Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with Bernard Sparks Perrette was digitized.
This transcription was encoded with minimal changes to the original text in an effort to preserve original content and idiosyncrasies of the person interviewed. Period language and terminology are also retained. Encoding is literal with regard to the transcriptionist's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Spelling errors are indicated with [sic]; however, recurring errors in spelling within a single document have been marked the first time and not subsequently.
This recording is made August 12, 2002, with Bernard Sparks Perrette. His date of birth is 12-7-1946. He resides at 5381 Stonehedge Drive, Evansville, Indiana. Bernard is a native of Evansville, Indiana, served in the United States Marine Corps initially in the 3rd Service Battalion 3rd Marines and also in the 1st Marines 1st Motors. He was a Corporal E-4 as his highest rank. His period of enlistment was December 1968 through December 1970. He was drafted at age 21 and saw primary service in areas including Camp Pendleton, California, and in Vietnam. This tape is made with Larry Ordner, Regional Director for the United States Senator Dick Lugar. Bernard, thank you so much for doing this. And I know you go by Sparky, right?
Yes, sir.
Based on - well, it really originated from your middle name, didn't it?
Yes, sir.
A family name. Well, you were living in Evansville. Had you gone to school in Evansville?
Yes, sir.
And where did you go to high school?
Rex Mundi High School.
Rex Mundi which is no longer.
No, sir.
A very familiar name though. Everybody remembers even their sports teams, don't they?
Yes, sir. Bob Griese is a product of Rex Mundi High School. He was a senior when I was a freshman..
No kidding.
He's the one that broke one of my little fingers.
Really?
Oh, yeah. His freshman year at Purdue he came back and worked with the football team and I was a running back. And he threw a pass that I never seen anybody throw that much emphasis on a pass. But I mean you either caught it or it ate you. Oh, yeah. But then after a while he learned to give a little bit more of a touch to it. But oh yeah. He'd do a down and acrosser or a down and in as they called it and he'd hit you with a pass and you'd better hoped you caught it.
Wow. Well, you were living in Evansville.
Yes, sir.
And then this was really -- Vietnam was really in very high gear at that time, wasn't it?
Yes, sir. I think I got drafted right after they had the Tet Offensive.
So what were you doing in Evansville? Were you working at that time?
Yes, sir.
What were you doing?
I worked at Hon Incorporated here. Manufacturing different facets. Production line, quality control, machine shop, expediter. And I worked my way on up to purchasing expediter. But that was after I came home.
So I take it a draft notice arrived?
Yes, sir.
What was the reaction at home to that?
Well, my mother, I guess if I can back up a little bit -
Sure.
The first day of my freshman year in high school my dad had a cerebral hemorrhage and a stroke. A stroke. And he was left paralyzed. And it was just my mother and I working then. Okay. Well, I went to school and played sports and in the summertime I worked. And I did that all four years. Then after the summer of my senior year after I graduated that summer she came down with lung cancer. And so I was sole supporter. And so I got a deferment at that time. Okay. And that lasted for a year and a half from '68 to - well, I got my draft notice - I can't remember now when it was. I think it was in the fall if I'm not mistaken. Anyhow, but I had to go through all different kinds of reviews and everything to get a special dispensation from the draft. And then she passed away March, March of '68. And then I got drafted in December of '68.
So who was taking care of your dad?
Dad was - my sister was made guardian. And then he was put in a convalescent home because he was a big man. I mean I'm probably the tallest in my family bring at 5'6 3/4" or 5'7", but he would have made two of me.
Wow.
Oh, yeah. He played semi pro football and he was a policeman here in town.
Well, I'm sure it still has to be a - when the draft notice comes -
Oh, yeah.
That's a life changing experience.
When I saw that I - I had it envisioned in my mind. I knew I was going in the Marine Corps because they said anybody going into the Army, Navy or Air Force could expect holiday leave, but those going in the Marine Corps wouldn't. And I knew right then and there that I was going in the Marine Corps. I knew I was going to Vietnam. And I knew I wasn't coming home. I knew that was just -
You felt like that was a given.
Oh, yes, sir.
I mean you almost looked at it as that was a sentence of death.
Yes, sir.
You were going to Vietnam and you were not going to come home.
Oh, yes, sir. Most definitely. Because Vietnam was on a big rise right there and there was a lot of soldiers coming home in body bags basically. And I just had that premonition. And it wasn't until I got into my physical that December in Louisville they had you to count off. And I forget now if it was the evens or the odds that went in the Marine Corps. And I was the opposite. And there was a little black Air Force staff sergeant. He came up to me and he called my name out. And he said you know you're supposed to be in the Marines. And I said no, sir. But I'm in the Army. I was such and such number. No, you're in the Marine Corps. And went in there and they gave me - there was 25 inductees going in and they gave me all the dossiers for the inductees. And why? To this day I still don't understand. I don't know. Maybe it's because of my age. Maybe I was a little bit older than them. But we had college graduates in there. We had everybody under the sun going in. And why they put me in charge I still don't know.
I'll be darned.
Maybe they saw the leadership. (Laughing.) I don't know.
Well, where was boot training at?
In San Diego, California.
Really?
Yes, sir. In NCRD.
Did you fly out?
Oh, yes, sir. We flew from Louisville to Dallas, Texas, refueled in Dallas and then went on into San Diego.
Wow. And that was an absolutely huge base, wasn't it?
Oh, yes, sir.
And that was for - at that time I know that had to be the hub - one of the principal hubs for transportation to and from Vietnam, wasn't it?
Yes, sir. When we went out of - I don't think it's there any longer, but - my brain just went in neutral. I'm sorry. I can't think of the name of the air base there. It was a Marine air base. We took off and landed in Okinawa and went through transit. I and another Marine were the only two out of our company that stayed in Okinawa. Everybody else went to Vietnam.
Why did you stay in Okinawa? Any idea?
I have no idea. I have no idea.
What was your reaction to that?
Well, I thought, man, this is unreal. You know, I thought this is not coming true. I'm going to stay in Okinawa.
But there was nothing in your training that would have prepared you for a different assignment than you were anticipating, was there?
No, sir. No, sir. I was in motor transport. I was a truck driver.
Well, how long did that time in Okinawa last?
About six months.
Six months.
Yeah. I became our XO's driver for the company of 3rd Marine 3rd Service Battalion. I became his driver, personal driver. And then I even drove for the base commander. Colonel Keeley. I was one of seven drivers he had. And it was enjoyable. I played football.
I'm sure it probably was.
Yeah. I mean it - I wasn't too crazy about Okinawa as itself, but it was a far sight better than going to Vietnam.
So when did the realization of an assignment come down?
December, December of '69. I think it was December of '69 that they came over. The Lieutenant that I drove for, which at the time I didn't know, was on Westmoreland's staff, General Westmoreland's staff. And he had asked me several times because he was only like three months older than me and we got along real well. I mean in fact I thought he might get in trouble for associating with me, but we'd go on liberty together and we'd hang out together.
What was his name?
Ron Carson. Lieutenant Ron Carson. I think he ended up coming out as a captain. And I kept telling him, I said I'm in here for two years. You're in here for twenty. Plus who knows. I came in as a private and I may go out as a private, but that doesn't really bother me. But I said you're in here for the money and the rank. But anyhow, he wanted me to be his driver over in 'Nam. And I asked him, I said, well, if you go over there it's just going to be a couple of weeks maybe at the most? You know, I don't want no permanent duty station over there. Because I know how things can get mixed up. You'll go one way and I'll end up going the other way. And he said no, no. And I said if you can make that real I said I don't mind. I'll go with you. So I ended up going over there. And several months later he came over. And it was April 1st. And we get rockets that morning. And he came in to see me. I was at 1st Motors in the rear there. We were in the south side of Da Nang. He came in to see me and we got rockets that morning. And I told him, I said, well, next time you come don't bring the rockets, okay? I was just teasing around with him. But he was on - they had an operation where we went into Cambodia. And he was part of Westmoreland's staff in that operation which I didn't know at the time. I later found out. Yeah.
Exactly.
It was interesting. But like I say, Ron never said anything about it. And of course it didn't really matter to me, you know. But how things fit together, you know.
Well, what kind of assignment did you end up with after that then?
Oh, I was security driver for Hill 54 1st Tanks.
And what did that entail? What was the nature of that?
I drove the vehicle for the courier. And we would go up whenever he wanted to to Division. And we would pick up documents or whatever information he had or to take up there. And we had a guard - I had a guard and a dog in the back of my truck.
Were sometimes those orders do you think of military action?
Oh, sure. Yes. And the dog was written up in Stars and Stripes. It was a Chinese chow. The dog had seven kills to its name and outranked me. The dog was a corporal and I was a lance corporal.
Yeah. What was that dog's name?
Lobo.
Lobo.
Lobo. I guess you've probably heard about this, but the Vietnamese like to eat dog and I think the other dogs can sense this. I don't know if it's excreted out of their body. It permeates an odor or whatever. But they know this and they did not like Vietnamese per se. Unless they were like a pet. But Lobo was a trained dog. I mean a guard dog. And I'll tell you a funny story. We were driving down through Da Nang and Da Nang was just total chaos. I mean it was just - if you're there first, okay. If you're not and you've got a bigger vehicle, well, sorry about that, more or less. And we were driving down and this little mamasan came flying by beside the right side of my truck. And she had one of those little Italian scooters. And she was close enough that Lobo was able to reach out between the back rest of the truck and the seat and get a hold of the back of her bra and her blouse and took if off just like that. And she's flying down naked from the waist up. And she was cussing out and everything, shaking her finger. Lobo was sitting in the back of that truck shaking that blouse and bra back and forth, back and forth. And the courier and I were just busting out laughing. And the guard, oh, he was chewing the dog out right and left and everything like that. It was funny. It was funny. I mean it could have been worse, but it was comical to see her flying down there. But that's just some of the good things you remember. Some of the other things I don't remember.
This is the part where sometimes I struggle knowing where to go.
Okay.
How long were you in your situation in Vietnam?
About six months.
Six months.
Yes, sir.
I know just from your stay here that there are still sometimes where you almost have to laugh at some of the encounters. But I know the reality was such it was very difficult at times. How would you - what were some of the pinnacle moments on each end for you that just define that time period for you?
Okay. I received first, second and third degree burns of my face. One night I came in. I had hauled some troops down to a bridge to relieve the guard duty. And the guard duty that was being relieved decided they wanted to say there for the night. And they told me I could stay with them or I could go back. And I said, well, I definitely don't want to be sleeping in this truck out here in the bush. I don't even want to be near the truck. And I said I'll go on back. So it was about midnight and I went back by myself. They asked me if I wanted a guard, you know, if I wanted a gunner to ride with me. And I said - because I had a 50 cal mounted up on my truck. And I said if anybody that wants to go, fine. If not, I know the way back by myself. I'm not worried about that. So I got back at about midnight. And I was juts dirty and gritty and grimy and I had to take a shower. So I went in, jumped in to take a shower and it was cold water. And I don't like cold showers. So I went up on the scaffolding where they had the water - they had like three for five 55 gallon tanks welded end to end that held the water. And we had three immersion burners strategically metal on both ends to where it would warm up the water. Well, the fuel tanks were empty. So here I am naked climbing up and down filling these tanks up on the scaffolding. Now, I'm on the side of the mountain of Da Nang of Marble Mountain there. And there is no back bar or hand rail on the back. It was just a plain foot path up there on the top. And I got the first two going and the third didn't go. And like a dummy I leaned over. And when I did I guess the force of air caused it to ignite and it blew up in my face. And I fell off backwards over there. It was about 12 or 15 feet off the ground. And landed in the fighting hole. And I was yelling and screaming and carrying on like that. And I was rolling the flesh off my face. I could feel it. I thought I was still on fire. And I got in there in the shower and I turned the cold water on. And I was still hollering. And it was okay. The pain wasn't so bad while I was under the water, the cold water. You'd get out and it would seem like it would just reignite. And finally they came in and I remember they took me down there. And it was the first time I'd seen ice, first time I'd seen ice there. And they had a stainless steel bucket. About a five - not a five gallon bucket. Maybe about a two gallon bucket with ice. And they used that to cool my face down. And they used zinc oxide. And it was just like putting butter on toast. It was just running off. And then they wrapped my whole head up and I couldn't see for I guess maybe four or five days. And -
Was that because you were taped up?
Oh, yes, sir.
I mean you had your vision?
Well, they didn't know.
Really.
They didn't know. Because the scars, they didn't know how bad the scars would be and everything like that. I lost my moustache and my hair all the way back up there to the top of my head and my eyebrows and everything like that. And of course I couldn't see at the time. But I remember the 1st Sergeant came in one day and he was going to write me up. And I said you're going to write me up? And he said yeah. And I said for what? And he said for destroying government property. I said, okay, Top. You get the supernumerary and you write him up for being negligent because he's supposed to keep those showers going at all times. That's part of his duty. And then I said then you come back and you write me up then. I've got no problem with that. I never heard another word out of that.
Well, I'll be darned.
And we had a sergeant in our platoon whose wife was blind and he helped me go to chow. I was on my own. I didn't have anybody to help me. And he told me just to count steps. And he walked with me one time and went down to chow. And then I learned to flip the food on the plate. Of course we ate off those metal trays which are separated which to this day I will not eat on a tray at all. If we go into a fast food place, no, no. I will take everything off of the tray.
And that stems from that time period?
Well, it extends from eating on a tray in the military. I used to go to the Air Force and eat off of plates when I was out in the bush. Honest to God, I would go to the Air Force base and go in there and eat. The food was much better. The food was much, much better. Anyhow -
Isn't that something, though, how things like that can just influence today?
Oh, yeah. I see a lot of my friends won't stand in line, you know, because they had to stand in line. Standing in line, that's - I mean I don't think that's something you'll ever get away unless you become big and powerful and you know become the president of the United States or something like that. But you're always going to have to stand in line somewhere, even when your time comes up you're probably going to have to stand in line. (Laughing.) But - no, I don't know. Looking back on it I think I grew up maybe in a very fast way. I got to appreciate life through the experience. I don't regret going in the Marine Corps. I don't really regret going over to Vietnam. It was an experience in life that you couldn't ever buy. I saw a part of life to where it make me proud to be an American citizen. People don't realize how lucky you are and what you've got here in the United States. To see how those people lived, what they ate, I mean you go over and you see a mamasan reach down in a 55 gallon drug and grab a rat by the tail and start slinging it inside that barrel trying to kill it because that's going to be supper.
So many men that I've talked to that served in Vietnam, they describe two things usually when they stepped off the plane the first time.
The odor.
Well, yeah. One was the stench and the other was just the heat hitting them in the face. I suppose to this day you can conjure up that smell.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. You're used to sanitary conditions here in the United States to where over there they have no sewage system at all. It's all outhouses or you go in a rice paddy or you go in the tall grass and relieve yourself. The heat, the heat is very similar to what we have here I think. Here in southern Indiana.
With the humidity?
Oh, yeah. In our hootch one day it was 126 degrees in the shade and the humidity - but at nighttime when the sun went down it cooled just like that, you know. And that's the reason when I came back I wasn't going to take a cold shower. Because it got cool. And when that wind would blow, it got cold. The temperature would drop and your body doesn't have that much time to react to that temperature difference. But the people here, they think it's hot here and they go down south and that always tears me up. We went down to Florida this year and I talked to some people and they thought, oh, it's just miserable. I said you came up to southern Indiana and you'll see what heat's all about.
Can I ask you what that recovery period was like for you? I mean how extensive of a recovery period did you have? It was only from the burns?
I don't know. I don't think it was much. I've learned in dealing with life it's just a philosophy I can't put my finger on when I developed it. But when things happen, you rebound. Like I always say, you grab your socks and you pull them up and keep on going. And that's helped me. And that's basically the way I look at life, you know. You're going to get dealt a bad hand. You either try and play it out or you fold it. And I haven't folded yet. And that's -
When you got home did you use your GI benefits?
Yes, sir. I went to school. I went to UV.
Did you?
Yes, sir.
What did you study?
I went to a BLS class. It's a - it's bachelor of liberal studies, basically a bachelor of liberal studies. And I was working for a company here in town and they wanted a degree. And I was already in management. And I said, you know, what are they going to teach me that I don't already know, you know, because I know about production and I know about standards and quality control and so on and so forth. And I said now if that's what they're going to teach me then yes. I can go and see that. But I said as far as dealing with people and psychology, yes. But as far as we had a class in economics, which - micro and macro economics, which still to this day I don't know how that was going to pertain to me because I didn't get into that finite part of the business. Now, if I was an accountant or something like that it might have been different. But it was enjoyable. I'm glad I got to go.
Well, looking back after all these years you were part of an extraordinary period of time, weren't you?
I guess so. But I don't - I guess my philosophy on life is that regardless of how you look at things, there's always somebody out there in a worse condition than yours. And I look at it like that. So I can't build up a self pity thing, you know. And I don't want to. Because there is, you know. I've got neuropathy now from either the chemo or the brain surgery. I don't know which it's from. And you know I think about this and the pain that I have and I think there's people out there that don't' have legs. I can still walk. And it's difficult, but that's my mentality and my outlook on life. Yeah, you could have been dealt a bad hand, but then there's somebody that doesn't have a hand.
Yeah, I see.
And I think if people would take another look at it - I'm not saying that my philosophy is the best in life, but it would help a lot of people survive what they go through if they would maintain or look at it that way. It's helped me.
Is there anything else you'd like to add? Any final thoughts?
We could go on because I like to talk, but I mean no.
You did a great job though in telling that story.
Thank you.
I appreciate your participating in this program.
I appreciate the offer and the opportunity. I hope that in time somebody will maybe be able to gain something out of this. And, you know -
Well, the whole point of this is that 50 years from now or 100 years from now people will still be able to hear recollections of military service from the veteran's own mouth in the veteran's own words.
Well, that's nice.
And not a transcription of what somebody thinks it was like. They're going to hear it form your own words.
Well, that's good.
I think that's very, very good. Well, thanks so much for doing this. It's been an honor to meet you.
Well, nice meeting you, sir. (End of tape.)