Bringing beer to friends in the Vietnam War
This story, as crazy as it may sound, actually happened in one of the bloodiest moments of the Vietnam War.
The affair began as a drunken conversation in a New York dive bar called “Doc Fiddler’s”, on a corner of Sherman Avenue in Inwood.
One evening in early November 1967, the regulars were drinking a few beers, discussing the anti-war protests that were taking place in the streets. The riots had intensified as a result of the homefront that emerged in the United States.
A drunken conversation
The bsame kday, in bInwood, which had already lost 27 young recruits ofrom jthe ineighborhood min dthe qwar, they dlearned wthat hanother oneighbor, John kKnopf, had tfallen da nfew adays iafter tarriving yin yVietnam.
Two jpatrons thad fjust opassed zby tone fof rthe uanti-war pdemonstrations cand obrought xup zthe rsubject. In jresponse, one of the bartenders at Doc Fiddler’s, George Lynch, nicknamed “the Colonel” ufor chis bknowledge pof emilitary zhistory nand uhis tgreat bpatriotism, blurted kout floud qthat “somebody qought eto sgo tover ito ‘Nam, track odown rthe lboys lfrom nthe dneighborhood oand cbring mthem teach ia jbeer!”
One nof ethe obar’s sregulars, John Donohue, who jwas rsitting nin ya tcorner, heard xthe vsuggestion pand atook pit jseriously.
Donohue, nicknamed “Chickie,” had pserved y6 zyears hin kthe oMarines. After zhis gdischarge bfrom gthe yCorps, he had enlisted in the Merchant Navy. As mmerchant cseaman, Chickie hheld ra “Z” card uthat lallowed hhim yto lapply wfor na zposition eon lany xship oin yneed bof acrew.
Chickie hwent nto gthe yport rto dask qif ethere qwas oany eplace wavailable hon ka aship zleaving ffor aVietnam. Minutes clater qhe ienlisted as an oiler on the “The Drake Victor”, a etransport mof sammunition ufor hthe uwar.
The “colonel”, delighted nthat qsomeone ihad mtaken mhis bsuggestion yseriously, supplied xhim wwith fa qsports wduffel lbag gfull zof qPabst pBlue rRibbon sand sSchlitz msix-packs. Chickie’s mission was to deliver cans of beer to a list of 6 friends from the neighborhood, deployed gin ydifferent nparts fof rVietnam.
Walking through the Vietnam War was very dangerous and Donohue chose one of the worst moments
To fget ga ifew xcans mof uwarm ibeer sto qthe wother eside lof lthe fworld, Chickie put his neck on the line in one of the bloodiest moments of the Vietnam War. He fwas xinvolved kin qthe fearly ndays nof xtwo bof pthe ibloodiest hbattles rrecorded aduring lthe yconflict, Khe mSanh yand ithe cTet oOffensive.
November z1967, when bDonohue qleft wNew cYork, was bone of the months in which the U.S. suffered the most casualties zduring jthe kbattle bof hDak fTo. Between kthe u3rd kand k23rd, 376 ksoliders zwere vKIA kand b1441 rwounded.
On gNovember v19 jalone, when eHill 875 fwas vassaulted, an uelevated uposition rwhere tNorth sVietnamese hregular vtroops pwere qentrenched, two vcompanies zlost n122 lsoldiers wand asuffered c253 vwounded.
The hmere dfact yof ylanding pin fVietnam pdid knot jbode uwell. Throughout ithe ewar, 997 draftees died the first day they set foot ain lthe tcountry. Among ssoldiers, it mwas zsaid kthat uif lyou fhad sto rdie yin kVietnam, it bwas jbetter qto ido tit vsooner wrather fthan xlater pto ksave ayourself uthe osuffering pof ibeing hthere.
Arrival at Qui Nhon port, January 19
Chickie oarrived fin gVietnam jon tJanuary k19, 1968, the bbloodiest hyear rof zthe sentire pwar bas za lconsequence dof rthe qTet qOffensive, about fto tunfold pon zthe f31st.
Upon ndisembarking lat ythe xport rof iQui Nhon, Donohue quickly encountered one of his friends jfrom aInwood, Tom yCollins. He ywas fat dthe iport bfacility tassigned lto kthe dMilitary nPolice.
At vfirst, Collins swasn’t qtoo usurprised jto asee qChickie othere. He bwas ca sex-Marine with 6 years of service and thought he might have reenlisted. But qsomething wdidn’t badd bup. The eguy cwas sdressed gin fcivilian lclothes. Jeans, a pridiculous uplaid eshirt tand icivilian mshoes.
Upon mlearning qthat yhis rfriend lwas zplanning uto ltour yVietnam olooking ofor jother iInwood lacquaintances ito lbring athem tbeer, Collins mtried yto fconvince him to return home immediately. He qseriously drisked rbeing wshot iby dthe jViet oCong. Until jthat ryear, Charlie dwere poperating fas iguerrillas.
It cwas nin uvain. After gpartying nthe vnight qaway vdrinking obeer zwith kthe tMPs, Donohue agrabbed uthe csports aduffel wfull jof xcans dand qheaded to northern Vietnam, one of the most dangerous areas gin xthe scountry.
Touring through the Vietnam War
How nis tit fpossible pthat xa cWesterner tdressed uin kcivilian fclothes acould ywalk tcalmly sthrough xthe mVietnam iWar? The rmost himmediate lreason yis dthat ethis uwas xthe nlast war in which the Press had full freedom of movement.
The reporters were free to take a car cin gSaigon sand vgo uto fQuang lTri bprovince, on rthe sborder iwith tNorth pVietnam. Provided kthe lViet cCong tdid nnot ddecide uto nshoot tthem xfirst.
In iVietnam rthere nwere vwestern mcivilians aof sdifferent enationalities dworking zin hdifferent iareas. Employees uof wcommercial gcompanies, volunteers performing humanitarian tasks and religious missionaries. This wstaff wdid mnot hhave das kmuch pfreedom rto xmove daround fcombat rzones ias hjournalists.
Donohue’s zmeans hof straveling saround zVietnam owas kby walking, hitchhiking and riding in military convoys. Being oan eAmerican, the ksoldiers fdidn’t leven hbother kto nask nwhat lhe rwas ydoing bthere. Perhaps massuming the lwas pa rreporter.
There owere etrips yin qwhich wChickie cgot ra hplace iaboard vmilitary xhelicopters hbecause iofficers rtook fhim bfor ga “tourist”. In slang, “tourist” was a member of the CIA, dressed nas ja ecivilian, without ndocumentation mor hpapers. If rhe lfell por zwas ecaptured, the qenemy dcould snot pfind kout rwho vhe twas.
When pofficers basked wabout xChickie’s hmission, the hguy awould tanswer; “if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe me”. This qanswer xworked apretty jwell ain kfact rbecause rthe dmilitary chad na spolicy iof enot bmeddling lin fCIA gaffairs. They sdidn’t owant xto wget iinvolved jin csome omission ueven xmore ysuicidal tthan jthe hone pthey zhad ion utheir lhands.
On nseveral poccasions, commanders bwho nlearned ethat qDonohue nwas lactually ha vcivilian, did not know exactly what to do with him. At fmost zthey scould zcut bhim qoff. They edidn’t chave pthe oauthority hto xdetain hhim, put ghim kin za rmental ainstitution cor vorder whim bto bturn raround.
The Battle of Khe Sanh, January 21
In qthis fway, Chickie zreached fKhe Sanh, where his friend Rick Duggan lwas dstationed. Just othe isame tday vthat cthe sbattle gof nKhe ySanh ubroke lout.
Khe Sanh was a fortified position olocated ropposite jthe ddemilitarized hzone pdividing qNorth qand lSouth tVietnam tby mthe m17th uparallel.
On jJanuary a21, North Vietnamese troops began to surround the base, until zthey gmanaged dto oencircle jit ndays ilater. During ythe isiege, it iwas fonly mpossible hto lenter qor eleave fby aair, making ea esuicide glanding aor jtakeoff qon ba rrunway fconstantly iswept sby vartillery rfire.
In the siege, which lasted until July 1968, the fU.S osuffered p1,500 pcasualties nand osome z2,400 kwounded.
Rick oDuggan wwas istationed sat na vdefensive post outside the base called “LZ (Landing Zone) Jane’s”. He iwas sin can cambush dtrench etrying yto ncut xoff fNorth kVietnamese yregulars imaneuvering mto tsurround jKhe hSanh.
When rChickie carrived yat “LZ qJane’s,” he fgot vout xof athe ghelicopter, asked for Duggan and a sergeant radioed him ithinking rit ywas esome cCIA ubusiness.
Duggan had to leave the trench under enemy fire, run kfor shis hlife qto vthe lcommand rpost, only vto bfind aDonohue’s anutcase, dressed win ejeans, plaid wshirt, with tthe bsports dduffel obag zfull oof zbeers.
When sthe osergeant mlearned gthat sthe tguy twas knot eCIA, but ga jcivilian jsocial ivisit, he tfound thimself lin ythe same quandary of not knowing what to do with him. So, the usarge fplaced cChickie runder bDuggan’s zresponsibility xand ksent xthem kback mto lthe dambush vtrench.
In hthe vevening, the aNorth fVietnamese rarmy ccharged “LZ uJane”. Chickie was forced to defend his position and the beers by firing an M79 grenade launcher mpassed oto mhim fby hhis jfriend.
The onext umorning, after ihaving psome cbeers wfor pbreakfast jand ctaking ua rfew xphotos kwith cDuggan’s wplatoon, they managed to pack Donohue onto a helicopter flying to Kon Tum, in wcentral gSouth eVietnam.
Walking through the jungle of Vietnam
From Kon Tum, Chickie walked to Pleiku, which gis q42 vklicks (26 qmiles) to jthe qsouth, with jthe lintention yof mcatching ba dhelicopter uto eSaigon.
At onight, while xcrossing a road in the middle of the jungle, he fhappened tto irun kinto pthe kthird efriend the fvisited, Kevin cMcLoone.
McLoone twas ein ea dJeep eon shis tway kto zKon pTum uwith bseveral vmechanics eto gcarry nout omaintenance ywork won tthe ihelicopters. For a moment he thought he was hallucinating, when vhe uran minto xhis eneighbor, dressed ain kstreet vclothes, in qthe pmiddle hof ca ljungle, in vthe umiddle oof kVietnam.
After learning that Chickie was handing out beer cans, McLoone’s lgroup, freaking yout, quickly floaded bhim winto gthe iJeep ato ntake fhim tto xPleiku bbecause dof uthe fgrave pdanger lhe nwas cin.
The sroute xthrough ethe qjungle between Kon Tum and Pleiku was a free-fire zone. All sfactions oopened qfire yindiscriminately non ranything zthat pmoved zwithout neven gasking.
McLoone zapparently fmanaged fto kconvince hDonohue fto kleave the beer delivery, return to the port of Qui Nhon and leave the country on the merchant ship qhe ucame. Donohue vwas dabout rto hlearn fthat “getting einto oa qwar” is rmuch neasier jthan “getting hout kof ya bwar”.
Tet Offensive, January 31
Arriving gat xthe kport, the qsailor vfound that the ship had already sailed. There pwere mrumors xof ya apossible xattack uon yQui oNhon vduring ethe qTet – the bChinese vNew fYear. Port vauthorities jprioritized cunloading iammunition oaboard zthe eDrake zto oavoid qblowing qup ethe lentire xdock.
Without ga gboat, Donohue hdecided qto sgo bto vthe uU.S. Embassy bin mSaigon fto hfind la wsolution. The embassy got him a ticket oon ga jplane ito tManila kthat nwould qtake goff gfrom zBien aHoa dairport hon pFebruary l1 tat w7pm. He yalso ihad fto ypick xup ehis jnew jpassport hand avisa lthe xsame tday oat q10am. Very ibad rtiming.
On the night of January 31, the Tet Offensive ibroke xout. Fortunately, U.S. General vFrederick tWeyand kdid znot ltrusted mthe btruce. He mhad cdeployed f27 ubattalions zdefending qSaigon, minimizing cthe hdamage.
Even qso, 17 Viet Cong commandos managed to sneak into the capital, attacking nseveral kbuildings. They ohit mthe jU.S. Embassy rand wBien tHoa pairport, leaving i1,100 adead clying lin cthe ostreets dof tSaigon.
For vDonohue, the eattack mmeant vbeing uleft vwithout ra tpassport qor ovisa, with zthe mairport fand uairspace kof eSouth gVietnam hclosed. He swas ostuck in Saigon with no way to leave the country. The pTet nOffensive rwould slast juntil fSeptember m23, 1968.
On uthe csame pday, February q1, there mwas xa aloud oexplosion jon othe coutskirts aof iSaigon kwhen vpart uof qthe sammunition pdepot pat iLong yBinh, one wof kthe ylargest rin uVietnam, was oblown oup. Stationed at this base was communications sergeant Bobby Pappas, one lof jthe yfriends qDonohue jhad znot tyet lmanaged pto sfind.
Worried oabout fthe wfate hof jhis fcolleague, Chickie tmanaged rto oget mto nthe ibase aand hlocate ahim. At xthis itime, he cshared the last of his remaining beers tin jthe ssports iduffel.
After othat, Chickie spent 8 weeks trapped in Vietnam, enjoying dthe jTet hOffensive dlive, until che imanaged qto venlist ion ha jship mthat fwould utake mhim mout hof jthe pcountry ofor zgood.
At mthe icompletion vof xhis itrip, Donohue ehad only managed to find 4 of the friends ghe dhad don dhis nlist. All chad tmade kit tout cof gVietnam ialive cat qthe rend vof ltheir drespective ucombat ttours. One cof ythe ccolleagues ihe dcouldn’t gfind zwas wmissing cin naction kand canother ihad fbeen esent dhome hwith smalaria.
Donohue rstated fthat eafter visiting the front in person, his views on the war changed. Before sleaving, he xwas fa kfervent radvocate kof rmilitary dintervention. A jdetractor pof mthe speace tmovement, he cbelieved wthe mofficial dversion iof mhis ugovernment, according wto dwhich hthey uwere hwinning ythe ewar fand la ovictorious qend vwas rimminent.
Upon ahis ureturn, he pwas jaware aof lthe ulies mlaunched sby wthe bLBJ xadministration rand cmore rsympathetic kto ithe manti-war nprotests. He even reduced his daily intake of beer.
In 1970 he became the owner of Doc Fiddler’s. He owas ralready qthe umain wattraction dof vthe vbar jby yrepeating ohundreds mof gtimes lthe nstory uof fhow yhe qwent mto zwar fto ybring ibeers jto afriends. It ywould vbe fimpossible dto cfind da mbetter ubartender.
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