Vietnam veteran shares war experience

Gene Ramsey pulls a framed photo out of the cardboard box where he keeps his war mementos. The old letters, newspaper articles, Bronze Star and black and white pictures tell pieces of his story, but it’s the photo he reaches for first.

In it, he is forever frozen in time as a fresh faced 19-year-old, a slight grin etched on his face. He’s dressed in the olive colored Army fatigues with a helmet on his head and a B40 rocket launcher clutched in his hands. A bandolier of bullets encircles his chest.

The photo was taken the day he risked his own life to save others and more than 50 years later, he still remembers the details vividly.

Ramsey was a battalion wrecker operator in the Vietnam War and his actions that day earned him one of the highest medals awarded in the country.

“This particular day, a guy was riding with me on the wrecker, when we got the call of an ambush,” he recalled.

He said about 10 miles from camp, an ammunition convoy had been ambushed, and there was a man trapped under a jeep.

It was November 24, 1967.

“That day, all hell broke loose,” Ramsey said.

In the draft narrative submitted for the Bronze Star, it details the incident.

When they reached the scene, there were six ammunition trucks burning violently, and Ramsey had to try to get around them but the intense heat and exploding ammunition prevented him from getting too close.

Ramsey remembers jumping off the wrecker as he tried to find an alternative route to the overturned vehicle.

That was when he saw a wounded Vietnamese soldier preparing to shoot a tank with the rocket launcher.

“I kicked it out of his hand and pinned him down,” Ramsey said. “I saved people’s lives by capturing that weapon.”

He said it was a strange sensation.

“It’s like I was outside my body,” he said. “I was just reacting.”

Over the course of the fight, he ended up shooting several Viet Cong fighters and capturing a second.

As a result, he became the second Ramsey to be recognized as a hero.

His father, Cliff Ramsey, fought in World War II and served in Africa, Italy and on the beaches of Normandy. Cliff was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions in the Battle of the Bulge, as well as good conduct and victory medals.

Decades later, Gene Ramsey was also awarded a Bronze star with V device, which is the nation’s fourth highest award.

Gene Ramsey said for years, neither of the two Ramseys talked much about their war experiences until they did a joint interview with The Shelby Star in 2001. Later, they both took up golfing and would open up to each other. They could both relate to the horrors of war and the effects of PTSD.

Gene Ramsey said he still suffers from flashbacks. He remembers mortars hitting every night and not getting more than two or three hours of sleep a night for 30 days.

He shows several photos that had been taken by an embedded journalist who captured a medivac chopper picking up wounded men. There are tankers and jeeps damaged by roadside bombs. In another black and white photo, dark clouds of smoke billow into the sky while huge flames devour the back of a truck.

“This is what hell looks like,” Ramsey said.

He said he had a countdown calendar until the day he could leave Vietnam. Death was always nearby.

When he reflects on it years later, he said it became clear that it was a war that America couldn’t win.

“The Vietnamese way of life wasn’t going to change,” Ramsey said. “It was the wrong decision to think we could do that.”

He said years later, he saw the same thing play out in Afghanistan, and it broke his heart.

“We should learn from it as a nation, as a country, we need to know all the facts before we jump into a war,” he said.

He said a lot of equipment was lost during the decade in Vietnam but even more importantly, was the devastation, loss of life and the men who came back physically and mentally maimed.

When Ramsey returned from Vietnam, after a quick debriefing in Washington, DC, he jumped right back into civilian life and started school at Gardner-Webb University the following Monday. He said going to college and working a full-time job were the best things he could have done.

Ramsey has a heart for helping other veterans and served for many years as the Shelby VFW commander where he increased membership twofold and helped more than 50 soldiers get benefits. He said the VFW is a good place for veterans to receive help and support, and he hopes more Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers will join. The VFW also does good work in the community and in 10 years, they raised more than $300,000 for various causes.

He’s grateful for the things he did learn from the military, including the ability to be on time, the discipline, and the opportunity for a free education through the GI bill, something he doesn’t think he would have had a chance to do if he hadn’t served.

“I strive to be the best I can be,” Ramsey said. “I’ve been blessed to be successful.”

He also attributes his good life to his wife, Jadine, who he met while in line to register at Gardner-Webb University.

“My beautiful wife is the reason for it all,” he said. “She’s my rock.”

On Friday, like he does every year, Ramsey said he’ll catch the Veteran’s Day parade - if he’s not golfing - and make a stop at his dad’s grave.

Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Vietnam veteran shares war experience