WEBVTT 00:00:00.354 --> 00:00:07.539 - My name is Michael Carter, and welcome to my wife Paulette and my cousins who attend regularly. My brother 00:00:07.539 --> 00:00:14.254 - Steve couldn't make it. He has a real job, turns out. I left some sheets of paper on all the tables 00:00:14.254 --> 00:00:20.970 - with the upcoming programs that you can share. Don't fight over them or anything. Of course, that's 00:00:20.970 --> 00:00:28.222 - our schedule, barring cancellations. And we have those every once in a while. We just have to deal with it. 00:00:29.154 --> 00:00:36.607 - They happened before, they'll happen again. Many thanks to the American Legion for allowing us to have 00:00:36.607 --> 00:00:43.914 - these programs. We've been partners in preserving local history for 13 years now. And thanks so much 00:00:43.914 --> 00:00:51.222 - for the wait staff and the kitchen staff who do a great job every time. It's great that we have such 00:00:51.222 --> 00:00:57.662 - good people to serve us. Unfortunately, this will be the last day for Brooke to be here. 00:00:59.042 --> 00:01:07.116 - She's been with us several years, and she especially takes care of us old guys every Tuesday we get 00:01:07.116 --> 00:01:15.512 - together. So the thing is, she works at her sister's restaurant, Busy Bee Cafe in Spencer, so you might 00:01:15.512 --> 00:01:23.586 - pay her a visit there. And I'd like to thank Catch TV and Dave, hi Dave, for recording our programs 00:01:23.586 --> 00:01:26.654 - for the last 10 years, over 10 years. 00:01:29.378 --> 00:01:36.384 - And we have like 110 of these on YouTube, which is kind of cool. It's a very important service. It allows 00:01:36.384 --> 00:01:43.060 - us to upload each program to YouTube for people who can't make it to the live programs. In addition, 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:49.934 - it allows us to preserve our local history for future generations to enjoy. And also, our local history 00:01:49.934 --> 00:01:55.486 - enthusiasts who attend these programs are great. We really appreciate your support. 00:01:58.082 --> 00:02:06.802 - A lot of diverse programs over the years. Look them up on YouTube. You gotta do as good on the YouTube 00:02:06.802 --> 00:02:15.522 - channel and put in my Monroe County History Club and they all come up. How many new attendees? I think 00:02:15.522 --> 00:02:24.411 - I see some new faces here. Any new ones? Maybe not. So some people want to give me their email addresses 00:02:24.411 --> 00:02:26.782 - and to get direct mailings. 00:02:26.914 --> 00:02:33.607 - instead of finding out on social media. And if you want to give me that, I can give that to Steve Brewer, 00:02:33.607 --> 00:02:40.363 - who helps us, and George Carpenter will see to it that it's good on our list. Also, first, Daniel Schlegel 00:02:40.363 --> 00:02:43.646 - of the History Center. I'd like to say a few words. 00:02:50.882 --> 00:02:57.722 - Good afternoon everybody. I just want to give a warm round of applause for Michael and all of his hard 00:02:57.722 --> 00:03:04.362 - work with this. We are so lucky at the History Center to have Michael on our board and he is always 00:03:04.362 --> 00:03:11.268 - a hard worker and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate his attention to detail. I'm more big picture 00:03:11.268 --> 00:03:12.862 - and he's more detail so 00:03:13.026 --> 00:03:19.140 - It's easy to work with him because we complement each other. So I just wanted to let you know a couple 00:03:19.140 --> 00:03:25.491 - of things going on at the History Center. We have an exhibit up called Join or Die about any Revolutionary 00:03:25.491 --> 00:03:31.070 - War era veterans that after the war, they moved west all the way west to Indiana at the time. 00:03:31.202 --> 00:03:37.170 - And so we have a lot of different information. Some of it is new. There were some unknown vets that 00:03:37.170 --> 00:03:43.436 - weren't posted in other places before. So we did a lot of research and so we have an exhibit about them, 00:03:43.436 --> 00:03:49.642 - including the Brewster Sisters and their work in Virginia. So please make sure to come out and see that 00:03:49.642 --> 00:03:55.431 - exhibit. We even have a Revolutionary War era game you can play that's on display there as well. 00:03:55.431 --> 00:03:57.758 - So come out, see the exhibit, do that. 00:03:58.210 --> 00:04:04.101 - For the Showers Brothers family, we have an exhibit up. It's a choose your own adventure style. So you're 00:04:04.101 --> 00:04:09.714 - able to go through and follow either the factory or the family. And it kind of walks you through how 00:04:09.714 --> 00:04:15.549 - our curators decide what and how much to put into exhibits. And then you can help create your own little 00:04:15.549 --> 00:04:19.550 - exhibit label at the very end about one of the Showers Brothers chairs. 00:04:19.938 --> 00:04:25.457 - So make sure to come out and see both of those. We have a lot of different exhibits that are changing 00:04:25.457 --> 00:04:30.869 - and rotating. So that way it's not the same thing every time you come out. We always have something 00:04:30.869 --> 00:04:36.496 - new and different on display. And then before I forget, we also have our garage sale coming up in June. 00:04:36.496 --> 00:04:41.908 - I have a lot of these quarter sheets. So if everyone takes a few or if you know places, you want to 00:04:41.908 --> 00:04:47.806 - hand them out or post them, we would love that. The garage sale ladies are very much hard at work right now. 00:04:48.130 --> 00:04:53.585 - Organizing, cataloging, cleaning, pricing, they do a lot, a lot of behind the scenes work. So if you 00:04:53.585 --> 00:04:59.149 - have a spring cleaning project you're doing, please consider us. All the donation details are on here. 00:04:59.149 --> 00:05:04.550 - They do pickups. And then you can also drop it off if you're out running errands on a Wednesday. So 00:05:04.550 --> 00:05:09.951 - feel free to come over and see me. I have all kinds of books out this time. And hopefully we'll see 00:05:09.951 --> 00:05:13.246 - you out at the History Center. And then we have, here he is. 00:05:13.410 --> 00:05:22.066 - David Nord, our county historian, we're very excited to be partnering with him about some of our upcoming 00:05:22.066 --> 00:05:30.313 - programming related to America 250. So David's gonna come up and say a few words about two talks and 00:05:30.313 --> 00:05:38.806 - programs that he's involved with. So here's our county historian, David Nord. Well thank you. It's good 00:05:38.806 --> 00:05:43.134 - to see you all and I have been involved in the 250th 00:05:43.522 --> 00:05:51.343 - anniversary of the declaration here in the county. In fact, I've been involved with it so closely that 00:05:51.343 --> 00:05:59.013 - I learned how to spell semi-quincentennial. It took me a little while, but I mastered it. And before 00:05:59.013 --> 00:06:06.758 - I got involved with local history, I was a historian at IU with a specialty in journalism history and 00:06:06.758 --> 00:06:11.998 - the history of publishing and the history of reading and readership. 00:06:12.450 --> 00:06:20.796 - And I did a lot of work at that time on the late 18th publishing in the late 18th and early 19th century. 00:06:20.796 --> 00:06:28.906 - So though now I'm doing Monroe County stuff, this semi-quincentennial has sent me back to my old ways. 00:06:28.906 --> 00:06:36.780 - And I've organized two talks at the History Center beginning in April and then in May that I'd like 00:06:36.780 --> 00:06:41.662 - to invite you to come to. They're kind of a pair, one of them 00:06:41.826 --> 00:06:50.531 - is by me and the other is by Amy Ransford, who's affiliated with the history department and a PhD from 00:06:50.531 --> 00:06:58.983 - the history department, and years ago actually was my student for her MA thesis. And she and I will 00:06:58.983 --> 00:07:08.702 - be giving talks. And the pair works like this. I'm going to be talking about the new system of the colonies during 00:07:09.090 --> 00:07:16.580 - war, particularly focusing on the lead-up to the Declaration of Independence. So my presentation is 00:07:16.580 --> 00:07:23.396 - called Connecting the Thirteen Colonies, the Declaration of Independence in the New System 00:07:23.396 --> 00:07:30.887 - of Eighteenth-Century America, and her talk is called Beyond the Thirteen Colonies, the Declaration 00:07:30.887 --> 00:07:38.302 - of Independence in the Political and Social Context of Vast Eighteenth-Century America. So mine is 00:07:38.402 --> 00:07:46.674 - is about printing, publishing, postal service, and so forth within the colonies that were in rebellion. 00:07:46.674 --> 00:07:54.867 - Hers is more about how the revolution played out in the West, Western Pennsylvania, New York, and even 00:07:54.867 --> 00:08:02.901 - into the Ohio country. There's also another one, a third one, of some of us IU folks that's aimed at 00:08:02.901 --> 00:08:06.878 - a local audience like you folks that will be here 00:08:07.010 --> 00:08:13.701 - And I don't have that written down, but it's on your list. But Con Durks from the history department 00:08:13.701 --> 00:08:20.457 - will be talking about George Rogers Clark and the Revolution in Indiana, Illinois and Indiana country 00:08:20.457 --> 00:08:26.485 - in 1779. So. David, what were the dates of the history department? May. May. It's the May. 00:08:26.485 --> 00:08:33.242 - It's the May 1. There's a handout that you can, if you want more information about this, you can pick 00:08:33.242 --> 00:08:34.302 - this up down at 00:08:34.658 --> 00:08:43.632 - Daniel's desk down here. Everything he's got down there, he wants you to sell it to you. But this is 00:08:43.632 --> 00:08:52.694 - free. So we hope. My talk, I didn't even tell you when these were. Mine is in April. It's April 21st, 00:08:52.694 --> 00:08:59.358 - 24th, 24th, 24th, which is Friday. And it's at 7 PM. And Amy's is May 8th. 00:08:59.746 --> 00:09:07.602 - at 7 p.m., another Friday. So they're two weeks apart, and I think that they're a nice pair. So we hope 00:09:07.602 --> 00:09:15.155 - you are interested in coming to water both of them. Thank you. All right. Thanks, David. And now to 00:09:15.155 --> 00:09:22.708 - today's program. I can't think of a more appropriate program to be given at the Legion than the one 00:09:22.708 --> 00:09:26.334 - we're about to give here about Bruce Schaeffer. 00:09:27.074 --> 00:09:37.288 - I mean, we all were either related to or knew somebody that was in Vietnam. In fact, one of my old friends 00:09:37.288 --> 00:09:47.026 - here was in Vietnam, Clay Stuckey, was in Vietnam, Navy veteran. Are there any other Vietnam veterans 00:09:47.026 --> 00:09:56.190 - here? There's one. OK, a couple. So yeah, thanks for your service. So yeah. So John Summerlott. 00:09:56.386 --> 00:10:04.290 - local historians is going to tell you a lot about Bruce Schaefer, who's a true hero. So John. And I'll 00:10:04.290 --> 00:10:11.811 - take a couple minutes to take some pictures and I'll turn the lights down. Just a couple minutes. 00:10:11.811 --> 00:10:19.561 - All right. So a couple things. One quick thing I'll put out there before we begin. It's a little bit 00:10:19.561 --> 00:10:25.854 - unrelated to today's talk. As some of you all may know, I am a huge history nerd. 00:10:25.954 --> 00:10:29.470 - I do a lot of history research on various things. 00:10:29.634 --> 00:10:35.627 - I'm on the board for the History Center. I do regular work at the archives, often at Dina's request, 00:10:35.627 --> 00:10:41.561 - about various topics. And I'm part of the Civil War Roundtable and some other groups. And one of my 00:10:41.561 --> 00:10:47.851 - big challenges, particularly the 250th coming up and all the different campus and community celebrations, 00:10:47.851 --> 00:10:53.844 - is keeping track of everything. All of these dates, all of these history events, all of these things 00:10:53.844 --> 00:10:59.422 - that are happening. So I decided to learn how to build a website. And I have built a website. 00:11:00.258 --> 00:11:07.034 - And so if you go to MC, as in Monroe County, mchistorytalk.org, you will find every upcoming American 00:11:07.034 --> 00:11:14.143 - history program, local history, US history program that I can find that is happening within Monroe County, 00:11:14.143 --> 00:11:21.119 - the campus, the university, the history center, the history club, as many of them as I can get on there. 00:11:21.119 --> 00:11:23.710 - And if you see that I have missed one, 00:11:23.906 --> 00:11:30.405 - There's a form at the bottom where you can submit it to me so that I can put it on there. So please 00:11:30.405 --> 00:11:37.229 - do. But that's my effort to just kind of coordinate things and help folks out. Because my problem became 00:11:37.229 --> 00:11:43.988 - very quickly that I could not remember. Somebody said they were going to do a program on that. I cannot 00:11:43.988 --> 00:11:50.617 - remember where. And now I have one resource for all of the history stuff that I'm involved in. MC, as 00:11:50.617 --> 00:11:53.022 - in Monroe County, mchistorytalk.org. 00:11:54.658 --> 00:12:04.528 - And I will do my best to, at least on a weekly basis, get it updated and get it put out there. Oh, I've 00:12:04.528 --> 00:12:14.019 - set my clicker down somewhere. It is over. So a little background about this presentation. And I'll 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:22.750 - get into this a little bit more. But about five years ago, right before the start of COVID, 00:12:22.978 --> 00:12:29.869 - I got approached by Bruce's widow about Bruce and about his story. And she basically said, hey, I think 00:12:29.869 --> 00:12:36.761 - there's a story here. I'm not sure what it is. And I'm not sure who would want to know it. I'm not sure 00:12:36.761 --> 00:12:42.526 - how to tell it. But I asked around a bunch of people and they kept pointing me at you. 00:12:42.818 --> 00:12:48.600 - And I was like, okay, well, we'll see where that goes. And so as we go through this today, I want you 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:54.551 - to know a little background on the fact that we spent about five years, I spent about five years working 00:12:54.551 --> 00:13:00.503 - with Maggie and some of Bruce's family on this story. And what does this, what's the story we're telling 00:13:00.503 --> 00:13:02.430 - and why and how does that matter? 00:13:02.914 --> 00:13:08.416 - I will also point out, because I know that some folks have asked questions when they saw it on the list 00:13:08.416 --> 00:13:13.813 - of upcoming programs, you know, how am I qualified to talk about something like this? Not necessarily 00:13:13.813 --> 00:13:19.315 - in a history sense, but if we're going to talk about tragedies, tragic loss, and the challenges of PTSD 00:13:19.315 --> 00:13:24.765 - and some of those sort of combat traumas. So a little bit about me. So I've spent over 20 years in the 00:13:24.765 --> 00:13:28.574 - military. I also have a counseling degree, and I have spent a lot of my 00:13:28.674 --> 00:13:34.331 - rest of my civilian life, very often working with veterans. I come from a family of veterans. My family 00:13:34.331 --> 00:13:40.098 - has served in every war since the Revolution. My grandfather was a World War II vet. My dad was a Vietnam 00:13:40.098 --> 00:13:45.646 - vet. I've grown up in the environment of living and working with veterans in my family and elsewhere. 00:13:45.646 --> 00:13:51.086 - And so along with a counseling degree and a lot of experience, that's kind of where I'm coming from 00:13:51.086 --> 00:13:53.534 - with this, but I am at its core a historian. 00:13:53.602 --> 00:13:58.800 - So there's not a whole lot of psychological things that I'm going to talk about here, but I am going 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:04.203 - to talk a little bit about the impact of war, the impact of being in a combat zone, being shot at, being 00:14:04.203 --> 00:14:09.452 - asked to take the lives of others, and how does that sort of impact folks in the long run. And at the 00:14:09.452 --> 00:14:14.701 - end, as you may already know from the title, there's a tragic ending here. And at some point, I think 00:14:14.701 --> 00:14:20.104 - Michael's going to stop asking me to come to these because I'm always coming with tragedies and horrible 00:14:20.104 --> 00:14:21.854 - stories about things that happen. 00:14:22.114 --> 00:14:27.843 - This is a tough one and that may not be an easy time for everybody and I understand that and I'll do 00:14:27.843 --> 00:14:33.685 - my best to sort of give you a clue and a heads up as to when it is that that's coming. So a little bit 00:14:33.685 --> 00:14:39.810 - about Bruce as we go forward here. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Bruce's life here in Bloomington 00:14:39.810 --> 00:14:45.596 - in part because I've already talked to at least 10 people that knew Bruce that are in this room today 00:14:45.596 --> 00:14:48.318 - who knew him from his time here in Bloomington. 00:14:48.770 --> 00:14:55.539 - Bruce was here in Bloomington because his dad was the dean of students at IU, Bob Schaefer, a long time 00:14:55.539 --> 00:15:02.178 - dean of students and faculty member at the university. And his brother, Jim, was also a student here. 00:15:02.178 --> 00:15:09.273 - Both of them went to university high school and graduated from there. And Bruce was even the class president 00:15:09.273 --> 00:15:15.326 - when he was there. And so he was fairly well known to a lot of folks in the local community. 00:15:15.490 --> 00:15:21.443 - After that, many of them sort of lost track of him after he graduated and went to Earlham, where he 00:15:21.443 --> 00:15:27.931 - became a student and became involved as a student leader there. Didn't change any. He'd been class president 00:15:27.931 --> 00:15:34.003 - in high school. He went on to be involved in the Earlham student government body and really became an 00:15:34.003 --> 00:15:39.956 - outspoken sort of critic for reform within their student body. And it was in that student body that 00:15:39.956 --> 00:15:43.230 - he met Margaret, who would eventually become his wife. 00:15:43.362 --> 00:15:49.482 - there at Earlham. She's from Washington DC. She currently lives in Fort Wayne and may show up here yet 00:15:49.482 --> 00:15:55.601 - today. She was having a little bit of car trouble this morning and wasn't entirely sure she would make 00:15:55.601 --> 00:15:59.582 - it, but hopefully she's going to make it here before this is over. 00:16:00.770 --> 00:16:06.709 - So Bruce was at Earlham for about two and a half years, and he decided that maybe college wasn't the 00:16:06.709 --> 00:16:12.765 - thing he wanted to do. And this pans out in some of the letters and things that he writes from Vietnam 00:16:12.765 --> 00:16:18.586 - about this sort of trying to decide what he wants to do with his life. But as it was in the 1960s, 00:16:18.586 --> 00:16:22.526 - late 1960s, oh, I forgot to add, this is my favorite random photo. 00:16:22.626 --> 00:16:29.767 - of Bruce. So the entire context I have for this is Bruce Lost Valley Ranch, Spring 1965. I have no idea. 00:16:29.767 --> 00:16:36.976 - This was a spring break trip, I'm assuming. I know the family often went out west for spring break trips. 00:16:36.976 --> 00:16:43.777 - And so this is Bruce riding a bull on a spring break trip in 65, as far as I can tell. So I'll come 00:16:43.777 --> 00:16:50.578 - back to why I have some pictures with no context and some of the other things that sort of go along 00:16:50.578 --> 00:16:51.326 - with this. 00:16:52.386 --> 00:16:58.715 - But as happens when you drop out of school in the late 1960s, he was immediately sent a draft notice 00:16:58.715 --> 00:17:05.233 - by the Earlholm Registrar's Office that he would be drafted. Now, at that point, Bruce knew enough that 00:17:05.233 --> 00:17:11.813 - he had some college in and some other things. He knew that he would probably be eligible to be a warrant 00:17:11.813 --> 00:17:18.142 - officer and probably be eligible to be a helicopter pilot, which is what he wanted to do after that. 00:17:18.690 --> 00:17:26.180 - So he signed up, joined the army as enlisted. And one of my favorite tidbits is he had to fill out his 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:34.106 - criminal record form. And so these are all of the high crimes and misdemeanors that Bruce had been convicted 00:17:34.106 --> 00:17:41.596 - of, which you'll notice is a parking violation in April of 67 here in Bloomington, Indiana, which cost 00:17:41.596 --> 00:17:45.886 - him $1 for that parking violation, right? So all of the... 00:17:47.042 --> 00:17:54.001 - Yeah, they've gone up a little. It cost you a dollar just to get a spot now, let alone get the fine. 00:17:54.001 --> 00:18:01.374 - So, but Bruce joined the Army. He went to boot camp at Fort Polk and graduated from there and was selected 00:18:01.374 --> 00:18:08.471 - for the Warren officer program. And he was sent to Hunter Army Air Force Base in Georgia. And then to, 00:18:08.471 --> 00:18:15.568 - and now I'm going to space the name on it, a place in Texas where he finished out his helicopter pilot 00:18:15.568 --> 00:18:16.670 - training before 00:18:17.378 --> 00:18:23.949 - married Maggie. And so about three weeks before going to Vietnam, Bruce married Maggie in Washington, D.C., 00:18:23.949 --> 00:18:30.156 - which is where she was from, and they spent a little bit of time together before he shipped out. Much 00:18:30.156 --> 00:18:36.240 - of the rest of what I'm going to talk to you about comes from information Maggie and the family has 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:41.534 - provided to me. So as I said, about five years ago, Maggie showed up at my office with 00:18:41.858 --> 00:18:48.816 - five bankers boxes and a couple of other things full of records and documents and all of this. It literally 00:18:48.816 --> 00:18:55.259 - was everything from Bruce's baby book all the way through the investigation of his death in Vietnam 00:18:55.259 --> 00:19:01.766 - and the VA records after that. So all of Bruce's life was sort of within these five boxes and it was 00:19:01.766 --> 00:19:08.208 - not organized in any way, shape or form. Things were kind of scattered all over the place. So I had 00:19:08.208 --> 00:19:10.270 - some help from some colleagues. 00:19:10.498 --> 00:19:15.837 - Jake Hagstrom, who was a doctoral student in history, partnered and under the guidance of Dina Kellums 00:19:15.837 --> 00:19:21.124 - from the IU Archives, we went through and sort of figured out how to organize these and what would be 00:19:21.124 --> 00:19:26.412 - the best way to preserve them. Many of them were letters still folded up in envelopes and they needed 00:19:26.412 --> 00:19:31.595 - to be gently unfolded and laid out so that they would be preserved. Photographs, what do we do with 00:19:31.595 --> 00:19:37.194 - these photographs? How do we, and many of them were starting to curl and warp. And so we wanted to preserve 00:19:37.194 --> 00:19:38.334 - them as best we could 00:19:38.786 --> 00:19:46.530 - I'm also eternally grateful to Ron Osgood, who is a faculty emeritus from media school at IU, a Vietnam 00:19:46.530 --> 00:19:54.051 - veteran, and a documentary filmmaker. There were also some recordings that were in there, and he was 00:19:54.051 --> 00:20:01.870 - able to get some of those recordings digitized so that I was able to listen to them. And slides. I don't 00:20:01.870 --> 00:20:07.678 - know if you all know how hard it is to find a slide projector nowadays. Okay? 00:20:07.906 --> 00:20:14.126 - I'm going to remember that. If you've got one, I'm going to remember that. Bruce bought a camera when 00:20:14.126 --> 00:20:20.529 - he was in Vietnam and took a lot of photographs. And many of them were developed as slides. And so being 00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:26.688 - able to look at those in a timely manner and sort through them, Ron was a great resource for helping 00:20:26.688 --> 00:20:32.787 - with that. Well, almost all of the rest of the pictures that you are going to see today are Bruce's 00:20:32.787 --> 00:20:34.494 - actual photos from Vietnam. 00:20:35.042 --> 00:20:42.156 - I don't necessarily have context for all of them. And many of them are generically my barracks I lived 00:20:42.156 --> 00:20:49.200 - in or helicopter flying overhead, right? But these are the photos that Bruce took while he was there. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:56.106 - So unlike many of my previous presentations, this one's gonna require a lot of reading because what 00:20:56.106 --> 00:21:03.358 - I have discovered or what I believe is that the best way to tell Bruce's story is through his own words. 00:21:03.970 --> 00:21:10.501 - So what I'm going to read to you are letters that Bruce wrote to Maggie. If there's a case where it 00:21:10.501 --> 00:21:17.294 - was not Bruce writing, I will tell you who it is that wrote it or why. There's a couple of places where 00:21:17.294 --> 00:21:24.217 - a friend of his wrote something or he wrote to a friend instead of Maggie. There's a couple of government 00:21:24.217 --> 00:21:30.813 - document citations that I'll put in here. But much of what I'm going to be reading to you is Bruce's 00:21:30.813 --> 00:21:32.446 - actual words. Dear wife, 00:21:33.314 --> 00:21:40.032 - This being my first opportunity to use the term in a letter, the idea appealed to me. We are somewhere 00:21:40.032 --> 00:21:46.620 - over the Pacific on a TWA 707. We have been on the plane for 11 and a half hours and have about nine 00:21:46.620 --> 00:21:53.273 - more to go. We refueled in Hawaii, which is where I picked up this paper. Unfortunately, we were only 00:21:53.273 --> 00:21:59.926 - on the ground 40 minutes, so I didn't get to see much. They say we are three hours away from Okinawa. 00:21:59.926 --> 00:22:02.078 - From there, we go on to Vietnam. 00:22:02.594 --> 00:22:09.650 - I don't know where we go after that. We left Oakland at 2 a.m. on July 8th, but the time change and 00:22:09.650 --> 00:22:16.988 - the dateline have me sufficiently confused so that I don't actually know what day or hour it is or when 00:22:16.988 --> 00:22:24.044 - we will finally get there. If you've ever flown across the ocean, you've probably felt that once or 00:22:24.044 --> 00:22:32.158 - twice. And that was July 8th of 1968. July 14th. It was a rather circuitous trip, but here I am, a combat veteran, 00:22:32.738 --> 00:22:40.550 - There's a small map in the lower corner of the letter. And he says, and I'm going to apologize for messing 00:22:40.550 --> 00:22:47.997 - up the names of these locations. I know my dad tried very hard to get me to be able to say all of the 00:22:47.997 --> 00:22:55.371 - Vietnam locations correctly, and I will not. And he will be disappointed when he watches this video. 00:22:55.371 --> 00:23:02.526 - So I went from Binh Ha to Long Bien, back to Binh Ha, then by air to Da Nang, then via Nha Trang, 00:23:02.658 --> 00:23:09.082 - Wuinan, and then Chulai. After two days at Da Nang, I went back to Chulai, and here is now home. The 00:23:09.082 --> 00:23:15.570 - travels were a result of sifting down from the 90th Replacement Detachment to the headquarters of the 00:23:15.570 --> 00:23:22.312 - 15th Combat Aviation Group of the 1st Aviation Brigade, from there to the 14th Combat Aviation Battalion, 00:23:22.312 --> 00:23:29.182 - from there to the 176th Assault Helicopter Company, to the 14th Battalion Support of the Americal Division. 00:23:30.498 --> 00:23:37.146 - Now, for everybody else that was like, that made no sense whatsoever, all of the military folks in the 00:23:37.146 --> 00:23:43.859 - room were like, eh, sounds normal. Yeah, no checks, right? 17 July. I have now accrued 28 flying hours, 00:23:43.859 --> 00:23:45.150 - three days of work. 00:23:45.634 --> 00:23:52.367 - I am not flying today, so I finally have a chance to get my letters written. The flying has not been 00:23:52.367 --> 00:23:59.233 - too difficult, but the company I am in has a reputation for doing a lot of flying. You may recall that 00:23:59.233 --> 00:24:06.033 - I said 100 hours a month is about the average. Almost everyone in the 176th has gotten over 140 hours 00:24:06.033 --> 00:24:12.699 - in the last 30 days. Some of them are up to 160, and one guy has over 180. Today was a fairly light 00:24:12.699 --> 00:24:15.166 - day in terms of mission assignments. 00:24:15.394 --> 00:24:21.653 - Now remember that number, 100 hours a month was the standard that a helicopter pilot was supposed to 00:24:21.653 --> 00:24:28.284 - fly. And we'll come back to that later. I was given the time to get squared away in the bachelor officer's 00:24:28.284 --> 00:24:34.667 - quarters. We're all bachelors over here. The day before yesterday, I saw what could be called my first 00:24:34.667 --> 00:24:40.926 - actual combat action. We were on a single ship recon mission carrying an infantry company commander. 00:24:41.506 --> 00:24:48.965 - We spotted a VC suspect riding a bicycle along some rice paddy roads carrying a large bundle. We made 00:24:48.965 --> 00:24:56.717 - a very low pass over him and the gunner dropped smoke on him. That is a smoke grenade. That really scared 00:24:56.717 --> 00:25:04.250 - him and he dropped his bicycle and load and ran into a group of huts. The commander radioed one of his 00:25:04.250 --> 00:25:06.590 - squads to investigate the area. 00:25:07.202 --> 00:25:13.197 - While we were waiting in the area for the squad to arrive, we spotted three, quote, military-aged males 00:25:13.197 --> 00:25:19.076 - crossing some paddies. Evidently, the area we were in is predominantly VC, so all military-aged males 00:25:19.076 --> 00:25:24.725 - are strongly suspect. The three were moving toward a tree line. We made several passes over them. 00:25:24.725 --> 00:25:30.489 - Each time, they pretended to be working in the field while we were flying towards them, but as soon 00:25:30.489 --> 00:25:36.253 - as we passed, they started to run. When we came over them the third time, they were fairly close to 00:25:36.253 --> 00:25:37.118 - the tree line. 00:25:37.250 --> 00:25:43.483 - and made a break for it. As soon as they broke, the aircraft commander, the AC, told the gunner and 00:25:43.483 --> 00:25:49.965 - crew chief to open fire. They broke up and dove for the trees. The crew chief killed one with the first 00:25:49.965 --> 00:25:56.447 - burst, but the other two managed to hide. Then the aircraft commander told me to take over the controls 00:25:56.447 --> 00:26:00.062 - and hover around the tree line. We were about 30 feet up. 00:26:00.610 --> 00:26:07.185 - I took it and the aircraft commander started firing a 40 millimeter grenade launcher out his window 00:26:07.185 --> 00:26:13.826 - with the gunner directing his fire with tracers. Soon the ground squad arrived and started searching 00:26:13.826 --> 00:26:20.664 - in the bush. They found the dead one, then they flanked out the other two, one of whom had been wounded 00:26:20.664 --> 00:26:27.305 - by the AC's grenade launcher. We loaded the squad and the two VC in the ship and dropped them off at 00:26:27.305 --> 00:26:28.094 - a POW camp. 00:26:28.290 --> 00:26:34.751 - The ground commander was very pleased and told the battalion operations officer to put us in for a citation, 00:26:34.751 --> 00:26:40.678 - but the aircraft commander had him cancel it because he would have gotten in trouble for firing the 00:26:40.678 --> 00:26:47.020 - grenade launcher out of the window. Pilots aren't even supposed to have grenade launchers. I still haven't 00:26:47.020 --> 00:26:52.948 - sorted out my reaction to the action. I don't understand how they knew the three were VC. They were 00:26:52.948 --> 00:26:56.030 - unarmed and weren't carrying any military articles. 00:26:56.610 --> 00:27:04.621 - I will understand how they knew after I have been here for a while. It all seemed very circumstantial. 00:27:04.621 --> 00:27:12.554 - The biggest puzzle to me is the significance of the AC's order to get them. Don't let them get away." 00:27:12.554 --> 00:27:20.798 - As I read these letters, I'll also point out I am greatly condensing some of the material that's in them. 00:27:20.898 --> 00:27:26.938 - writes home and he talks to Maggie about music and politics and stereos and all of these other sort 00:27:26.938 --> 00:27:32.977 - of normal routine things. I'm not sort of going through all those. I'm more following a thread here 00:27:32.977 --> 00:27:39.017 - of what his reaction to combat is. July 25th. Since my first letter, I have been shot at daily. But 00:27:39.017 --> 00:27:45.178 - remember that there are degrees of seriousness in being shot at. Today, for example, a very ambitious 00:27:45.178 --> 00:27:48.862 - sniper tried to shoot us down with a light automatic weapon. 00:27:49.282 --> 00:27:55.529 - I say ambitious because we were well out of range, so there was nothing to worry about. Several days 00:27:55.529 --> 00:28:01.713 - ago, however, to the other extreme, I was flying with the same AC that had the grenade launcher. We 00:28:01.713 --> 00:28:08.146 - were trying to spot what we thought was a VC squad, which had killed an American and wounded two others 00:28:08.146 --> 00:28:14.331 - in light contact. After evacuating the injured, we spent the next two hours dropping smoke grenades 00:28:14.331 --> 00:28:16.990 - to mark positions and directing artillery. 00:28:17.154 --> 00:28:23.261 - But the more fire we put in the area, the more fire we received on making passes at about 200 feet. 00:28:23.261 --> 00:28:29.430 - Finally, it got so hot we had to call in gunships. The guns uncovered the real thing, two 50 caliber 00:28:29.430 --> 00:28:35.537 - machine guns and numerous automatic weapons. One of the gunships was so badly damaged by the 50 cal 00:28:35.537 --> 00:28:40.606 - that we had to set it, pilot had to set it down and get a chinook to carry it out. 00:28:41.506 --> 00:28:49.206 - We called in four airstrikes and adjusted five hours of artillery fire on the area just for the record. 00:28:49.206 --> 00:28:56.757 - The 50s are death for helicopters because the bullet can go through anything and because they have an 00:28:56.757 --> 00:29:04.235 - effective range high enough to hit us in the air. While they didn't open up on us while we were low, 00:29:04.235 --> 00:29:10.750 - slow, and alone is beyond me, unless they just didn't want to give away their position. 00:29:10.914 --> 00:29:18.323 - All the while we were carrying an infantry battalion commander who was responsible for the particular 00:29:18.323 --> 00:29:26.168 - area we were in. I have flown for the same man since and he told me that he put both the aircraft commander 00:29:26.168 --> 00:29:33.868 - and me in for accommodation. Although it is hard to say if anything will come of it. General order number 00:29:33.868 --> 00:29:37.790 - 6936. The following award is announced, 19 July 1968. 00:29:38.178 --> 00:29:43.850 - heroism while engaged in aerial flight in connection with military operations against a hostile force. 00:29:43.850 --> 00:29:49.467 - A friendly soldier was seriously wounded and required helicopter evacuation. Warrant officer Schaefer 00:29:49.467 --> 00:29:53.982 - courageously flew into the precarious landing zone and extracted the wounded man. 00:29:54.402 --> 00:30:00.336 - After delivering the patient to safety, he returned to the scene of contact to assist in locating the 00:30:00.336 --> 00:30:06.329 - enemy forces. Swooping low over the suspected enemy location, he daringly baited the enemy into firing 00:30:06.329 --> 00:30:12.380 - at his helicopter in order to pinpoint their gun locations. Upon receiving enemy automatic weapons fire 00:30:12.380 --> 00:30:18.372 - from two locations, he again flew low over the target area to drop colored smoke grenades on the enemy 00:30:18.372 --> 00:30:24.190 - positions, thus marking them for tactical airstrikes and directly bringing about their destruction. 00:30:24.610 --> 00:30:31.176 - He continued to fly dangerously low, drawing automatic fire from three gun positions previously unknown. 00:30:31.176 --> 00:30:37.617 - Again, he flew into the fire to mark the newly discovered gun points with smoke. Although his aircraft 00:30:37.617 --> 00:30:44.308 - had taken a hit early in the action, he continued to circle the area as targets were destroyed by tactical 00:30:44.308 --> 00:30:50.686 - airstrikes. That was his first award of the Air Medal for heroism two weeks into his time in Vietnam. 00:30:54.978 --> 00:31:01.459 - same letter. One pervading thought which I suppose is to be expected is the desire to kill gooks. The 00:31:01.459 --> 00:31:07.814 - enthusiasm of the mission is an absorbing passion. Everyone wants to do the assigned job as well as 00:31:07.814 --> 00:31:14.232 - possible. It's sort of like fishing with respect to the, with the killing though. After spending all 00:31:14.232 --> 00:31:20.586 - day sitting on a boat, you would really like to catch a fish. You can tell that a few of the people 00:31:20.586 --> 00:31:22.238 - here are really scared of 00:31:23.522 --> 00:31:30.309 - really scared of dying and being shot down. Admittedly, the prospect of going down in the mountains 00:31:30.309 --> 00:31:37.231 - is not pleasant. I choose not to worry about it. I carry a 38 special as a personal weapon, which may 00:31:37.231 --> 00:31:44.221 - be reassuring, but in jungle warfare, it leaves quite a bit to be desired. September 7th. It's strange 00:31:44.221 --> 00:31:49.854 - the things you can get used to. I seldom jump now when artillery shakes the floor. 00:31:50.306 --> 00:31:57.957 - I can almost find comfort in the general monotony of thoughts and words. I listened to Simon and Garfunkel 00:31:57.957 --> 00:32:05.178 - last night. It started me thinking again. When you fly, 100% of your attention is devoted to flying. 00:32:05.178 --> 00:32:12.400 - But when you just sit, your mind wonders. September 19th. Last night I was playing bridge. I've been 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:14.974 - playing quite a bit this last week. 00:32:15.490 --> 00:32:22.608 - when one of the aircraft commanders came in saying he needed a pilot to go on an emergency ammunition 00:32:22.608 --> 00:32:29.586 - resupply, about 15 miles west of Tamki. I had my boots on, so I told him that I would go. Emergency 00:32:29.586 --> 00:32:36.843 - ammo resupplies tend to be hairy, but at night, they are guaranteed to be a good scare time. Given that 00:32:36.843 --> 00:32:44.030 - this type of mission is hairy to begin with, it was fairly routine, and we were done by about 1130 PM. 00:32:44.674 --> 00:32:50.625 - We then found out the most unusual part of the mission was that the commanding general of the Americal 00:32:50.625 --> 00:32:56.519 - Infantry Division had been monitoring our radios the whole time, and that he wanted us to land at the 00:32:56.519 --> 00:33:02.354 - Americal VIP pad where he would meet us. Once there, the general, a two-star, gave us all medals and 00:33:02.354 --> 00:33:08.132 - many pats on the back. The two aircraft commanders were given distinguished flying crosses, and the 00:33:08.132 --> 00:33:12.350 - pilots were given air medals for valor. Quite a few pictures were taken, 00:33:12.514 --> 00:33:19.826 - If I even get a hold of one, I will send it to you. As far as we were concerned, the action was fairly 00:33:19.826 --> 00:33:27.352 - routine, but if the general thought it was worth a distinguished flying cross, I know a number of actions 00:33:27.352 --> 00:33:34.593 - which deserve at least a silver star, which have gone unrecognized. The following award is announced, 00:33:34.593 --> 00:33:41.054 - 17 September 1968, aka the Army's version of the rather routine mission that Bruce was on. 00:33:43.074 --> 00:33:49.214 - For heroism, while participating in aerial flight in the Republic of Vietnam, War and Officer Schaeffer 00:33:49.214 --> 00:33:55.591 - distinguished himself by valorous actions on 17 September 1968 while serving as pilot of a UH-1H helicopter 00:33:55.591 --> 00:34:01.554 - with 176th Assault Helicopter Company. On that date, he was flying in support of an infantry company 00:34:01.554 --> 00:34:07.458 - that was conducting a sweep and clear operation 15 miles southwest of Tam Ky. An estimated regiment 00:34:07.458 --> 00:34:10.942 - of North Vietnamese regulars were known to be in the area. 00:34:11.330 --> 00:34:16.942 - Late that afternoon, elements of the company made contact with a large enemy force. The situation continued 00:34:16.942 --> 00:34:22.346 - to deteriorate over the course of the evening. The company was surrounded and under heavy attack. After 00:34:22.346 --> 00:34:28.009 - several hours of heavy fighting, the company reported a critical ammunition shortage and requested resupply. 00:34:28.009 --> 00:34:32.738 - Receiving word of the situation, Warrant Officer Schaeffer volunteered to fly the mission. 00:34:32.738 --> 00:34:37.726 - Two lift ships, two gunships, and a flare ship were dispatched to relieve the besieged company. 00:34:37.986 --> 00:34:43.510 - Throughout the evening, Warrne Officer Schaeffer assisted in the difficult navigation and in monitoring 00:34:43.510 --> 00:34:49.033 - the overburdened radio nets. Arriving at the area, he repeatedly exposed himself to the intense hostile 00:34:49.033 --> 00:34:54.344 - fire as he assisted in spotting a landing zone and in maintaining clearance during the approach and 00:34:54.344 --> 00:34:59.655 - takeoff. Warrne Officer Schaeffer's personal heroism, professional competence, and devotion to duty 00:34:59.655 --> 00:35:04.382 - are keeping with the highest traditions of the military service. Award of the Air Medal. 00:35:07.842 --> 00:35:14.197 - from one of Bruce's fellow pilots. The 176th was one of the finest records of any unit in Vietnam. This 00:35:14.197 --> 00:35:20.552 - is due to the attitude that is passed down from the old guys to the new guys in the company. It's based 00:35:20.552 --> 00:35:26.663 - on the unit's traditions and outstanding accomplishments. Bruce was one of the extremely few people 00:35:26.663 --> 00:35:32.774 - I have ever seen who was able to improve the Minuteman reputation as superior as it already was. He 00:35:32.774 --> 00:35:36.990 - was a fine officer, the best aircraft commander, and a great person. 00:35:38.818 --> 00:35:44.196 - from another warrant officer that Bruce served with. I could give you a list of several hundred names 00:35:44.196 --> 00:35:49.468 - who thought of Bruce as their hero. It would include grunts who were out of ammo and who would have 00:35:49.468 --> 00:35:54.793 - been killed if Bruce hadn't volunteered to fly the mission. It would include wounded and sick people 00:35:54.793 --> 00:36:00.171 - who wouldn't have made it if Bruce hadn't made the extra effort to save their lives. Minuteman 17 was 00:36:00.171 --> 00:36:05.601 - his call sign. Everybody knew who it was. Every enlisted crew member in the company wanted to fly with 00:36:05.601 --> 00:36:06.814 - him whenever possible. 00:36:07.586 --> 00:36:13.292 - A new pilot could count on learning more in one day flying with Bruce than in a week of flying with 00:36:13.292 --> 00:36:19.111 - most people. Combat flying is different than anything else you will ever do. Flying itself is not the 00:36:19.111 --> 00:36:25.102 - safest thing. Flying a lot of hours is a little more dangerous. Flying aircraft that can't always obtain 00:36:25.102 --> 00:36:31.036 - the proper maintenance is hazardous. Put it all in a combat environment and at best your odds are about 00:36:31.036 --> 00:36:34.174 - 50-50. Bruce flew more dangerous missions than anyone. 00:36:35.042 --> 00:36:42.004 - The write-up you should have received on a Silver Star was typically Bruce. It just happened that a 00:36:42.004 --> 00:36:49.314 - general heard about that one. It was easily the 10th time he had done something worthy of a Silver Star. 00:36:49.314 --> 00:36:56.346 - He was the best. September 29th, Bruce DeMagge. I made aircraft commander yesterday. They decided to 00:36:56.346 --> 00:37:01.150 - waive the three-month in-country requirement. I am now Minuteman 17. 00:37:01.858 --> 00:37:07.798 - I haven't been assigned an aircraft yet, but I have one in mind I would like. Being an aircraft commander 00:37:07.798 --> 00:37:13.626 - is really quite a bit of responsibility considering that the aircraft, the crew, and everything carried 00:37:13.626 --> 00:37:19.286 - in the aircraft is on your shoulders. And of course, there are Army regulations. If every regulation 00:37:19.286 --> 00:37:24.947 - about flying was adhered to, we could never get the job done. Many times we would never even get off 00:37:24.947 --> 00:37:29.822 - the ground. So people turn their backs and the job gets done. But if anything happens, 00:37:30.978 --> 00:37:37.053 - or one, usually several, of the Army regulations as being disregarded, the aircraft commander must take 00:37:37.053 --> 00:37:43.012 - responsibility, even if the accident is caused by mechanical failure and not the pilot error, and say 00:37:43.012 --> 00:37:49.029 - that it had a couple hundred pounds too much cargo or one of the troops didn't have his sleeves rolled 00:37:49.029 --> 00:37:54.988 - down, the aircraft commander is responsible up to and including financially for the lost cargo or the 00:37:54.988 --> 00:37:59.486 - injury. All in all, it makes it rough. You have to do it to get the job done 00:38:00.034 --> 00:38:08.231 - but you stick your neck out when you do. That is the Army. October 28th. Sorry, it's been so long in 00:38:08.231 --> 00:38:16.752 - writing. I appreciated your bringing me up on your activities. My activities have been somewhat limited. 00:38:16.752 --> 00:38:25.030 - I fly a lot. Several days ago, I set sort of an unofficial company record by having two aircraft shot 00:38:25.030 --> 00:38:27.870 - out from under me in the same day. 00:38:29.250 --> 00:38:35.609 - They weren't shot down as such, just shot up to the extent that I couldn't fly them anymore. If I was 00:38:35.609 --> 00:38:42.155 - a dissatisfied youth last year, God knows what my category will be next year. The more I see of Vietnam, 00:38:42.155 --> 00:38:48.389 - the more disgusted I am with the war, and the more I read about the elections, the more disgusted I 00:38:48.389 --> 00:38:52.254 - am with the American people. There is no justice in this war. 00:38:53.218 --> 00:39:00.237 - Anyone who thinks our actions over here can be justified is either too ignorant to know wrong from right, 00:39:00.237 --> 00:39:07.057 - or he has never seen what is going on. I find satisfaction in doing difficult things, going into areas 00:39:07.057 --> 00:39:13.678 - you're not supposed to be able to get into, and in coming back when they don't think that you will. 00:39:13.678 --> 00:39:17.982 - The only mission per se I find satisfying is medical evacuation. 00:39:19.298 --> 00:39:25.691 - So I want you to keep those last two lines in mind. One is how his attitude towards the war itself is 00:39:25.691 --> 00:39:31.959 - starting to change, but also the part about medical evacuations. What they say about Pot, this is a 00:39:31.959 --> 00:39:38.478 - letter to a friend of his, what they say about Pot in Vietnam is largely true. I have been staying high 00:39:38.478 --> 00:39:44.996 - quite a bit in the evenings. Donovan, Simon and Garfunkel, mamas and the papas, it's a good escape from 00:39:44.996 --> 00:39:46.814 - what goes on during the day. 00:39:47.554 --> 00:39:55.791 - A deck, about 10 joints, goes for about a dollar. I would like to get some home, but I'm not too anxious 00:39:55.791 --> 00:40:03.950 - to get court-martialed. November 14th. So far, I have won over $150 playing bridge. I have been playing 00:40:03.950 --> 00:40:11.952 - two or three nights a week for a half cent per point. The money will go for the stereo system. He was 00:40:11.952 --> 00:40:16.894 - very big on saving up for a stereo system. That was one of his 00:40:17.058 --> 00:40:24.637 - ongoing goals that he had. Realized I forgot to advance my slides. So December 29th. I'm sitting on 00:40:24.637 --> 00:40:32.216 - a bench behind our hooch. Just as I looked up from reading your letter, Simon and Garfunkel started 00:40:32.216 --> 00:40:39.265 - playing somewhere. It was a strange moment. The small piece of paper I was holding was real. 00:40:39.265 --> 00:40:44.798 - Where I was, what I saw, my clothes, and how I got here were all unreal. 00:40:45.218 --> 00:40:51.473 - a scene badly written in which I must play. It is the unreality which keeps me going. The moments which 00:40:51.473 --> 00:40:57.607 - bother me most are the ones when my surroundings seem real. I'm afraid I have gotten a reputation for 00:40:57.607 --> 00:41:03.861 - doing things other people wouldn't do. It's because it isn't real. Someone will tell me, don't do that. 00:41:03.861 --> 00:41:10.176 - It's asking for trouble. I tell them nothing will happen. It's a bad dream. You can wake up when nothing 00:41:10.176 --> 00:41:12.702 - happens. When I get home, I will wake up. 00:41:13.410 --> 00:41:21.110 - What will have seemed an eternity will be last night. I will kiss you and life will continue, but I 00:41:21.110 --> 00:41:29.272 - will wonder what sort of nightmare it could have been to leave me feeling this haunted. Three days later. 00:41:29.272 --> 00:41:36.972 - What was I saying? Unreality? On December 31st at approximately 840 AM, things became very real for 00:41:36.972 --> 00:41:41.438 - about 15 or 20 seconds. You might say something happened. 00:41:42.978 --> 00:41:49.437 - Have I ever told you about sniffer missions? Right now, it's a little complex for a letter. Let's call 00:41:49.437 --> 00:41:55.709 - it a very low level, 10 feet off the ground reconnaissance mission. The day before yesterday, I had 00:41:55.709 --> 00:42:02.168 - a sniffy mission, the first thing in the morning. It was the first sniffer mission I had had for about 00:42:02.168 --> 00:42:08.126 - a month. I've always liked the sniffer missions because I like to fly really low. I flew lead. 00:42:08.322 --> 00:42:14.556 - out to the objective area. I descended to start the sniffer run, which I tried to fly as close to the 00:42:14.556 --> 00:42:20.729 - ground as possible. I had only been low level for a few minutes when my world turned to shit. I came 00:42:20.729 --> 00:42:27.329 - over the top of the ridge line about 90 miles an hour and we got a very strong sniffer reading and received 00:42:27.329 --> 00:42:33.502 - heavy automatic weapons fire simultaneously. I went down the side of the cliff in a steep right bank 00:42:33.666 --> 00:42:39.762 - I thought we were okay for a few seconds, but then I lost my cyclical controls. The aircraft tried to 00:42:39.762 --> 00:42:45.858 - go inverted. With every ounce of energy, I managed to roll the aircraft level, but then I had to pull 00:42:45.858 --> 00:42:52.073 - in power to keep from hitting the other side of the valley. It was then I realized I didn't have a tail 00:42:52.073 --> 00:42:58.169 - rotor either. The aircraft commander of the chase ship was flying 1,500 feet above me. There's always 00:42:58.169 --> 00:42:59.006 - a chase ship. 00:42:59.682 --> 00:43:05.446 - He told me he saw my tail rotor disintegrate just as we came over the top of the ridge. Without a tail 00:43:05.446 --> 00:43:11.433 - rotor, a helicopter tends to spin to the right. I did everything I could to straighten us out, but without 00:43:11.433 --> 00:43:17.085 - effect. From then on, all I could do was try and keep us from going inverted, which I managed to do. 00:43:17.085 --> 00:43:22.793 - We came over to the top of the ridge at about 10 feet, going down the side of the cliff, had about 50 00:43:22.793 --> 00:43:26.878 - feet. When I lost my cyclical, about 150 feet later, we started to spin. 00:43:27.234 --> 00:43:32.676 - The last thing I was able to do was to aim us towards our trees on the side of the cliff rather than 00:43:32.676 --> 00:43:38.226 - in the clearing at the bottom of the valley. If we had hit in the clearing, I would not have been able 00:43:38.226 --> 00:43:43.614 - to write this letter. In short, we went into the side of the cliff in a tight right spiral. We spun 00:43:43.614 --> 00:43:49.325 - around a few times after we hit. We flipped over on our back and then spun around a few more times before 00:43:49.325 --> 00:43:55.198 - we came to a rest. Even though we were upside down, I was able to shut off the engine before we caught fire. 00:43:55.810 --> 00:44:02.480 - But even so, the aircraft was totally destroyed. I went out through the greenhouse window in the top 00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:09.215 - of the cockpit. The crash was what they call very bad. He underlines it. That my crew, my passengers, 00:44:09.215 --> 00:44:15.885 - two of them, and I are alive is what we are exceptionally fortunate. That we are, for the most part, 00:44:15.885 --> 00:44:22.752 - unharmed is a miracle. We were all banged around quite a bit. My gunner got a crushed thumb. And I have 00:44:22.752 --> 00:44:25.790 - a number of cuts on the right side of my head 00:44:26.018 --> 00:44:32.231 - of my mouth and my jaw, but no permanent damage was done to any of us. Everyone in the company, including 00:44:32.231 --> 00:44:38.269 - the company commander is satisfied that I did a quote, utterly outstanding job of getting the aircraft 00:44:38.269 --> 00:44:44.189 - down without killing anyone. But because I was flying so low and because there were no witnesses who 00:44:44.189 --> 00:44:50.168 - can actually say what happened, the battalion commander is conducting a board of inquiry to determine 00:44:50.168 --> 00:44:55.678 - if it was pilot error. So far, all of the board has decided that beyond any reasonable doubt, 00:44:56.002 --> 00:45:02.025 - I lost my tail rotor before I hit the ground. If the board wants to call it pilot error, they can. 00:45:02.025 --> 00:45:08.352 - If they do, I will probably lose my status as aircraft commander. I believe I was shot down and so does 00:45:08.352 --> 00:45:14.435 - the company. In any case, I am alive and no one is dead because of me. So I really don't care about 00:45:14.435 --> 00:45:20.640 - what the board decides. The doctor grounded me both yesterday and today. He said I would be too stiff 00:45:20.640 --> 00:45:21.918 - to move around much. 00:45:22.210 --> 00:45:28.850 - And he was right. This afternoon, I told him how much better I was, so he said I could go back to flying 00:45:28.850 --> 00:45:35.300 - tomorrow. My mission is in the same area where we were shot down, and I'd like to take a look around. 00:45:35.300 --> 00:45:41.687 - I would like to find a few pieces of my tail rotor to give the Board of Inquiry, although the jungle 00:45:41.687 --> 00:45:48.073 - is a little thick and it may be hard to find. January 8th. The Board of Inquiry has concluded that I 00:45:48.073 --> 00:45:49.022 - was shot down! 00:45:49.186 --> 00:45:55.930 - None of my tail rotor or gearbox has been recovered, but I guess it doesn't make any difference now. 00:45:55.930 --> 00:46:02.874 - But if I ever find a Vietnamese with a Zippo lighter that says Minuteman 17 on it, I just may kill him. 00:46:02.874 --> 00:46:09.685 - I've been flying regularly, as regularly as I was before, since the third. And on the third, I did go 00:46:09.685 --> 00:46:16.830 - back into the same area. The battalion commander who controls that area is, I consider, one of my friends. 00:46:17.602 --> 00:46:24.003 - When he had heard that I was shot down in the area, he was really mad, so I was flying for him on the 00:46:24.003 --> 00:46:30.341 - third. We took some troops to the base of the hill where I went down, and he instructed them to look 00:46:30.341 --> 00:46:36.679 - for anything that may have been a part of a helicopter. It felt a little strange going over the same 00:46:36.679 --> 00:46:42.954 - ridge line and coming out over the same valley, but it was something I had to do, just like getting 00:46:42.954 --> 00:46:46.782 - back onto the horse which threw you. On the fourth, however, 00:46:47.074 --> 00:46:53.110 - My nerves really took a setback. The weather was very bad that day, so most of the flying was done low 00:46:53.110 --> 00:46:59.088 - level. I was at the treetops going between two support bases when I had a complete hydraulic failure. 00:46:59.088 --> 00:47:05.124 - All of the controls on the Huey are hydraulically actuated. We were loaded down pretty well, but I was 00:47:05.124 --> 00:47:11.160 - able to make a running landing on a small fixed wing strip with no further problems, except for a case 00:47:11.160 --> 00:47:15.262 - of the shakes. You might say my luck hasn't been the greatest lately, 00:47:15.746 --> 00:47:21.812 - Now every time I hit some turbulence, my heart quits beating. I start checking to see if I still have 00:47:21.812 --> 00:47:27.937 - a tail rotor. I still have all of my controls, et cetera, et cetera. It's the first time in any letter 00:47:27.937 --> 00:47:30.910 - that Bruce talks about being nervous when flying. 00:47:31.490 --> 00:47:37.480 - through all of school, through all of training, everything that he's done. This is the first time that 00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:43.469 - he talks about, hey, you know, getting shot at's not so bad, but that hydraulic thing going out, whoa, 00:47:43.469 --> 00:47:49.401 - you know, like, this is the first time it's about him and about his nerves starting to frazzle a bit. 00:47:49.401 --> 00:47:55.507 - February 1st. This last month has been a very bad one for me and has caused changes in my attitude about 00:47:55.507 --> 00:48:01.438 - this war. The changes started several weeks ago when I got involved in a search for a downed aircraft 00:48:02.178 --> 00:48:07.485 - The weather was extremely bad and the only reason I was flying is because I thought I might be able 00:48:07.485 --> 00:48:12.951 - to save someone's life. After several hours of search, we found the aircraft. I was the first aircraft 00:48:12.951 --> 00:48:18.416 - there and I was the first person to get to the bodies. It was not very pleasant. The NVA had evidently 00:48:18.416 --> 00:48:23.829 - captured the three people on the aircraft after the pilot had made a forced landing. The aircraft was 00:48:23.829 --> 00:48:28.446 - burned two hours after it had gone down. The occupants had been tortured, then killed. 00:48:29.730 --> 00:48:35.754 - I've been involved in a war crimes investigation since the incident. It is a, quote, official atrocity, 00:48:35.754 --> 00:48:41.545 - but I don't know what good it will do. Since about January 10th, I have seen more Americans killed. 00:48:41.545 --> 00:48:47.569 - I have carried more bodies and I have made more emergency medevacs and I have seen more NVA and VC just 00:48:47.569 --> 00:48:53.477 - walk away from the area than all of the rest of the time I have been here. It's very difficult to say 00:48:53.477 --> 00:48:58.110 - what this has done to me. I do not like seeing people get their legs blown off. 00:48:58.626 --> 00:49:05.555 - Yesterday I had blood splattered all over the inside of my airplane, the windshield instrument radios, 00:49:05.555 --> 00:49:12.282 - my helmet, while I was taking four men out to the hospital ship. I can't think of anything that can 00:49:12.282 --> 00:49:19.143 - make that worthwhile. Not the blood, I'm talking about the people. Nothing is worth wasting life like 00:49:19.143 --> 00:49:22.910 - we are. We have a disjointed idea of how to fight wars. 00:49:26.882 --> 00:49:33.791 - February 23rd, yesterday was quiet, a day off, all the way around. I flew three combat assaults and 00:49:33.791 --> 00:49:40.838 - took a couple of hits in my tail rotor. So this is, you know, the average day. It was quite a day all 00:49:40.838 --> 00:49:48.093 - the way around. I flew on three combat assaults, took a couple of hits in my tail rotor, logged 11 hours 00:49:48.093 --> 00:49:55.002 - and 10 minutes during the day, then got another hour and 30 minutes dropping flares at night. So 12 00:49:55.002 --> 00:49:56.798 - hours of flying in a day. 00:49:58.178 --> 00:50:03.883 - Four people in the company were killed. Evidently, they were shot down and burned in the crash. I only 00:50:03.883 --> 00:50:09.478 - knew the gunner slightly, but the other three were my friends. It's really rough, particularly about 00:50:09.478 --> 00:50:15.017 - Mac. I had known him the longest, and we had found out about it a little while ago. I'm afraid it's 00:50:15.017 --> 00:50:20.722 - really going to be grim around here for the next few days. I suppose we were fortunate to go this long 00:50:20.722 --> 00:50:24.766 - without losing anyone. Ford only had nine days left before he went home. 00:50:25.602 --> 00:50:32.094 - I'll ride again soon. Right now, I think I will go down to the beach. I can't stand watching people 00:50:32.094 --> 00:50:38.845 - pack up their belongings. February 26, the biggest change which has come over me within the last month, 00:50:38.845 --> 00:50:45.466 - this is since the crash. The biggest change that has come over me within the last month and a half is 00:50:45.466 --> 00:50:52.542 - that I now kill people without reservation. It's very hard to explain how something so drastic has happened. 00:50:52.866 --> 00:50:59.136 - It is primarily a result of seeing so many Americans absolutely ruined and seeing so many bad guys get 00:50:59.136 --> 00:51:05.284 - away. This entire struggle, the politics of it, isn't worth two American legs. Yet there are so many 00:51:05.284 --> 00:51:11.494 - people, both over here and in the States, who are content to play war, casually accepting that people 00:51:11.494 --> 00:51:17.885 - get killed and yet reluctant to take the necessary steps to destroy the enemy. The more bad guys I kill, 00:51:17.885 --> 00:51:20.990 - the less people there are who will kill Americans. 00:51:21.410 --> 00:51:27.553 - When I don't find them with a regular mission type of flying, I go out and look for them. I don't think 00:51:27.553 --> 00:51:33.754 - I like to kill, but it gives me a feeling of establishing equilibrium. And whenever I get American blood 00:51:33.754 --> 00:51:39.956 - on my ship, the equilibrium is lost. Perhaps a more rational or a more stable person would find a better 00:51:39.956 --> 00:51:45.921 - way to cope with the situation. We'll come back to that. The way I am working now is not something I 00:51:45.921 --> 00:51:48.638 - have decided to do. It is just the way it is. 00:51:52.034 --> 00:51:57.762 - So putting on my counseling hat for a second. What we know today in the military world when it comes 00:51:57.762 --> 00:52:03.775 - to prolonged combat, when it comes to stress, when it comes to these sort of situations, we have a number 00:52:03.775 --> 00:52:09.446 - of names and types that we do. You're probably familiar with the phrase PTSD, post-traumatic stress 00:52:09.446 --> 00:52:15.742 - disorder. One type of post-traumatic stress disorder that comes up regularly is something called moral injury. 00:52:17.314 --> 00:52:23.418 - Moral injury is defined as the profound psychological, behavioral, and spiritual distress that results 00:52:23.418 --> 00:52:29.343 - from actions or betrayals that violate an individual's core moral beliefs. Individuals experiencing 00:52:29.343 --> 00:52:35.388 - moral injury frequently exhibit clear changes in social behavior. The condition is strongly linked to 00:52:35.388 --> 00:52:40.958 - an increased risk of substance use disorders and a heightened frequency of suicidal ideation. 00:52:41.634 --> 00:52:47.878 - Ultimately, these destructive behavioral shifts and the inability to self-forgive lead to significant 00:52:47.878 --> 00:52:54.061 - functional impairment, often requiring specialized therapy to address the underlying moral conflict. 00:52:54.061 --> 00:53:00.488 - Secondly, we know a whole lot more today about traumatic brain injury. We also know that aircraft crews, 00:53:00.488 --> 00:53:06.977 - especially during crashes, but even during simply hard landings, can sometimes experience TBIs. Nowadays, 00:53:06.977 --> 00:53:09.854 - they all wear helmets. Back then, not so much. 00:53:10.754 --> 00:53:18.962 - Traumatic brain injury, particularly in the frontal lobe, the brain's breaking system, is often damaged. 00:53:18.962 --> 00:53:27.248 - This leads to impulsivity where a person acts or speaks without the usual filter that weighs consequences 00:53:27.248 --> 00:53:35.456 - or social appropriateness. Impacted processes include behavioral inhibition, risk assessment, and future 00:53:35.456 --> 00:53:38.270 - thinking. Bruce Demagge, March 8th. 00:53:40.482 --> 00:53:47.106 - You ask if I had to fly so much. Actually, I don't. I have asked to fly as much as possible, and sometimes 00:53:47.106 --> 00:53:53.667 - I have scrounged missions from other guys when I wasn't scheduled to fly. I've done this for two reasons. 00:53:53.667 --> 00:53:59.981 - First, the only real contribution I can make over here requires that I fly. I like to fly anyway, but 00:53:59.981 --> 00:54:03.262 - I also want to do something worthwhile. For example, 00:54:03.554 --> 00:54:08.547 - When Minuteman 14 was shot down late one afternoon about a week ago while making an approach to the 00:54:08.547 --> 00:54:13.739 - field location, I had already been released from my regular mission and was on my way home when I heard 00:54:13.739 --> 00:54:18.832 - about it. There were three other SLICs and two gunships in the area when I arrived, but I thought I'd 00:54:18.832 --> 00:54:23.824 - stick around just to see what happened. One SLIC went in and picked up the crew of the downed ship. 00:54:23.824 --> 00:54:28.867 - Then he and the second SLIC returned in July. The third SLIC went in with the recovery and rigged up 00:54:28.867 --> 00:54:30.814 - the chinook to pick up the helicopter. 00:54:31.170 --> 00:54:36.742 - By this time, it was dark and bad weather had started to set in. The gunships were breaking station. 00:54:36.742 --> 00:54:42.370 - They had expended most of their ordinance. Then I monitored a call from the people on the ground that 00:54:42.370 --> 00:54:47.943 - a man in the LZ had been hit and would require medical evacuation. Under the existing circumstances, 00:54:47.943 --> 00:54:53.515 - no other ship could have made it out to that area. And I highly doubt anyone could have found the LZ 00:54:53.515 --> 00:54:59.198 - in the dark without having seen it during daylight. But it just so happened that I was in the area and 00:54:59.198 --> 00:55:00.798 - was able to make the pickup. 00:55:01.282 --> 00:55:07.440 - It was 10 o'clock the next morning before that area cleared up. The guy probably would have died if 00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:13.598 - he had not been evacuated immediately, but he did receive medical attention 14 hours sooner than he 00:55:13.598 --> 00:55:19.755 - would have otherwise. It made me feel good to know that. I find little satisfaction being away from 00:55:19.755 --> 00:55:26.036 - you in this stupid war. The satisfaction I do find comes from helping people who need help. About the 00:55:26.036 --> 00:55:29.854 - only way I can do that is when I'm in the air. Second reason. 00:55:30.306 --> 00:55:36.382 - There is very little to do around here on a day off. Some guys find projects for themselves like walling 00:55:36.382 --> 00:55:42.343 - off their area inside the hooch and making a room. One guy is even building a catamaran out of two old 00:55:42.343 --> 00:55:48.246 - drop tanks. If it helps them pass the time, more power to them. My deprivation is not sleeping. It is 00:55:48.246 --> 00:55:54.091 - being away from you and my family. Flying doesn't make me forget the fact, but it does give me other 00:55:54.091 --> 00:55:55.422 - things to think about. 00:55:55.906 --> 00:56:01.899 - Of course, it's safer on the ground than in the air. An aircraft came in this afternoon with a bunch 00:56:01.899 --> 00:56:07.833 - of holes in it. The A.C. was shot in the foot. He was lucky. I think about how lucky all of us have 00:56:07.833 --> 00:56:13.946 - been and that it bothers me sometimes. But as you well know, I'm not one for sitting on the sidelines. 00:56:13.946 --> 00:56:19.939 - I know when I'm taking a chance, but the risk is always calculated. I have 1100 hours of flight time 00:56:19.939 --> 00:56:23.262 - with no accidents, incidents or injuries because of me. 00:56:24.002 --> 00:56:32.540 - and I will do everything I can to keep it that way." So at this point, he's been in country eight months. 00:56:32.540 --> 00:56:40.595 - 100 hours a month, he should have about 800 hours. He has 1,100 hours of flight time at that point. 00:56:40.595 --> 00:56:48.006 - March 21st. We lost another aircraft on the 19th. Fortunately, all of the crew made it out. 00:56:48.006 --> 00:56:51.550 - Also on the 19th, my crew chief was wounded 00:56:52.098 --> 00:56:59.345 - you might say my birthday wasn't the best of days. That was all he said about the 19th. Award of the 00:56:59.345 --> 00:57:06.880 - Silver Star, date of action, March 19th, 1969. For gallantry and action against an enemy in the Republic 00:57:06.880 --> 00:57:14.270 - of Vietnam, Warrant Officer Schaeffer distinguished himself by intrepid actions while serving as pilot 00:57:14.270 --> 00:57:21.374 - with the 176th. On that date, a helicopter was downed by hostile ground forces near the village of 00:57:21.570 --> 00:57:26.613 - receiving word of the incident, Warrant Officer Schaeffer immediately flew up to the area. Arriving 00:57:26.613 --> 00:57:31.656 - at the location of the wreckage, he teamed up with another helicopter and made repeated passes over 00:57:31.656 --> 00:57:36.749 - the crash site, placing suppressive fire on the insurgents and searching for survivors. With no sign 00:57:36.749 --> 00:57:41.943 - of life or any communications coming from the downed ship, he prepared to abort the operation when one 00:57:41.943 --> 00:57:47.238 - of his crewmen observed what appeared to be a strobe light coming from the frame of the aircraft. Taking 00:57:47.238 --> 00:57:50.718 - command of the situation, he descended through a hail of enemy fire, 00:57:52.482 --> 00:57:57.808 - and landed near the disabled ship. Despite the heavy volumes of hostile fire directed at his ship, he 00:57:57.808 --> 00:58:03.342 - loaded the survivors aboard and lifted out of the area. Through his timely actions and outstanding flying 00:58:03.342 --> 00:58:08.668 - ability, he was largely responsible for the success of the extraction and undoubtedly saved the lives 00:58:08.668 --> 00:58:14.098 - of the entire crew. For his fellow soldiers and devotion to duty and keeping with the highest tradition 00:58:14.098 --> 00:58:17.022 - of the military service, he is awarded the Silver Star. 00:58:22.946 --> 00:58:29.466 - switching hats again to what we know today. One of the things that we also know today, folks that are 00:58:29.466 --> 00:58:35.986 - experiencing PTSD, moral injury, traumatic brain injuries, all of these sort of things, those effects 00:58:35.986 --> 00:58:42.825 - are compounded by the use of marijuana, alcohol, other drugs in that area. TBI already weakens the brain's 00:58:42.825 --> 00:58:49.281 - ability to evaluate risk and social norms. Alcohol further dissolves those inhibitions, leading to a 00:58:49.281 --> 00:58:51.902 - much higher risk of aggressive outbursts 00:58:52.098 --> 00:59:01.371 - reckless or dangerous behavior. Marijuana can exacerbate the problem further by slowing the risk process 00:59:01.371 --> 00:59:10.468 - functions in the brain. This is that tough part to talk about. This is the night of the 28th. It's the 00:59:10.468 --> 00:59:20.094 - day that Bruce died. Witness testimony states that the afternoon of the 28th Schaeffer had smoked marijuana. 00:59:20.802 --> 00:59:26.460 - Official investigation report. Schaeffer and several other warrant officers were playing bridge and 00:59:26.460 --> 00:59:32.287 - drinking mixed drinks. No one, including Schaeffer, was considered intoxicated. After the bridge game, 00:59:32.287 --> 00:59:38.227 - Schaeffer began handling an M16, replaced a magazine in the weapon and ejected several rounds by working 00:59:38.227 --> 00:59:43.885 - the receiver by hand. A friend took the weapon away, removed the magazine and cleared it. Schaeffer 00:59:43.885 --> 00:59:47.902 - later picked it up again and again loaded it and worked the mechanism. 00:59:48.770 --> 00:59:55.295 - This time it was taken away in the magazine removed, but it was not cleared when Schaeffer picked it 00:59:55.295 --> 01:00:01.755 - up. Evidently unaware of a round in the chamber, he pointed it at his head from approximately waist 01:00:01.755 --> 01:00:08.216 - level and the weapon went off. A witness said, death is what everyone here is concerned with. Bruce 01:00:08.216 --> 01:00:14.676 - had supreme confidence in all of his actions. I know he was sure in his own mind there was no round 01:00:14.676 --> 01:00:15.710 - in the chamber. 01:00:16.226 --> 01:00:21.907 - It was his way of mocking everyone else's concern with death. Bruce's commander said Bruce was not alone 01:00:21.907 --> 01:00:27.534 - in his billet the night of the accident. He and some of his closest friends, warrant officers with whom 01:00:27.534 --> 01:00:32.945 - he attended flight school and came to Vietnam, had just finished their nightly bridge game when the 01:00:32.945 --> 01:00:38.518 - accident occurred. They had been drinking, but no one was intoxicated. Further, I had never seen Bruce 01:00:38.518 --> 01:00:43.550 - intoxicated during my time with the company. There was no scuffle of any sort for the rifle. 01:00:43.938 --> 01:00:50.809 - Bruce had the weapon in his hand when it discharged. I have no doubt in my mind that Bruce thought the 01:00:50.809 --> 01:00:57.546 - weapon was cleared of any ammunition, but that was not the case. Bruce was one of the best liked and 01:00:57.546 --> 01:01:04.617 - most respected men in the company. He was an outstanding officer and aviator. His friends delayed writing 01:01:04.617 --> 01:01:11.821 - you because we must ensure the official notification has accomplished prior to any personal correspondence. 01:01:11.821 --> 01:01:13.822 - To Maggie from one of Bruce's 01:01:14.562 --> 01:01:20.637 - fellow pilots. Myself and the rest of the aviators had great respect and admiration for Bruce as he 01:01:20.637 --> 01:01:26.833 - continued along every day. His exploits and accomplishments were known throughout our operating area. 01:01:26.833 --> 01:01:33.089 - Everyone knew or had heard of Minuteman 17. Ground commanders would put a request through channels for 01:01:33.089 --> 01:01:39.346 - 17 specifically to fly their command and control chopper. Bruce displayed much courage and stamina day 01:01:39.346 --> 01:01:40.318 - in and day out. 01:01:40.866 --> 01:01:47.181 - He flew more missions than anyone. He requested his missions for the most dangerous areas. There was 01:01:47.181 --> 01:01:53.747 - nothing Bruce would not fly into to aid a unit requesting emergency ammo or medical evacuation. Aircraft 01:01:53.747 --> 01:02:00.125 - that were shot down in really hostile territory, Bruce was there, usually first on the scene, waiting 01:02:00.125 --> 01:02:06.566 - to pick up the downed crew. It's for two missions like that that Bruce received a V device for his air 01:02:06.566 --> 01:02:08.254 - medal and the Silver Star. 01:02:09.090 --> 01:02:15.800 - No one is more deserving of those awards than Bruce. So when I first talked about doing this presentation 01:02:15.800 --> 01:02:22.194 - and Maggie first approached me with the materials, one of the things that I found out as I talked to 01:02:22.194 --> 01:02:28.524 - people is there's a lot of information about what happened to Bruce and what were the circumstances 01:02:28.524 --> 01:02:35.614 - of his death. There were multiple investigations by the Army, by the VA, there was even a trial by the VA about 01:02:35.714 --> 01:02:41.756 - his death that got additional witness statements and other things that came forward. I've read through 01:02:41.756 --> 01:02:48.149 - all of those. There are pages and pages of the statements of the six or seven individuals that he interacted 01:02:48.149 --> 01:02:54.015 - with that evening that were witnesses that were there when it happened. And so as it sometimes gets 01:02:54.015 --> 01:02:59.940 - labeled in public sites that Bruce died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, people sometimes think of 01:02:59.940 --> 01:03:01.406 - that as meaning suicide. 01:03:01.986 --> 01:03:09.560 - and a full suicide investigation was conducted, and they found no grounds for that. That is not what 01:03:09.560 --> 01:03:17.134 - happened here. In my mind, reading all of the evidence, my best guess, because we don't have the way 01:03:17.134 --> 01:03:25.008 - of going back and looking at PTSD and TBI and all of these sort of things, my best guess is that Bruce's 01:03:25.008 --> 01:03:28.382 - risk and level of risk and tolerance of risk 01:03:28.706 --> 01:03:35.009 - had continued to go down and down and down to the point where he was largely just immune to the risks 01:03:35.009 --> 01:03:41.620 - that he was taking and the things that he was doing. That's great as a pilot going out and flying missions 01:03:41.620 --> 01:03:47.923 - and trying to evacuate people and save lives. Hanging out with your buddies in the barracks, that can 01:03:47.923 --> 01:03:54.102 - lead to problems along the way. And so by all accounts, Bruce's death was accidental in that sense. 01:03:54.102 --> 01:03:56.574 - And so I hope that those who knew Bruce 01:03:56.930 --> 01:04:04.831 - That is the side that you will remember. This ambitious, risk-taking hero that was willing to put in 01:04:04.831 --> 01:04:12.655 - the work, whether it was a student government officer or student body senator, or it was as a pilot 01:04:12.655 --> 01:04:21.182 - new to the ground in Vietnam. He put forth this work and saved a lot of lives in the process. Unfortunately, 01:04:21.762 --> 01:04:27.174 - the mental health care system and the psychological system at the time, we weren't able to sort of recognize 01:04:27.174 --> 01:04:32.138 - these challenges in veterans in combat and folks that were experiencing these things. And for that, 01:04:32.138 --> 01:04:34.174 - I think Bruce ultimately paid the price. 01:04:52.066 --> 01:05:03.367 - He was there nine months. Yep. So he was slated to go home in July, so July 8th specifically was supposed 01:05:03.367 --> 01:05:14.348 - to be his last day. He had two weeks of R&R that he had been slated to take originally in February and 01:05:14.348 --> 01:05:19.998 - those got pushed back for various reasons and at the 01:05:20.130 --> 01:05:25.892 - point that this happened he was planning on taking R&R coming up in the next month or so. Him and another 01:05:25.892 --> 01:05:31.600 - pilot were going to go to Hong Kong or Bangkok for R&R. At one point he had been trying to get to Hawaii 01:05:31.600 --> 01:05:37.091 - so that he could meet up with his wife and have her come out and timing wise with the Army and other 01:05:37.091 --> 01:05:39.102 - things that just wasn't working out. 01:05:43.906 --> 01:05:49.301 - Yeah, I mean, from his own statements that he writes about his future career, he did not want to make 01:05:49.301 --> 01:05:54.961 - a career of the Army. He wasn't planning to stay there. And I realized I forgot to flip through my slides. 01:05:54.961 --> 01:06:00.357 - I knew that was going to happen because I didn't write flip slides on the pages. So I'll flip through 01:06:00.357 --> 01:06:01.150 - them as we go. 01:06:01.794 --> 01:06:08.354 - He wrote about, you know, seeking a career. He had been studying economics. He was talking about a career 01:06:08.354 --> 01:06:14.543 - in communications. He really saw himself. He liked the guy. Honestly, I think he would have run for 01:06:14.543 --> 01:06:19.742 - office. I think he would have probably gone into politics if he had gotten out. So. 01:06:32.482 --> 01:06:41.542 - one of my favorite because it looks like a movie photo so through it well Bruce is the one in the sunglasses 01:06:41.542 --> 01:06:50.186 - so you can always tell the aircraft commander in these photos the aircraft commander aircraft commander 01:06:50.186 --> 01:06:58.581 - has a special patch that they wear and you can see his hang in on his uniform there right below that 01:06:58.581 --> 01:07:02.238 - his mom didn't like the mustache by the way 01:07:04.386 --> 01:07:13.090 - His wife did, but his mom didn't. Almost all the ones I quoted from were written to his wife. One of 01:07:13.090 --> 01:07:21.967 - them was to a friend that he wrote. He also wrote to his parents. He also wrote to some other friends. 01:07:21.967 --> 01:07:29.982 - He did not talk about the war nearly as much in those letters. He did not talk about his own 01:07:30.690 --> 01:07:37.095 - personal experiences and feelings in those letters. Those were mostly reserved for Maggie. This is the 01:07:37.095 --> 01:07:43.376 - stereo, not the one that he bought. This is the stereo they had in the barracks. And there's a whole 01:07:43.376 --> 01:07:49.719 - lot of back and forth about how cheap it was to get audio equipment over there. And he was constantly 01:07:49.719 --> 01:07:56.186 - pricing out new stereo systems and cameras and shipping binoculars home to his brother and all of these 01:07:56.186 --> 01:07:59.358 - other things that he could get cheaper over there. 01:08:11.810 --> 01:08:17.310 - I'm not sure if this was, again, I don't have context, I'm not sure if this was his helicopter or someone else's. 01:08:30.498 --> 01:08:37.435 - Yeah, I'm kind of curious in a couple of the really good pictures that are in there. You know, this 01:08:37.435 --> 01:08:44.373 - is a little before the selfie days. So who was taking those photos? But one of the guys in his unit 01:08:44.373 --> 01:08:50.686 - or somebody had an eye for taking those photos in order to do that. And he sent them home. 01:08:50.914 --> 01:08:57.350 - something I appreciate. I served in the military in the pre-digital days and had a camera with me and 01:08:57.350 --> 01:09:03.724 - I used to take rolls and rolls of film and I would get double prints and then I would charge all the 01:09:03.724 --> 01:09:06.942 - guys in my platoon a quarter for the extra prints. 01:09:07.074 --> 01:09:13.933 - and then they could mail them home to their families, and that covered my cost of film and developing 01:09:13.933 --> 01:09:20.860 - in order to do that. So we went on one six-month deployment, and I took 30 rolls of film in six months 01:09:20.860 --> 01:09:28.257 - because everybody else was paying for it, so why not, right? So I appreciate his effort at taking photographs 01:09:28.257 --> 01:09:33.502 - for the guys and getting them out there. Any other questions? Yeah, go ahead. 01:09:35.170 --> 01:09:45.440 - I read a lot of comments about what we know today about the psychological situation going on. Put yourself 01:09:45.440 --> 01:09:55.423 - back at that time with this man and what would have been different? I think there, I would say in 2026, 01:09:55.423 --> 01:10:02.526 - there is training for senior enlisted leaders and officers on recognizing 01:10:03.426 --> 01:10:09.517 - psychological changes in people, whether that is this person is becoming risk-averse or this person 01:10:09.517 --> 01:10:15.669 - is being too risky, this person is making poor personal life choices type of stuff. I think there is 01:10:15.669 --> 01:10:22.126 - more consciousness of that. I think particularly among soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen themselves, 01:10:22.126 --> 01:10:28.217 - somebody would have raised a hand and said, and granted, there may have been many of them that were 01:10:28.217 --> 01:10:32.542 - in the same situation, but somebody would have raised a hand and said, 01:10:32.770 --> 01:10:39.016 - hey, I think he needs to talk to the chaplain, or I think he needs to talk to somebody. You know, he's 01:10:39.016 --> 01:10:45.626 - a great pilot, he's doing great work, but his behavior really radically changed. The couple of conversations 01:10:45.626 --> 01:10:51.872 - that I have had via email and Facebook Messenger with some of the guys that he served with, one of the 01:10:51.872 --> 01:10:58.239 - things that stood out to me is they talked about his behavior change, even now. That they were cognizant 01:10:58.239 --> 01:11:02.302 - of the time, that they attributed it to a lot of different things, 01:11:02.498 --> 01:11:08.961 - They didn't attribute it to the crash. They didn't attribute it to combat stress or any of those things. 01:11:08.961 --> 01:11:15.179 - They attributed it to all sorts of other things that were sort of happening. And I don't see that in 01:11:15.179 --> 01:11:20.903 - his writing. What I see in his writing is the combat stress. And I've not read every letter. 01:11:20.903 --> 01:11:27.120 - I've not read, you know, some of these letters are six pages long. You know, oftentimes, I just read 01:11:27.120 --> 01:11:31.614 - a portion of them. One of the other things that's notable is by January, 01:11:31.938 --> 01:11:37.566 - He doesn't talk about at-home politics. He talks about stereos and cars and family. All this becomes 01:11:37.566 --> 01:11:43.306 - much more condensed. There's not a lot of talking about, hey, I was just sitting here listening to the 01:11:43.306 --> 01:11:49.157 - stereo and it was great. You know, these sort of things that are in his early letters, you're not seeing 01:11:49.157 --> 01:11:54.952 - those in the latter ones, partially because he's flying all the time, but also because of some of these 01:11:54.952 --> 01:11:58.686 - other things I think that are sort of happening in the background. 01:11:59.202 --> 01:12:08.477 - In having this conversation, and I brought this issue up with some Vietnam vets, some of whom that he 01:12:08.477 --> 01:12:18.025 - served with, I brought it up with Maggie and his brother, and they all, knowing this bit of information, 01:12:18.025 --> 01:12:25.118 - think that makes a lot more sense for what happened and how they saw it. Yes. 01:12:30.690 --> 01:12:38.208 - Where is he buried? So he was buried at sea. After coming back here to Bloomington, he was cremated 01:12:38.208 --> 01:12:45.876 - and then eventually buried at sea. Maggie lived with Bruce's parents here in Bloomington for a number 01:12:45.876 --> 01:12:53.695 - of years while she used her benefits to go to IU Law School. And she became a lawyer and did eventually 01:12:53.695 --> 01:12:58.206 - remarry and have kids. Her and Bruce did not have any kids. 01:12:58.466 --> 01:13:05.392 - and is now retired and lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. So she was hoping to be here today. She messaged 01:13:05.392 --> 01:13:12.521 - me like 8.05 this morning and was like having car problems. And she was like, I'm trying to get somebody 01:13:12.521 --> 01:13:19.379 - to come help me with my car. And I don't know what's happening and what's going on. And she was kind 01:13:19.379 --> 01:13:25.694 - of a little bit of a tizzy about being able to be here. And so she was able to make it. Yes. 01:13:29.858 --> 01:13:43.632 - No, they did not. Yeah. It did not. And there were guys in his unit that were nominated for the Medal 01:13:43.632 --> 01:13:57.406 - of Honor, one of which was eventually upgraded to the Medal of Honor during the Obama administration. 01:13:57.986 --> 01:14:05.787 - That's how I know, because there's a photo of the guys from his unit with President Obama when it happened. 01:14:05.787 --> 01:14:13.298 - I don't know exactly what year it was. And so there were a lot, amongst their unit in particular, there 01:14:13.298 --> 01:14:20.521 - were a lot of heroic pilots that were flying in to beleaguered units and rescuing people. And to be 01:14:20.521 --> 01:14:27.166 - clear, he was not a medevac pilot per se. Dust off medevac pilots were few and far between. 01:14:27.362 --> 01:14:36.214 - Typically, he was flying around dropping troops off. But if he dropped them off and they got injured, 01:14:36.214 --> 01:14:44.979 - he'd fly back and pick them up as well and take them out. And my commitment is next time I'll have a 01:14:44.979 --> 01:14:47.582 - happier topic. Thank you all. 01:14:52.834 --> 01:14:57.536 - So one last quick thing I'll add, I do have some of Bruce's memorabilia up here, including his silver 01:14:57.536 --> 01:15:00.670 - star. If you would like to come up and see that, you're welcome to.