The Good Life – July-August 2020

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LOCAL HERO | JOE WALLEVANDWallevand got his orders to go to Vietnamon Valentine’s Day, 1967 and arrived inVietnam March 31. He was assigned tothe 5th Special Forces Group.In Vietnam, Wallevand was initially ajunior A-team medic. He recalled beingin Hà Tiên near the Gulf of Siam. He wastold “don’t go too far down that road orelse you will be in Cambodia and it will bean international incident.” One of his jobswas also to “go out to our airfield, towardCambodia, and deliver any personnel orsupplies back to our camp.”Wallevand was to train some Montagnardpeople whom he described as “someof the first inhabitants of Vietnam” andfairly primitive, with large piercings andsome with “bones in their noses”. He wascalled upon to jumpmaster a trainingjump for them. Wallevand explained thatjumpmasters normally jump last from theplane. However, due to the Asians’ lackof training and language, he had to jumpfirst as an example. Wallevand recalled,right before he jumped, looking back atthe Montagnard people: “Their eyes arenormally almond-shaped. But when Iturned around all of their eyes were as bigand as round as mine. They were scared.It made me remember my first jump atFort Benning, which was the first time Ihad flown in a plane.”As part of a civic action, Wallevand handedout manual tools to the Vietnamesepeople – shovels, picks, and spades, tobe used in the rice patties. He explainedthat “winning the hearts and the mindsof the people” was one of the goals of thewar. He remembered that the Vietnamesesaid, “Thank you, doctor.” To them, hewas considered a doctor because of hismedical training. Later, however, duringthe Tet Offensive, they had taken thesesame implements and built bunkers insidetheir huts.Wallevand explained the “mostsuccessful” operation of his A-team,a month and a half before he wasto return home: “We went intoan area (restricted to us) to raida small group of Viet Cong.”His team collected a numberof documents, weapons, andpropaganda. Wallevand said30 / THE GOOD LIFE
ARMY SPECIAL FORCES GREEN BERETWallevand still has the VietCong flag that he retrieved.urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 31
Page 2 and 3: CELEBRATING 7 YEARS OF THE GOOD LIF
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTSJULY-AUGUST 2020Volume 8
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Page 28 and 29: LOCAL HERO | JOE WALLEVANDOriginal
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Page 48 and 49: LOCAL HERO | WAYNE CASEBEEROriginal
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