Just Doing Their Duty

Keeping Vietnam War History Alive: Clifton High School English teachers Seawright, Voss host presentation by Vets Cano, Nichols commemorating Vietnam Veterans Day March 29 & the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War April 30

CLIFTON – It was a brutal war in a tropical land, so far from home. It was a war that cost many young American soldiers their lives. Like all wars, it transformed thousands of boys into men, emotionally and physically scarred by their experiences.

To make it harder on the soldiers returning from Vietnam – many were drafted – their homecoming was to angry mobs, blaming them for the massacres oversees. Many Americans opposed the war on moral grounds, appalled by the devastation and violence of the war. Others claimed the conflict was an intervention in a foreign civil war, and unwinnable from the start, fueled by Cold War ideologies.

But what conception do the youth of today have about the Vietnam War and its effects on the United States and those that fought in it? It might be a horribly painful memory on many levels, but it is history that has to be retold and remembered, if only to honor the sacrifices made by the people played a part in that hard-fought war.

Leading up to the 2025 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day on March 29 and the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War on April 30, two of Bosque County’s own Vietnam Veterans – Jose Cano and Tom Nichols – spoke to Clifton High School freshmen and sophomores about their experiences in this divisive war. English teachers GayeLynn Seawright and Brett Voss hosted the presentations throughout their classes that day.

In 1975, the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam on March 29, and the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces on April 30, effectively ended the war.

In her welcome, Seawright gave a brief background on the Vietnam War – a conflict building up from events in the late 1950s, while Voss explained that growing up, the war was on the news daily as were the protests and student uprisings. “These guys helped you sit here in total freedom,” Seawright said. “They fought for democracy.”

At 19 and 20 years old, Helicopter crew chief José Cano and driver for a field hospital Tom Nichols were just a few years older than the Clifton High School freshmen and sophomores listening to their stories accompanied with slide shows of powerful, personal photographs of life on base, fearing for their lives, and deadly missions and attacks.

"When these two veterans were serving in Vietnam, I was your age," Voss told his students. "The Vietnam War was on the TV news and in the newspaper every day, and it was very real for me and my buddies. As long as we could remember, the U.S. had been involved in the Vietnam War, and there was no end in sight. The idea that we might be going there to fight, either by being drafted or joining up, was very real to all of us."

Cano’s helicopter helmet, uniform and combat helmet reinforced the reality that these men had served their country in war. During their deployment, they were never safe, even the barracks were attacked by enemy missiles. The troops on the ground, unfamiliar with the terrain, were constantly under attack by the guerilla war tactics of the Northern Vietnamese soldiers, hidden away in a jungle they knew as the back of their hands.

“I matured a lot in that time,” Cano said. “You just had to take care of your responsibilities, or you could get killed. And I was in charge of a $500,000 helicopter.”

The Vietnam War did not remain within the borders of Vietnam. The conflict expanded into neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia, where North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) soldiers moved and operated, at times pursued by South Vietnamese and American forces.

“I just realized it today, that it was 54 years ago that we pulled those guys out of Laos,” Cano said. “We rescued a lot of people out of that war zone. It was just as bad getting them out as it was getting the troops in. One hundred and eight helis were destroyed and 600 damaged, mine was one of them. We had a big ol’ hole in the tail.”

Cano referred to Operation Lam Son 719 – also called “A Raid Too Far” – a South Vietnamese offensive into Laos, with U.S. air, artillery and logistical support, with the goal of disrupting the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply route for the NVA. During the Lam Son 719 mission, Cano’s company were hauling 8-10 ARVN troops into Laos by helicopter. And they had to be in and out of the triple canopy jungle landing zone within 15 seconds to avoid enemy machine gun and mortar fire.

“We sometimes had to force the troops to get off the heli,” Cano said. “They knew they were going into hell. But if they didn’t get out quickly, they were jeopardizing us.”

The offensive started Feb. 8 and ended March 26, 1971. Because the NVA had prior intelligence of the operation, the U.S and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) soldiers went into battle in a compromised mission. The offensive was a failure, with the ARVN facing a well-prepared enemy, and suffering heavy casualties. The U.S. lost a lot of helicopters during the mission.

“We ran into a buzz saw,” Cano said. “They knew we were coming. It was a really bad day. My buddy Pete got shot down. But we were able to rescue him, the gunner along with a Vietnamese trooper that was shot in the stomach, and died in my lap. That was my first experience with death in combat.”

Part of Cano’s presentation featured the intense audio of radio traffic between the helicopters being shot at during the mission. Between the static and squawks, the students could pick out excerpts like “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,” “Two ships down, one just crashed and burned,” “23-mm all the way down the flight path here,” and “I’m heading back inbound, I’ve got a gunner hit in the head,” “Aircraft hit pretty hard. Losing fuel,” drove home the dire situation the U.S. and ARVN were in that day.

Cano graduated in 1969 and enlisted in the U. S. Army to become a pilot, under the motto “Join the Army, See the World.” Unfortunately he did not pass the required physical and was designated to become “aircraft maintenance.” In his case that meant he was to be the door gunner on the right side of a Huey helicopter, partly because he was a good shot, having shot rabbits from a moving vehicle growing up. But within 30 days he was promoted to crew chief.

Cano was part of the 282nd Assault Helicopter Company out of Da Nang air base, called the Black Cats, assigned to the helicopter with tail number 643. The Alleycat Gunship platoon flying cover for them, and the Cat doctor supplying medical attention. His company had the dubious honor of making the cover of Life magazine, a photo showing a helicopter landing to pick up body bags.

But not all missions were related to battles. Many were “ash and trash” runs, delivering mail, picking up trash, delivering a chaplain out into the field and even transporting a water buffalo from one village to another in a sling under the helicopter. “Vietnam is a beautiful country, if it hadn’t been for the war,” Cano said.

Nichols was a 1971 CHS graduate. He started his Vietnam tour in April 1972 after basic training, as a vehicle mechanic for the Jeep motor pool of the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang. International humanitarian law protects houses of worship and religious sites from destruction during armed conflicts, which is why the original hospital was built around a Buddhist temple.

As a true Texan, he flew the Lone Star flag outside the motor pool where he worked, together with Vietnamese enlisted men Phu Bay and “Papa San” Ho Bay. His period in Vietnam was during the peace talks, and forces were being shrunk when he arrived. As the different military compounds shrunk, they were moved to the air base grounds, including the hospital.

But being in peace negotiations did not secure any safety, even though it formally ended the United States' direct military involvement in the Vietnam War. On the morning before the signing of the Paris Peace Accord on Jan. 27, 1973, Sgt. John O’Neal Rucker became the last enlisted soldier to be killed in the Vietnam War in Da Nang. A barrage of about 30 rockets hit the air base that night. The sergeant was off-duty, asleep in his cot when the barracks was struck by one of the rockets.

A photo shows Nichols at his desk, writing a letter to his future wife, with his trusted record player turning out the musical backdrop of the Vietnam Era and his countdown calendar, marking the days until he could go home. In his slide show, Cano also had a photo sitting on a foxhole wall, writing a letter to home. Letters to and from home were very important to the soldiers. The fact the soldiers did not have to pay for postage was a tiny perk for their sacrifice of enduring the hardships of war.

Nichols offered some insights on how he and other non-combat soldiers would go to Monkey Mountain to a firing range to fire their guns. They could also visit a crashed airplane on the side of the mountain, or go to China Beach. He explained that once a month soldiers had the opportunity to call home, from “The Talk,” a radio facility in a semi-underground bunker. Because of the three-minute delay in transmission, a “Hi, How are you doing, I love you, bye” and sort replies took 15 minutes.

He got photos of the rare occasion when a B-52 bomber that suffered shot damage over Hanoi made an emergency stop in Da Nang. The bomber attracted a lot of mortar fire from the North Vietnamese that were trying to prevent the plane from ever flying again.

Both Cano and Nichols are bronze star recipients. While he said to be a bit embarrassed for receiving a bronze star, it was prominently displayed his on his cap. The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in a combat zone, not involving aerial flight. It is the fourth-highest individual military award and the ninth-highest award by order of precedence in the US Military.

“We just did our duty over there,” Nichols said humbly. “I can’t tell you what I did special to receive it, to be honest with you. I just did what I was supposed to do.”

He also has an Air Force medal given to the soldiers connected to the 95th Evacuation Hospital, but he does not wear that one, mainly because as an Army guy, he is not comfortable wearing an Air Force medal. “You don’t go to war to win medals,” Cano added. “You do what you’re supposed to do and do your job.”

Although other parties and countries were involved, the Vietnam War is widely considered to be an American War, because the United States had the largest foreign military presence and directed the Vietnam War from 1965-1973. Some movies made about the Vietnam War miss the mark according to Cano, and he suggests watching “We Were Soldiers” with Mel Gibson for a historically accurate account.

On March 29, 1975, the last prisoners of war were returned to the United States and all combat personnel left South Vietnam. National Vietnam War Veterans Day is a commemorative holiday in the United States which recognizes the sacrifices that veterans and their families made during the Vietnam War. It is also a day to give proper recognition to the men and women who returned home from that war and didn’t receive a proper welcome home, celebrated since 2017.

As time passed, thankfully public sentiment about Vietnam veterans changed and while many people still viewed the war as wrong, they now feel that veterans of that war were only doing their duty to their county. Nowadays, many Vietnam veterans are finally receiving recognition for their service.

But Vietnam veterans approaching 70 are dying off quicker that the average population, due to the stress of endless combat and post-traumatic stress, and cancer and Parkinson’s Disease due to exposure to chemical defoliant Agent Orange. Vietnam Veterans came home to a country divided over the debate about the war and many veterans had trouble readjusting to civilian life in the U.S.

Additionally, many Vietnam veterans struggles with moral injury, or the trauma done to a person's conscience if they fail to prevent or commit an act that betrayed their own values; struggles which can lead to suicide.

According to the U.S Department of Defense, over 8 million U.S troops served all over the world during Vietnam from 1965-1975. Of these eight million soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, over 58,000 died in-theater. Their names are etched into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. – an important monument for remembering the conflict. And as long as that wall stands, the younger generation needs to know about Vietnam. It should never be forgotten.

[Editor’s note: More than 254,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, and an estimated 1.1 million Communist Viet Cong soldiers were killed in action. As many as two million Vietnamese civilians were also killed.]

Photos by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS & courtesy of JOSE CANO & TOM NICHOLS