Early Life and Enlistment
Ray Yeatman was born on December 9th, 1932 in Tuscaloosa Alabama. He grew up from a military family with his father serving in the Great War overseas for America. He also had a older brother who served in the Air force as a supply runner for the Chang Kai Shek army during the second World War. Growing up he detailed there were a lot of veterans from his hometown and particularly in the south so joining the military seemed like an option for him to always consider. Right after graduating highs school he deployed in the national guard and served in Korea. Ray was responsible for manning anti aircraft guns during the Korean war for the Southern army fighting against the Communist Kim ill Sung forces. After his time in Korea he applied and joined the recently created Special Forces, more commonly known as the Green Berets. However he never served combat as a Green Beret due to the current American political climate of no foreign conflicts going on at the time. When the American government joined the Vietnam war in 1965, Ray was then called to do active duty, however not as a full on soldier but rather as something to be called the Seabees
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Seabees and work in the war
Ray served as a Cheif Petty Officer in the Seabees in two tours of duty from 1967 to 1969. The Seabees were construction battalions that were responsible for building the civil and military infrastructures for America during the Vietnam war. Ray would work 16 hour days managing and helping build everything from roads, barracks, and even houses for the local Vietnamese civilian populations. Due to him not being a front line infantryman, he never personally fought the enemy. However, during his construction time, sometimes they would be shelled from artillery from northern NVA forces. There was one particular incident when he went into detail of one his soldiers being critically injured from a mortar bombardment. “One night in our base to the marines, they came took about 35 rounds of mortar inside the camp that night, and our supply officer took a mortar round close enough it opened up his sternum almost got his privates about a half inch deep no blood because it seared his skin so hot.” Luckily this was the only major injury his battalion of 900 men had, but constant paranoia would be over the troops during their time in Vietnam. Ray explained that his devotion to Christianity would constantly look over him, giving him a constant feeling of hope for safety. In a conversation between him and one of his squad mates a question of being scared comes up. “I say yea, you afraid to die and I say no, not afraid to die, I done settled in between me and the war, would you die for me? yea to save your soul yea, he looked at me and he said i believe you would.
Really, And I would, Lord Jesus Christ died for me, there’s more love than any man dying for a brother”
In the off time they had from working, the soldiers hung out, played cards, pool, and drank from time to time. For the most part during their time, morale was pretty high and they all seemed to enjoy each others company. Ray’s time in Vietnam was hard work but safe. The only part that made him dislike about his service was his homecoming from war and missing his family
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Feelings toward the enemy
Ray being deployed in a construction battalion, combat was not his job. He was trained to defend himself in the event of being attacked, but NVA forces never directly concentrated attacks against construction workers. When I asked Ray about his feelings toward the enemy he explained that he had no certification to give an answer because he never was in direct combat with them. He however explained that with the local people around his area, during the large monsoon season in Vietnam, they would build little metal houses for them to house them during massive floods. He overall was a wholesome person about the “enemy” during the war.
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Homecoming
After Ray’s first tour of duty, he landed in LAX. He kissed the ground with his soldiers, happy to be home, but with the current political climate, it seemed as if the American public did not want him home. As he walked out in public he was assaulted and had rotten produce thrown at him. Ray’s reaction was resentment, displaying feelings of anger toward the American protesters. “Well i had to grit my teeth”. Sadly it seemed as if the only heroes welcome he got was from his family. But in the end for Ray, reuniting with his family was the most important thing for him at the time. Ray at the time already had two children with his first wife so seeing them made him forget about the hardships he felt from the American public.
Life after his service
Ray would go onto serving until 1975, and work as a mechanic and even go into teaching classes at the local community college Shelton State in Tuscaloosa. With his knowledge of construction work and being an officer in the military, he became a certified welder and electrical engineer. But primarily his most important attributes he learned from the military were internal. He explained directly how he learned so many lessons in the military on how to take care of people and lead them for success. In his post war mechanic job, he became the manager of a welding, water and electrical industry plant and thought of it as much easier than his normal job in the military. This was primarily due to the fact he learned all his discipline and work ethic from the military. His managing skills developed from his service would end up making him very financial safe. However the scars from war were still with him. Ray went into detail of his effects from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, in relation to times he spent with his spouses. “I would wake up in the middle of the night still fighting the war, thinking my wife was the enemy, I ended up going to the VA hospital going through the program out there, when i was with my first wife. With my wife now, went out on a honeymoon in Florida, had a battle and kicked her out of bed, she said what are you doing, i said i’m sorry we were under attack and you were the enemy.” Its sad how due to his experiences in Korea and Vietnam scarred him mentally to this day.” Its sad how mental illness effected him in this way, but he himself said he was okay for the most part. Ray currently being 86 years old has had a lot of time to reflect on his life. When I asked, did you ever regret your service, and before I could even finish my sentence he sternly and quickly said no. Ray is a prod man of who he is and what he has become, and he thanks the military for that.
Further Readings
Book 1:Stanton, Doug. The Odyssey Of Echo Company, The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War. New York, NY: Simon & Schuester, Inc, 2018.
The book, Odyssey of Echo Company details the accounts of Echo Company of the 101st Airborne Division centraling around 19 year old Stanley Parkers journey during the Tet Offensive and life in and out of the military. It goes back and forth from combat, daily activities, and to living back at the homefront in America in its ever changing political climate. This book can relate to the experiences of Ray Yeatman due to it showing how its was to be stationed in Vietnam and the culture within the soldiers. On top of this it has a in depth look on the treatment and feelings of soldiers coming back to America after their tours of duty, which Mr. Yeatman can probably most likely relate to.
Book 2: Smithsonian. The Vietnam War, The Definitive Illustrated History. New York, NY: Penguin Random House, Liz Wheeler,2017.
The Illustrated edition of the Vietnam war is a broad book detailing from the historical history of Vietnam to the actual war period and its post war effects on Vietnam and America. This book can help me understand operational tactics on both sides of the war and historical context for the reasons of the war. With this, the book also goes into detail showcasing the numerous individual tactics and weapons used on both sides of the war, which can help me understand how Ray Yeatman operated during the war. The Smithsonian foundation provided tons of pictures detailing the aspects of the war, which can help me further understand and see the experiences and equipment Mr. Yeatman was surrounded with.
Book 3: Polack, Peter. Guerilla Warfare, Kings of Revolution. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2018.
Peter Polacks book, Guerilla Warfare displays the tactics of numerous countries and factions from multiple time periods in history with the use of Guerilla Warfare. The Vietcong and NVA forces were famous for their methods of Guerilla Warfare during the Vietnam war effectively defending their homeland from American forces. The Book doesn’t only detail how the Vietnamese did this but also other nations before them at the same time. Polack describes the success and failures with their tactics from numerous eras in history which influenced the North Vietnamese armies tactics. This relates to Ray Yeatmans experience by showing how the Vietnamese forces may have attacked American positions Yeatman was involved in and at the same time influenced how Yeatman conducted his attacks from the American side. Guerilla Warfare can actively show me the history and tactics behind the North Vietnamese forces in Vietnam and its effect on how the war was fought for Ray Yeatman.