After surviving the war in Vietnam, Muncie resident James Dalton remembers the fallen soldiers whom America pays tribute to on Memorial Day.
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Dalton was raised in Fairmount, Ind., and joined the Army in September1966 at the age of 17. He and a friend quit school during their junior year at Fairmount High School when his parents got a divorce.
"I figured I was probably going to be drafted anyway," Dalton said.
While Dalton was sent to Fort Hood in Texas for basic training, his friend was sent to serve as a cook in California.
"We went with the intention of going together," Dalton said.
Dalton said he went from weighing 128 pounds to 154 pounds during the first eight weeks of basic training. He was a member of the 1st Armored Division 1/46 B-Company.
Time spent in basic training was not what the teen expected.
"Every once in awhile they would whack you over the head to get your attention," Dalton said.
Besides learning to fire and getting into combat shape, Dalton was able to work on obtaining his GED while at Ft. Hood.
"I knew I had to get it eventually," Dalton said. "It was something I had to take care of."
But as Dalton was working to earn his degree, he was forced to drop out when his division was called to duty.
Dalton flew to California and sailed out of San Francisco with three troop ships carrying 5,600 men. It was 1967 and this was the first time the Hoosier native saw the Pacific Ocean.
"I thought it was beautiful," Dalton said.
After traveling about 18 days, the ships stopped at the U.S. military base, Fort Buckner, in Okinawa, Japan, to refuel and stock the ships.
The single night in Japan was summed up with "a lot of drinking and a lot of women."
The ships made a secure landing on the shores of Vietnam after a two-to-three-day journey from Japan. Dalton recalled his thoughts as his ship slid onto the beach and the doors were opened.
"I remember thinking, 'We're really here; we have ammunition,'" Dalton said.
The unique part about Dalton's group was he was traveling to fight alongside the men he had been training with in Texas.
"Instead of going as a replacement, I went with everyone I had been training with," Dalton said. "I was with all my friends."
Dalton was thankful that he was not the only one landing in Vietnam as "green," a common word used to describe those soldiers who had never seen combat.
Dalton said Vietnam was a jungle, full of mountains, hills and marsh patties. He described it as "hot, sweaty and dangerous."
"It was a blessing in disguise that we were light infantry men," Dalton said. Dalton said there were safety benefits of being on foot versus in a tank that was seen as a more obvious target.
"The first time one of our guys got killed it was like they were here one second and gone the next," Dalton said. "Everyone soon realized what was going on and everyone dealt with it in their own way. We tried not to think of it."
Dalton said it was sad to see the enemy dead too.
"The destruction that can be done to the human body was pretty sickening," Dalton said.
One moment Dalton recalled was the Tet Offensive, a turning point in the Vietnam War. Beginning in January of 1968, this was the time where the Viet Cong attacked hundreds of towns and stations in South Vietnam.
"We pretty much massacred them," Dalton said. "They withdrew after getting their butts kicked pretty good."
Dalton's two years were up on September 29, 1968. Upon returning home, Dalton said that his time spent in Vietnam was not something that was usually talked about.
"What are you going to say?" Dalton said. "Some of the stories sound so fake."
Dalton and his wife, Deadra, visited the more than 58,000 names at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. when it was built in 1982.
"At least they weren't forgotten. Their names are there and you can take a sketching," he said.
Dalton said the value of teamwork was a lesson he learned and has carried with him throughout his years spent at Norfolk Southern Railroad.
"We were a very close-knit group," Dalton said. "There was no black or white. You had to trust your buddies so you could get the hell out of there.
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