Vietnam Veteran

[4th Miss Cav]

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to speak to Charles Lee Speights.  I have known him my entire life and I actually call him uncle.  He has always been a very close friend of my mom and dad.  My dad passed away in October and he was at the funeral.  I asked him if I could talk to him about his service.  I knew he was in Vietnam but that was about it as he never talked about it and I wanted to respect his privacy.  He did open up to me and this is what I found out.  He was a combat medic with H Q Co with the 299th Engineer Battalion at Dak To.  He served from September 1968 until November 1969 in country.  He was there through the 60 day siege of the base.  He said it was literally hell on Earth.  He was wounded in the wrist by shrapnel and refused the Purple Heart.  I asked why and he told me he had seen men loose their arms and legs and all they received was a purple heart and his was a scratch in comparison and he didn't feel right about accepting it.  He said every day and night mortars and rockets poured in on them.  I read a letter a man wrote him several years ago thanking him for pulling him to safety and saving his life.  I had to stop half way through the letter and go outside and take a few deep breaths to keep my emotions in check.  One of the photos is of a Vietnamese baby that he delivered.  A midwife brought the woman in as she was having trouble and he ended up delivering the baby.  The other was taken around June 6, 1969 by Life photographer Larry Burrows.  He is the medic in the middle helping a wounded soldier onto a stretcher.  He has about a hundred photos of the base and some are of them being shelled.  It was a very interesting conversation to say the least