue is a representation of the oppressed of the world."

In much the same way, Hendley served his 26-year Army career, one in which he helped liberate the Montagnards, or mountain people, of the central highlands of Vietnam 35 years ago. A hero in his mind is "somebody that on a daily basis just goes out and does their job."

"I think everyone serving in Iraq right now is a hero. And it's the same with the soldiers in Afghanistan," Hendley said last week in his "war room," a den of patriotic decor and memorabilia.

Hendley, 60, and his wife, Judy, have two sons-in-law serving in Iraq. One is a major with the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y. The other is a military police officer with the Arizona National Guard.

"I saw the complete transfer of the Army from the draft Army to the all-volunteer Army to the totally underfunded one of the 1970s," said Hendley, who retired in 1990 as a lieutenant colonel. "I'm really proud of the soldiers we have now."

In a five day-span last week, when the Pentagon posted the names of at least 15 more U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq, Hendley remembered the times during the Vietnam War when nearly 400 per week sometimes turned up on the casualty list during some of the major campaigns.

Hendley said he thinks the American people are getting frustrated with the type of war being waged in Iraq.

"I think it's a frustration that's brought about by a feeling of helplessness," he said. "We just never know when these terrorists are going to attack. It's not based on a lack of support for the troops, but it's the unknown and the sorrow people have for the young men and women serving in Iraq now and what they're going through.

"As the days go on and more and more people are losing their lives, of course people are starting to get frustrated," Hendley said.

While in Vietnam from February 1970 to February 1971, Hendley spent most of his time in the central highlands camp, Plei Me, where he and a total of 16 Green Berets in rotations led 585 Montagnard soldiers against the North Vietnamese Army.

The area had five major infiltration routes. Most of the villages controlled by the Viet Cong were out of range of their artillery.

In addition, there were 2,000 Montagnard dependents.

"We were responsible for everything from feeding them to medical support to education. We hired a teacher," Hendley said.

For about six months as a captain at Plei Me, his Green Berets and the Montagnard rifle and reconnaissance platoon engaged the enemy at least once a week.

Some Montagnard soldiers were killed in action, and Hendley said he was "very fortunate" that none of his American soldiers was killed or wounded.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my tour," he said. "It was having the opportunity to work with people. ... You get so attached to the people, it was kind of hard leaving them."

There was considerable loss of life around Plei Me in 1965 when the camp came under siege and U.S. forces retaliated against three North Vietnamese regiments in the area.

By October 1970, Plei Me, like other Special Forces camps, had been converted to South Vietnamese ranger battalions.

For his efforts, Hendley received four Bronze Star medals, one for valor, two for achievement and one for his unit's service.

When the war ended with the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, 30 years ago last month, Hendley was attending Auburn University to complete his bachelor of science degree.

"I knew politically that the timing of getting out of Vietnam was correct, but I felt we broke a lot of promises to a lot of people by not taking any action at all when the North Vietnamese did invade the south with full force," he said.

"Months later. I had the opportunity to talk to one of the last people who left Vietnam. He told me in 1975 Plei Me was still fighting. ... They were still holding out. And that gave me a sense of pride," Hendley said.