It is not often that professors are given such grand opportunities to make history matter really come to life. However, on Tuesday, April 1, professor of history and chair of the history department Stacy Cordery had that distinct honor and privilege.

Cordery and her Vietnam Era class (HIST 340) sat with five veterans of the Vietnam War for nearly an hour and a half. Larry James, Hector Colon, Larry Ward, Dan MiKinney and John Strnad discussed their experiences as soldiers in the Vietnam War, and how it had affected them and their families.

James, the uncle of Leah McLaren, secretary of academic affairs, and Stephanie Kinkaid, secretary of student affairs, is the author of “Unfortunate Sons,” which Cordery’s class read in preparation for this meeting.

Featured in this book is the story of Charlie Company of the 9th Infantry Regiment and    March 2, 1968, the day they were ambushed. McKinney was the lone member of the panel who had not only been at the scene of the ambush, but also lived through it. The men of the 9th Infantry Regiment are also known as the Manchus.

McKinney was wounded seven times during the ambush, and only survived thanks to a medic’s brave sacrifice. As McKinney lay dieing in the middle of the road, Ron Slane ran to his aid, but after giving McKinney morphine, Slane himself was shot and later died.

Thanks much in part to James’ book and research, McKinney had the honor and privilege to meet Slane’s mother and sisters to thank them for the life that their brother and son had saved.

Larry Ward would have been in the field on the date of the ambush had he not been on leave, marrying his fiancé. In February of 1968, Ward was promoted to company commander; he had originally been the second platoon leader of Charlie Company.

During the discussion, Ward commented, “We all feel that the reason we are here today is by some sort of divine intervention.”

Hector Colon was also a platoon leader, only in Bravo Company. Colon served from Sept. 1967 through Feb. 1968 and received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on Jan. 5 1968.

On that date Colon and his platoon were left behind during an evacuation of a rescue and recover operation. With everyone else airlifted out Colon’s platoon was left on the ground receiving heavy fire from all directions.

Colon and his men set up a defensive perimeter at about 4:30 and it was not for another two hours that the enemy broke contact. Artillery needed to be called in only 10-15 meters from the position of Colon and his men.

Colon was the last man off the field, according to Ward, “[Colon] wanted to ensure all of his men were off.” For these actions and his bravery under fire Colon was given one of the highest honors in the army which was bestowed upon him by what he describes as “a crusty old man.”

Colon had also been away during the March 2 ambush getting married. Colon was married on March first and only retuned to Vietnam on March 4 to find the aftermath of a horrific ambush.

John Strnad served later in Vietnam and joked that it was good to find someone that served shorter than he did, referring to McKinney.

On Dec. 22 1968, Strnad was hit by shrapnel in the face rendering him badly wounded and eventually blind. Strnad and his company had been placed as bait in Mole Cite. The North Vietnam Army (NVA) and Viet Cong took the bait and in a horrific battle nearly destroyed the company.

In an interesting connection to the March 2 attack on McKinney’s Charlie Company, an M-79 rocket launcher was found at Mole City that had been removed from the killing zone by the NVA/Viet Cong and then used just months later.

These men told moving stories of what they went through both before and after their service in the Vietnam War.

Between James’ book and the stories of these five men truly brought history to life. These are the rare opportunities that Monmouth College students have, to learn from the people that went through the actual events.

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