Vietnam Marine veteran Bertie Keller, of Boothbay Harbor, holds a wooden Marine plaque given to him by a buddy several years ago. (Charlotte Boynton photo) |
By Charlotte Boynton
Americans set aside Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, to honor all of the country’s veterans. In most cases, when veterans return from war, they are given a hero’s welcome. Such was not the case for the veterans returning from the Vietnam conflict.
Vietnam was the longest war in history with the United States involvement beginning in the early 1960s and its withdrawal not until 1975. A conflict between the communist regime of North Vietnam and U.S. backed government of South Vietnam, the war was long and bloody, and very unpopular here at home.
Sources agree 58,300 American servicemen were killed during the conflict.
Vietnam veteran Bertie Keller, of Boothbay Harbor, has his memories of the 26 months he spent in Vietnam while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps; memories he cannot forget, and memories he can not speak about without becoming emotional.
After serving two tours in Vietnam and landing on American soil in 1966 at O’Hare Airport in Chicago he said, “As I walked through the crowded airport in my uniform I heard comments such as, ‘How many babies did you kill. baby killer?’ As well as being spit at. It was then the reality of a divided country really sunk in,” he said.
Keller, a fisherman and a son of a commercial fisherman, loved the sea. At the age of 21 he tried to join the U.S. Navy. He wanted to be assigned to patrol boats. When the Navy couldn’t guarantee the assignment he wanted, he joined the Marines instead in 1961. After attending boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina he was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for Advance Infantry Training.
Keller said his wish for sea duty was partially fulfilled in 1963 when he was temporarily assigned to the U.S.S. Roosevelt for six months. The Roosevelt was an aircraft carrier with a crew of 5,000. After serving on the Roosevelt, Keller was stationed in Okinawa for a 13-month tour at the Fleet Readiness Center Western Pacific Detachment.
While in Okinawa he met a Japanese girl and was ready to marry her. “My commanding officer told me it wasn’t the right time with the United States getting involved with the Vietnam War, so I called the engagement off,” he said.
One time, while bivouacked in an onion field on the island of Formosa, Taiwan, Keller’s battalion was attacked by hundreds of monkeys. “At first we didn’t know what they were,” he said. “They were horrible. They tried to bite and claw at us. We had to kill a lot of them before they were scared away. The onions in that field were the sweetest onions I have ever tasted.”
Before going to Vietnam. Keller was sent to Quanco, Virginia for special instruction in protective equipment for biological or chemical attacks. He was also trained to operate a 3.5″ rocket launcher.
Keller said Vietnam was unlike other wars in that the enemy was not obvious. They did not wear military uniforms. One day a woman carrying a baby was about five feet away from him when she was shot. As it turned out, she was wrapped with explosives and was about to kill several American marines before she was stopped.
Then there were the Pungi Sticks, used by the Viet Cong: stakes made out of bamboo, smeared with poison, and placed upright in the ground in areas American troops were expected to pass. In some cases, the sticks caused death or a serious infection, according to Keller.
Keller said one of the worst days he had in Vietnam was during a convoy ambush when the truck in front of him was hit, and the 13 marines on that truck were killed right in front of him.
“I was also hit four times in my right leg, and was not aware of it, until I felt blood going down my leg, he said. “I spent four weeks in the field hospital, and the leg has never given me a problem. Now the left leg I have had several surgeries, and it is still giving me problems.”
“Truly, I do not regret going into the Marines,” Keller said. “It helped me grow up, and taught me a lot. I lost a lot of good buddies during that war, that I will never forget. I only regret the way we were treated when we came home.”
Keller was discharged Feb. 2, 1966, and returned home to Boothbay Harbor and his commercial fishing career. In June 1968 he married Jean Garcelon, of Southport. The couple had two sons, Charles and Michael.
Keller worked on several fishing vessels over the years, and ultimately retired in 1994 because of his bad left knee.
To this day, Keller continues to keep busy. He still attends the Boothbay Baptist Church, the same church he was baptized in as a boy. “They are my family,” he said.
Every Tuesday and Wednesday evening he holds Bible studies classes at his apartment complex recreational room at Bay Landing in Boothbay Harbor. “I was brought up on the Bible,” he said. “I went to Sunday School every Sunday with my parents. There was no excuses in not attending church.”
During the summer months, he also preaches on Saturday evenings at the Cottage in the Woods in Damariscotta.
Keller said he had planned to be a lifer in the Marine Corps, but four days before he was to re-enlist, he said, “To hell with that, I’m going home and go fishing.”
This past week Keller said he enjoyed serving his country, but he has never been sorry he made the decision to come home in 1966.