Soldier Stories
Robert Naeye
Vietnam Artillery Veteran Stopped Runaway Train
After serving eight months in traveled home to visit his parents. Vietnam as an artilleryman, Jon He promised them he would do his Hosfeld was no stranger to danger. job and come home. Decades later, in a moment “My father never showed emotion, of crisis, Hosfeld summoned the but when we went to the Harrisburg physical, mental, and spiritual train station for him to leave, tears strength to hop aboard a runaway were running down. He said, train carrying hazardous materials ‘Jonnie, I thought I fought in a war — an example of courage that to end all wars.’” inspired the critically acclaimed As Hosfeld’s flight from Japan movie Unstoppable. was coming in for a landing at Born in 1948, Hosfeld grew up Cam Ranh Bay, he looked out in Central Pennsylvania to religious the window and saw tracers and parents who taught him patriotism explosions. His plane circled the When the North Vietnamese infantry pinned down an infantry platoon, Hosfeld’s and how to tell right from wrong. airfield five times before landing. artillery unit fired nine rounds every 10 minutes for 36 hours. His father served in the Army Air On his third day in Vietnam, Corps in World War II but never he flew on a transport airplane “I did not have any trouble I could Pennsylvania Railroad. He passed talked about his tour of duty. to Pleiku and then by chopper the test, but the company told him it Hosfeld was small growing up and not handle,” he recalls. to his unit. He explained to the After high school, Hosfeld would not waste its money hiring and commanding officer that he was not was frequently bullied. His parents training him and then watch him get trained in artillery. applied to be a brakeman with the told him to stand his ground. killed in Vietnam. “What the hell are you doing “I was 17 years old. What a jolt here?” the officer asked. that was to a young man,” he says. “You tell me and we’ll both know,” Stories of ordinary men and women He turned 18 the very next day replied Hosfeld. called to perform extraordinary military service. and registered for the draft. But just Hosfeld was given a two-week two months later he volunteered for crash course in artillery operations. From 1999–2016, writer and World War II the U.S. Army’s deferred program in His battery consisted of about 100 veteran Col. Robert D. Wilcox preserved the communications. men. Six 105-millimeter artillery firsthand wartime experiences of more than “That will keep you out of ’Nam,” pieces were arranged in a star pattern, 200 veterans through Salute to a Veteran, his said his recruiter. with five guns at the points and one monthly column featured in 50plus LIFE. After training at Fort Bragg and in the center. An infantry company Fort Dix, the Army sent Hosfeld of similar size guarded the outer Now, for the first time, 50 of those stories— to South Korea, where he received perimeter. selected by Wilcox himself—are available to rapid promotions to E5 sergeant. He The temperature often exceeded own in this soft-cover book. describes his Korean service as “very 100 degrees, and at times they Simply complete and mail this form with your payment intense and demanding.” suffered through torrential monsoon to the address below to order Salute to Our Veterans. But because of a bizarre rain so thick they couldn’t see their bureaucratic maneuver, Hosfeld was hands in front of their faces. By the On-Line Publishers • 3912 Abel Drive, Columbia, PA 17512 transferred to West Germany in end of his deployment, Hosfeld and Name_ _______________________________________________________ August 1968 to serve with an artillery his men were eating C rations left unit. This was despite the fact that he over from World War II. Address_ ______________________________________________________ had no training in this field. Several times the men had to pack City_______________________________ State_ ____ Zip_ ______________ In March 1969, Hosfeld received up all their weapons and gear and fly his orders for Vietnam. Surprisingly, in helicopters to a new landing zone, Phone_ _____________________ Email______________________________ he was “elated” to leave Germany where they had to set everything up because of the poor NCOs and yet again. Number of copies_ ______ (Please include $20.80 for each copy) officers. He describes his garrison They were often attacked during Credit card #______________________________________ Exp. date________ duty as “a nightmare” due to racial this period, when they were most tensions and drug problems. vulnerable. It would take 24-36 hours Signature of cardholder_________________________________CVV #________ “I wanted to get away from it,” he just to dig their personnel bunkers, Or send a check made payable to On-Line Publishers, Inc. says. which Hosfeld says made the men “as You can also order online at www.50plusLIFEpa.com! Before heading to ’Nam, he strong as oxen.”
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June 2018
50plus LIFE H
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