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11-11-04
By MARY RAINWATER
H-P Staff Writer
Almost 35 years
after returning home from Vietnam, highly decorated local veteran Army Capt. Curtis Fitzgerald still vividly remembers his days as a soldier.
In fact, the Palestine local says that a day does not go by without him thinking about a mission, a friend or fellow soldier or something that happened while he was there.
"For me, it always feels just like it happened yesterday," he said.
Fitzgerald joined the army in 1969 with hopes of becoming a helicopter pilot.
"Pilots were in big demand at the time," Fitzgerald recalls. "So I went to candidate school, helicopter pilot school and then to Vietnam in February 1969."
Fitzgerald flew helicopters for 18 months during 1969-70. He was assigned to the highland area of Vietnam, which was a mountainous area covered with jungle.
"We were really glorified taxi drivers," he said about his missions. "We flew troops, resupplied troops, served as medivacs and did combat assaults.
"Whenever there was something to be done, a helicopter was used to do it."
A lift zone captain, Fitzgerald commanded from 30 to 40 pilots and had about 100 enlisted men under his charge. He flew in five or six campaigns, including Hamburger Hill, where he was first shot at in May 1969, and a minor campaign at Dak-To.
"You always remember the first place you get shot at," he said, adding that he was shot down six times during various missions.
Fitzgerald was an air mission commander when president Richard Nixon allowed the United States to go into Cambodia in May 1970.
"I was the original commander for one of the lifts," he said. "We put about 15,000 guys over the border in 15 days."
Also at Dak-To, where Laos and Cambodia joined Vietnam, Fitzgerald ran insertions across the border into Laos and Cambodia and supported special forces and South Vietnamese troops, he said.
As many like him, Fitzgerald faced challenges upon his return home from Vietnam.
"I got in a fight in an airport bar with a businessman who insulted some other soldiers there," he recalled. "The MPs came in and told me that things were different than when I left and that it would be best to change out of my uniform.
"I changed my clothes, purchased a civilian ticket and went home."
Fitzgerald is one of the most highly decorated veterans in Anderson County. He earned a Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, four Bronze Stars, 20 Air Medals, a Purple Heart and a Joint Service Commendation during his stint in Vietnam.
He says that he is like many Vietnam veterans in that he sometimes finds it difficult to talk about the war.
"When I do talk about it, it feels as though I am a fraction away from emotion," he said. "But it is good to get it out."
Fitzgerald has worked with fellow Vietnam veterans to gather stories of their experiences during the conflict. He is also part of a recently formed Veterans Coalition, whose goal is to expand and improve Palestine's Veterans Park.
"I would also really like to see a veterans' museum in the area," he said. "There needs to be a local place where war pictures and memorabilia can be stored and saved for others to be able to see."
For a soldier, Fitzgerald said, Veteran's Day is more than just about parades and ceremonies - it is something they live out every day of their lives.
"Veterans Day is just one day of the year," he said. "A soldier who saw combat thinks about those times each and every day. It is something you cannot forget."
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