Veterans recall plights of war, emotional scenes of fallen comrades in battle

In a mine field in Vietnam, U.S. soldiers had not been told about undetectable plastic mines buried beneath the surface. An explosion sent fellow soldiers running to the rescue of their unit.\nLance corporal Jerry Griffis, who had been working in the field two minutes earlier, found the soldier who had just relieved him lying on the ground with both legs blown off.\n"A lot of stuff like that happens during war--a lot of things just get screwed up," Griffis said.\nThe young soldier had taken Griffis' place clearing the mine field near the very spot where Griffis had just been working. \n"I remember going back there and he was laying in the ground and it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, I had just been in that minefield two minutes before he was," Griffis said from his desk at the Indiana Veterans' Service Officers' Association.\n"Those things blow your feet right off. I don't even know really what happened."\nLike Griffis, many war veterans can recount the tragic incidents that unfolded right before their eyes. Some, at the young age of 18 or 19, saw soldiers they had lived with for months killed in front of them, while others remember crying after receiving the news of fallen servicemen.\n"Every time someone was killed or injured it affected the entire unit," said Gene Moncel, a Bloomington native and Vietnam war veteran. "I remember we had a memorial ceremony over there and they put the helmets on the rifle of the national guardsmen from Indiana who were killed."\nEven for the toughest, coping with the casualty of war takes an emotional toll.\n"The entire unit was crying. Everyone there was crying," Moncel said. "Even some of my people who were real hard and tough, they cried too."\nEven for those who did not take part in combat missions, the shock of death came with no notice and no warning. It lurked only a few small steps in front of them.\nCarl Penna, who handled the mail for several fleets during the liberation of Manila, still remembers perfectly distinct details of the death of a soldier.\n"There was a battle going on and the smell was just awful" he said. "There were decayed bodies everywhere and the Japanese were held up inside a wall around the city -- and we had to drive them out."\nPenna, who had only taken several steps off the fleet was surrounded by fallen soldiers.\n"They shot a (Japanese soldier) right dead in front of me and I saw his gun slowly drop to the floor," he said.\nBut while many veterans can remember vivid details, smells and exact dates of events overseas, making their memories imaginable to others is often a difficult task.\n"There's no way I can explain it to anyone who wasn't there, just as I do not understand entirely what someone went through during World War II," Moncel said. "You think nothing bad is really ever going to happen to you or anyone you know and then boom -- suddenly it's there."\nFor many of the veterans, thinking about the soldiers who died for their country and the families left behind often brings carefully guarded emotions back into their minds.\n"It's hard. It's really hard to think about a guy killed who had a two-month-old child he never saw," Moncel said.\n"I was talking to a friend of mine a couple years ago, and it's just very difficult. What's hard is that those who are severely injured come back and can never lead a complete life and it's hard on their families." \nFor those lucky enough to return home from service, each time they turn on the news, they face the possibility of losing another comrade to battle. \nMoncel received a letter during Christmas from a sergeant he knew during his service who had volunteered to go to Vietnam from Korea. Three weeks later, when Moncel sat down to respond, he found out the sergeant had been killed.\n"Its unreal to think that in the time between when he sent me a letter and me finally getting around to write it, he was killed," Moncel said. \nBut for those who have heard no word from loved ones, fellow soldiers or former friends on the battlefield, the waiting game is often the most difficult part.\n"I don't know what even happened to the kid in the mine field," Griffis said. "I just really hope he lived."\n-- Contact Campus Editor at Mallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.