VETERAN SALUTE: Fighting exhaustion and enemy forces in Vietnam
SHAWNEE COUNTY (KSNT) – Starting his military journey as a Combat Marine in Vietnam, Hugh Mitchell would go on patrol constantly for days or even weeks at a time.
Back in the mid 60’s, Mitchell needed a lifestyle change.
“I knew I needed some discipline,” Mitchell said, “Cause I was sadly lacking in that, and I thought if the Marines couldn’t give it to me I wasn’t going to get it.”
He’d go on to learn that practice of discipline overseas. His days were filled with building bunkers, digging holes, and combatting sleep exhaustion as frequently as enemy forces.
“We did patrols and ambushes every day,” he said. “Patrols would last multiple days where we would do blocking positions, where we would go out and set up by a river or road or a village. Another unit would be moving towards us, and we were there to stop anybody from coming out, and we might be there two or three days or nights.”
Even those two or three nights in a row sometimes felt like a reprieve compared to other missions, the rifleman and his company would go on.
“When we were up on the DMZ, against the North Vietnamese,” Mitchell said, “Operation Prairie we were out for like 31 days, and I never had my boots off. We were constantly on the move or dealing with the situation at the time.”
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One moment from his tour that especially stood out to Mitchell involved his unit lending a hand to the Vietnamese government.
“We were heli-lifted into Da Nang to evacuate American, British, and Australian medical personnel because the Buddhist and the Catholics were fighting each other literally to overthrow the government.” he said. “When we left there, we were sent out south of Da Nang a few miles to a bridge, to stop a South Vietnamese military unit from getting into Danang to participate in this revolt.”
After his tour in Vietnam came to an end, Mitchell finished his service at Marine Air Base El Toro in California as an MP. There he would be promoted to Sgt. and transferred to Shore Patrol for all of Orange County.
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