Tonight, Jerry and I Would Like to Share with You How the Course of Our Lives Has Brought

Memories Are Forever Young

Tonight, Jerry and I would like to share with you how the course of our lives has brought us to this unique gathering. As of June 1 this year, we have had forty-three wonderful years together—a union that began in 1967, which is a year of major significance to both of us.

I had just returned home from a summer semester at the University of Mississippi, and Jerry was preparing to leave for his one-year tour of duty in Vietnam. Our paths crossed by shear coincidence one August night while Jerry was home on his final leave before being shipped overseas. During a period of just ten days, we decided that we were a perfect match for the life-long commitment of marriage. Those ten blissful days were spent getting to know each other and being introduced to each of our families. Our final day together was very sad and emotional—not knowing how the next year of being apart would unfold, especially the precarious plight of a young paratrooper going off to war halfway around the world. We vowed to write letters to each other every day until reunited once again.

That lonely year apart was passed by counting each day and reassuring each other in every letter written. As for me, I immersed myself in my studies at Mississippi State University, trying not to dwell on happenings in Vietnam. I could not bear to watch the news of the Vietnam War on TV, and I was consumed with dread each time there was a considerable lapse in the flow of letters from Jerry.

Time was quite gracious to us, and we were reunited in early October 1968. We were married the following June 1969 in the same church where I was baptized as a child. Thus began our journey together. Our honeymoon was a one-of-a-kind venture; we became a husband/wife team on a remote fire control lookout on the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. We were all alone and both got paid for a summer of wedded bliss!

After another year of college back in Mississippi, we moved permanently to the Northwest; and bought our first newlywed cottage on the Clearwater River near a small town in Idaho named Kooskia. Jerry continued his career with the Forest Service, and I began my career as a secondary school teacher. Shortly after celebrating our 4th Wedding Anniversary, we were blessed with our first child, Stephanie, in the summer of 1973. Shortly before her first birthday, Jerry transferred to another small town up the river named Orofino. We spent the next six years here, with Jerry working for the Army Corps of Engineers as a Wildlife Biologist at Dworshak Dam and Reservoir. Daughter #2, Jennifer, was added to the family in January 1980.

Since that time, our journey has taken us on a crisscross path, following promotions in Jerry’s career to different parts of the country. By 1982, we were in Montana—Jerry was back with the Forest Service again. While living in a small town named Eureka, we added two more children to our brood. Daughter #3, Heidi, was born in May 1982; and son, Chris, a pleasant surprise as the caboose, joined the family in February 1984. Job stations landed us in mostly remote, small areas, with no easy access to the fundamental needs of a family with small children—no major shopping centers, no large supermarkets, and no immediate access to medical care. I learned the art of splitting firewood, the correct way to set a fire in the woodstove, and exactly what appliances needed to be plugged into the generator during frequent power outages.

By the time Jerry retired in December 1997, Stephanie was in college; Jennifer, Heidi, and Chris were in high school. Libby, Montana had become our permanent home. Our first exposure to a military reunion was the 101st Association Annual Reunion in 1997 in Knoxville, TN. While there, Jerry identified seven other fellow Currahees. This experience would further intensify Jerry’s quest to locate surviving members who served with the 3-506, as well as the families of those fellow Currahees lost in Vietnam. With the innovation of that amazing tool called the “internet”, the ball began to roll along briskly, gaining momentum with every ‘click’ of the ‘mouse’.

Our first reunion as “hosts” was here in Reno at the Silver Legacy Hotel Casino alongside the 506th Association Annual Reunion in 1998—followed by Hampton in 1999; Ft. Campbell in 2000; Kansas City in 2001; Reno again in 2002 in celebration of the release of the first book about the 3-506—The Stand Alone Battalion; returned to Reno in 2003; back to Ft. Campbell in 2004; Washington, D.C. in 2005 [the year our group split]; back to Reno in 2006 in celebration of the release of the book “My Gift To You”, when we honored many KIA family members; back again to Reno for 2007 and 2008, hosted by fellow Currahee, Ponytail Paul and his wonderful wife, Valerie. Reunion 2009 took us to the country music capital of Nashville, TN, followed by Reunion 2010 back in Reno in celebration of the release of the book, “Twelve Days in May”, the story of the Cambodian Incursion into Cambodia in 1970. That year we made many new friends from the 4th Infantry Division, who to this day, we still consider as part of our Currahee Family.

Last year, we hosted a reunion in Tunica, MS, not far from where we both spent our earlier years. Now here we are in 2012—our 8th reunion here in Reno and our 16th reunion since the first eight Currahees gathered for a group photo in Knoxville, TN in 1997. It has been a long, memorable journey for both of us. For Jerry, it has filled a huge void, made empty so many years ago in the rice paddies and jungles of South Vietnam. So many young faces of fellow Currahees left behind during war—those same haunting faces still young and vibrant in his mind. His unending quest to find family members of lost Currahees, as well as surviving Currahees like you, has brought us to this point—a family of veterans whose bond continues to be strong almost forty-five years since the battalion first deployed to Vietnam.

Our work has been a sincere labor of love, with no personal aspirations of financial gain or notoriety. It is our hope that these past years of memorable gatherings have done much to bring closure beyond the Vietnam Experience—one of survivor guilt, shame as being labeled a Vietnam Veteran, and rejection by the majority of American citizens whose freedom you protected. I know that many of you have wondered over the years just why you survived the hell and death of Vietnam, while others did not. My Currahee has asked that same question countless times—Why me, God? As his wife, I continue to assure him through my love and support that God Almighty had a purpose for him so many years ago when he first set foot on Vietnamese soil; and as Paul Harvey use to say, “Now you know the rest of the story”.

We are sad to say to you this night that this will be our last reunion as your hosts. After many hours of discussion, we have come to the conclusion that extenuating circumstances such as age, finances, medical conditions, as well as family concerns, have now made the task of organizing annual reunions unsustainable. It is our hope that others within our group will pick up the torch and let the flame of camaraderie, patriotism, and family continue to burn brightly for the legacy of the 3-506th, until the last Vietnam Era Currahee “Stands Alone”.

We love each and every one of you—whether you be paratrooper, straight leg, artillery, engineer, aviation, or other infantry unit. In our hearts, you will always be Vietnam Veterans first and foremost. You served your country and served proudly—an unmistakable fact that can never be disputed and will never be forgotten.

DONNA’S POEM FROM TWELVE DAYS IN MAY—“WE WERE SOLDIERS”

WE WERE SOLDIERS

We were soldiers once, and brave; Brave enough to face the enemy, But not brave enough to face the loss of friends.

We were soldiers once, and tough; Tough enough to withstand the hardships, But not tough enough to withstand the pain.

We were soldiers once, and able; Able to see things through, But not able to make sense of it all.

We were soldiers once, and strong; Strong enough to fight for our country, But not strong enough to protect our own well-being.

We were soldiers once, and young; Too young to buy a beer, But not too young to die.

We entered this place called Vietnam, Knowing the ravages of war; Yet returned never free of them. — Donna G. Berry