As Wardsville resident Delbert Rodeman explained, the longest he was away from his Mid-Missouri home was the two years he worked in Texas in the 1970s and the 18 months he served in Vietnam, the latter of which has provided him with an enduring appreciation for those who have surrendered their lives in the struggle for freedom.
A 1965 graduate of Fatima High School, Rodeman enrolled in an automotive technician program at Linn Technical Junior College after graduation in hopes of delaying what seemed to be the inevitable.
"I was basically postponing the draft," said Rodeman, 68. "But I also figured that I probably needed to learn some kind of trade," he added.
Completing his automotive training in May 1967, the young man chose to enlist in the U.S. Army since, he said, they required a three-year commitment at a time when other branches required four years of service.
"When I talked to the Army recruiter," Rodeman added, "they were also able to guarantee me a slot in the diesel engine course ... and I thought that would be good training."
The recruit arrived for boot camp at Ft. Leonard Wood on May 22, 1967, where he recalls, "standing down there and thinking to myself, "What in the hell did I get myself into?' Those drill sergeants really knew how to rattle your cage when you got there," he grinned.
After completing his initial training, Rodeman traveled to Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, for advanced schooling in the maintenance of heavy equipment - training he described as a "12-week course condensed into eight weeks."
However, the young soldier soon received word his services were needed in a combat zone thousands of miles from home.
"When I heard I was going (to Vietnam)," Rodeman said, "I tried to anticipate how everything would be over there. ... really ... I was scared. You heard all kinds of tales about what was happening and, in the end, you didn't know what to expect."
Two weeks prior to Christmas 1967, the newly-trained soldier stepped off the plane at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon, and days later received assignment to the U.S. Army Depot in Long Binh.
Rodeman spent nearly two months working on military equipment ranging from Jeeps to 10-ton trucks before he was moved to the 821st HMS (Heavy Material Supply) Company.
"There were satellite motor pools on Long Binh, and I became part of a "contact team' that would go to each one and work on different types of vehicles and equipment - I was a traveling mechanic doing whatever it took to keep everything running."
Several weeks later, Rodeman experienced another change in duty appointments when he and a fellow soldier were assigned to a 2½-ton truck with an attached water tank, delivering water to facilities on and around Long Binh.
As the former soldier explained, water was often in short supply on the base, requiring him to travel off-post to "Bearcat" - an American Army base that had been turned over to the Royal Thai Army - to acquire the precious liquid.
"We didn't carry weapons because they referred to us as "garrison,' but we were frequently shot at," Rodeman said. "Also, you never traveled off-post at night; you drove in the daylight hours only."
In December 1968, he returned to the United States for 30 days of leave, but since he had more than a year remaining in his three-year enlistment, he volunteered to return to Vietnam for a six-month tour.
"I thought I would go back to driving the water truck, but it had been taken out of service while I was home on leave," he said. "So instead, I went back to working as a mechanic on a contact team on Long Binh."
Despite an offer of promotion to staff sergeant, Rodeman's overseas tour came to a close on July 20, 1969, when he said his goodbyes and departed Vietnam for good, affirming he had "grown tired of being shot at."
For the remainder of his enlistment, he was assigned to the 91st Engineer Battalion at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, providing training support for an engineering officer's training school. In May 1970, he was discharged from the military.
Though he spent two years working in Texas in the early 1970s, the veteran returned to Missouri and became a farmer in the Wardsville area. After returning to the state, Rodeman completed a two-year enlistment in the Missouri National Guard but chose not to reenlist when learning the annual summer camps interfered with his farming endeavors.
The veteran recently participated in a Central Missouri Honor Flight, affording him the opportunity to visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., which, he said, provided him the context by which to appreciate the costs of freedom.
"When I was in Vietnam, I lost a couple of friends (in combat) - a lot of us did - but when you go to the (Vietnam) memorial and witness row upon row of 58,000 engraved names of those who were killed ... it is really quite moving.
"I think that it's good for us vets to share our stories - our experiences - with others and to help honor the memory of our fallen comrades, so that we can remember those who died trying to establish freedom in another country."
Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.