The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Medals and Malaria in Vietnam
Cameron survived more than 13 months of dangerous missions and a life-threatening bout with malaria
While battling the enemy in Vietnam, U.S. Army veteran Larry “Huck” Cameron only hoped to make it home alive.
The two purple hearts and bronze star awarded for his bravery were merely a bonus.
Cameron of Mentor survived more than 13 months filled with dangerous missions and a life-threatening bout with malaria before completing his duty and returning to the states.
Greetings from the U.S. Army
Like thousands of young men in the late 1960s Cameron received a notice from the U.S. government defining his draft status as “1-A.” “When they sent you a letter and you got drafted that was it — you went. It was either that or you went out of the country,” he recalled. “It was a little scary but I thought other guys were doing it. My dad did it. So I just kind of went with the flow. Young guys are kind of fearless.”
Memories of his first steps in to the military life are clear.
“I remember that like it happened yesterday,” he said. “I had to take a bus at the square in Painesville. It was kind of exciting but it was scary too. I was leaving my home for the first time. It was time to grow up.” Although Cameron admits that basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was tough, he claims that the rigorous process put him in the best shape of his life.
Along with the intense physical preparation, teamwork was strongly emphasized.
“They wanted you to work as one and not work as an individual, and they had ways of making that happen,” he said, adding that a single soldier’s misstep could result in weekend privileges being wiped out for the entire unit.
Once advanced training was completed about 98 percent of Cameron’s battalion was told they were headed to Vietnam.
‘The smell of death’
Just months after stepping onto the bus in Painesville, the young soldier found himself marching through Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Southeast Asia near Saigon.
It was there that he received orders to be stationed with the 9th Infantry Division in Tân Tr , a rural district of Long An Province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.
“It had a weird odor, it had the smell of death. It was the first thing I noticed,” Cameron said.
Later he recalls telling himself “You’re in a war now, this is no joke.” Despite months spent preparing for the grave task ahead, once arriving in Vietnam the U.S. military officials delivered an alternative set of instructions. “The sergeants would tell us ‘OK newbies, this is called OJT (on-the-job training). What you learned over in the states…a lot of it doesn’t work here.’” What worked and what didn’t would soon be discovered as Cameron set out on “eagle hops” with an air mobile unit. The group of men carried by helicopter to enemy territories were dropped off and ordered to search for hidden bunkers or caches of weapons.
After the mission was completed a pop of identifiable colored smoke would be released to signal the helicopter to return and carry the men back, often under enemy fire.
Deadly gun battles were a stark reality.
Cameron describes the gunshots as sounding like “real nasty bumblebees” and combat horrifically similar to scenes depicted in the movie “Saving Private Ryan.”
Purple Hearts
“Everything goes in slow motion when you’re being shot at,” he said. “When you got shot at you went with it with all you had.”
His first purple heart was awarded after one of those slow-motion experiences.
While in a rice paddy a shootout with the Viet Cong took place. Gunfire continued until the enemy ran out of ammunition. During the skirmish Cameron’s shoulder caught a bullet.
He noted that the wound wasn’t serious but added that with a few inches difference in the bullet’s trajectory the outcome could have been much worse. Another Purple Heart came later.
Men were needed for reconnaissance in the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border and Cameron requested to go.
During a mission in the Plain of Reeds, a large, swampy floodplain, the point man tripped over a hand grenade, one of several tied together and planted in the ground.
Because of the water, several parts of the connecting string had rotted away but two devices remained active. A sharp piece of metal from the explosions pierced Cameron’s arm, and others in the platoon were also injured.
Later, each of the men was honored with a Purple Heart.