A meal and service shared: Belen Vietnam veterans gather for the first time

May 22—BELEN — It was June 1969, and U.S. Naval Reservist and Belen native LeRoy Sanchez had been in Vietnam for about week. Stationed at Camp Tien Sha, Sanchez, who was drafted into the service, spent the first few days of his one year of duty doing busy work around the camp, like picking up supplies and cleaning.

Despite trying to keep himself occupied , Sanchez said the toll of the situation was weighing on him. "I spent the first few days feeling sorry for myself," he said.

That feeling lingered until one day when he ran into his cousin from Belen, Alfredo Padilla. The two were shocked to see each other — and it turned out, it would be the only time they would, in Vietnam.

"(Alfredo) was getting ready to go home the next day, and I had 361 days more to serve active duty," Sanchez said.

After this chance meeting, Sanchez, now 78, went on to become a photographer with the Navy's public affairs division, where he covered the war for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

During his time as a photographer, Sanchez traveled from the demilitarized zone to Tan My, Phu Bai, Chu Lai Cam Bay and Saigon, which is now known as Ho Chi Minh City. His assignments were often difficult, especially when he had to photograph injured solders helicoptered into Da Nang Hospital.

"It took a long time to get those images out of my head," Sanchez said.

After his year of service , he returned to his wife in Los Angeles and graduated from Los Angeles City College with a degree in photography.

After graduation, he returned home to New Mexico and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the public affairs department for 38 years. Meanwhile, Sanchez said, he remained in contact with Padilla and began to learn about many other Belen natives who had served in Vietnam, including several of his former elementary and middle school classmates.

After his retirement from Los Alamos, Sanchez began to think of a way to get this group together. He reached out to Padilla, who then began speaking to the veterans he knew. One was his neighbor and former elementary and middle school schoolmate, Raymond Sanchez.. Padilla also reached out to Benny Hodges, another former classmate as well.

On Tuesday, tucked away in a back room at Pete's Cafe in Belen, the four men gathered for the first time. They shared chips and salsa, and caught up on how everyone is doing.

The memories of their war experiences were distant.

Raymond Sanchez, 77, said he never really spoke about his time in Vietnam until now. He joined the Marines military shortly after graduating from high school. After boot camp, he was assigned to a recon unit bound for Vietnam, " to the H&S company, 3rd Amtrac Battalion at Marble Mountain."

Sanchez stayed at Marble Mountain for several months until he was transferred to Bravo Company. There, he ran patrols until he was wounded in October 1967 and received a Purple Heart. He returned to active duty and become a "tunnel rat" near the Cambodian border.

"They couldn't figure out why Marines were getting shot in the back; well, (the enemy was) popping out of holes," Sanchez explained. "So being one of the small Marines, I was volunteered by the captain."

Raymond Sanchez received a second Purple Heart in 1968. He left the service in 1970 and returned to Belen, where he married and raised his two children.

Raymond Sanchez recalls bumping into Padilla and Hodges, both now 77, in Belen after the war, not knowing they also had served in Vietnam. Padilla also served in the Marines, joining up after high school and serving first as a helicopter gunner and as a crew chief.

"Helicopter crews were in high demand in Vietnam, so I was assigned to Marble Mountain," Padilla said. He flew missions in both South and North Vietnam during his tour of duty. After he was discharged from the military in 1969, he returned home to New Mexico and enrolled at New Mexico Highlands University and then transferred to the University of New Mexico, where he earned an undergraduate degree in elementary education and a master's in education administration.

Padilla was an elementary school teacher for eight years, then a principal at Central and Rio Grande elementary schools in Belen. He worked in administration for 13 years before retiring at the age of 48.

While his time in Vietnam was difficult, Padilla credited it with helping develop the skills necessary to succeed after the war.

"(The service) was the reason I learned responsibility, good work ethic and good study habits," he said. "My experience in the military was good, and I will always remember it in my heart."

While Sanchez and Padilla both enlisted, Hodges was drafted. He received his draft letter during the fall semester of his sophomore year at the University of Oklahoma in 1966. Hodges was less than thrilled with the news.

"I didn't want to join the military," he said. "There's nothing in the military I want."

Despite his reticence, Hodges passed his Army physical and within a few months was at Fort Bliss in El Paso undergoing basic training. He later attended Officer Candidate School and was sent to Vietnam as a member of the Military Advisory Command. He developed battle plans and assisted with getting supplies to where they needed to go.

After his service, Hodges, like the other veterans, returned to New Mexico, but under much different circumstances — to be at the side of his father, who was dying of cancer in Belen. After his father passed, he stayed and helped his mother run the family oil business. He also went back to school at UNM and earned a degree in political science.

As each man shared his story of Vietnam with the others, the memory of what he had endured could been seen on his face. However, the sense of gratitude for having come out the other side was felt as well. While this may have been the first time the four had gotten together — sharing a meal and an enduring bond of service — they all agreed it wouldn't be the last.

"We're going to get together again," said LeRoy Sanchez, smiling .