The life of a front-line soldier

What was it like to be a front-line infantry soldier in Vietnam? That is what this story about William Purcell, private first class, who served in the 3rd Platoon, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Hue City, Vietnam, on Feb. 1, 1968. 

The Tet Offensive was just one day old. He said they were getting ready to move up the street again. They were in a big courtyard scrambling to find something to eat as they didn't have food for the first two or three days in the city as they were on the move. They finally found a Vietnamese storehouse and got some food. Then as they moved up the street, he said, "You don't go out and say, I am going to be brave today, I am going to be a hero."

He went on to say that it doesn't work that way: "I mean you are so scared, you can't think straight. But the Marine Corps has trained you in a way, that you aren't allowed to think, you have to perform, you have to act. They know how to coordinate and how to act."

As they were walking up the street, an enemy artillery barrage came down, hitting the rooftops of the building. The Marines started running for cover and were spreading out. Then the barrage started coming down the road. That is when a lot of them got hit — Purcell, his two-man gun team and five others on his fire team. 

So how does it feel to get wounded? He was hit in such a fashion that he was conscious, unconscious, and kept going in and out of consciousness. 

"I don't remember how long of a timespan it was that this was happening, but I was loaded onto a truck, how I don't remember, then placed in an area waiting for helicopters to come in and take the wounded out," said Purcell, who survived his injuries. "It could have been two, three or four hours. I had no idea because I was out of it most of the time."

For information, from my experience in Vietnam, once you reached the front-line medical units, if still alive, you had a 90% chance of surviving.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran and business owner in Priest River.