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'Nothing but blood and holes'

Posted April 16, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

STEELEVILLE -- He wasn't sure he would walk again and still wishes he could have gone back to help the wounded.

U.S. Army Veteran, and Steeleville resident, William "Bill" McIntyre remembers being the first of his battalion choppered out after a mortar attack by Vietnamese forces in April 1967 left him with severely damaged legs.

"When I was wounded, I touched the back of my legs and there was nothing but blood and holes," he told the newspaper in an interview on Tuesday. "I could hear shrapnel sizzling in my legs."

And that may have saved his life, as the hot metal helped cauterize his wounds.

"If it hadn't cauterized the wounds, I would have bled to death," he said.

Nearly 50 years later and 70 years old, McIntyre - who was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds - will join 43 other Vietnam War-era Veterans, and others from World War II and the Korean War, for Land of Lincoln Honor Flight (LLHF)'s first flight of the 2016 season on April 19.

"This is an opportunity that I am very grateful for," McIntyre said. "Not only is it honoring me, but it gives me a chance to honor the ones who didn't get to come back.

"I was wounded pretty bad and almost didn't get a chance to come back."

It's a story not for the squeamish, of an April night in 1967 when McIntyre and other members of the "Traveling Guns" were on a fire mission 157 miles south of Da Nang.

As a member of the 64th Battalion, 84th Artillery, McIntyre's Traveling Guns were 155mm Howitzers towed by trucks that rarely had any infantry support.

"We traveled around until we received a fire mission," McIntyre said. "We had a fire mission (that night) and we pulled off and you have no infantry with you being a Traveling Gun."

That night, McIntyre and artillery guns from Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta companies came under attack by what McIntyre described as "a wall of Vietnamese."

The first mortar took out the medic tent and was one of 182 that landed before gunships arrived seven hours later and drove off the enemy.

"It does something to you to see all these people running and screaming at you," McIntyre said.

It was his 15th day in Vietnam and one that would see him airlifted to a hospital in Japan thanks to a mortar shell that exploded a short distance behind him and mangled his legs.

"Vietnamese think it's a great honor to die for Vietnam," McIntyre said. "That's why they strapped bombs to kids."

McIntyre spent seven months in intensive care learning how to walk again. Doctors told him he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

"I felt bad because I wasn't there (in Vietnam) that long," McIntyre said. "I wished I was there for a longer time to help the guys who were wounded."

After beating the odds in recovery, McIntyre beat the odds again when he overcame lymphoma.

"The government took care of my cancer," McIntyre said. "They paid for all of it because it was from Agent Orange in Vietnam."

McIntyre, who signed up for the draft in 1966 due to a higher calling, returned to a country that vilified its returning Vietnam Veterans.

"I went into the service because I felt like it was my obligation to defend my country," he said. "We didn't have the backing of the American people.

"The Veterans in Vietnam did a job that no one could have done any better and that's how I feel about it."

McIntyre told the newspaper it took him 50 years to visit the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall due to the emotion of seeing the names of those who didn't make it home.

"I am proud to be a Vietnam combat Veteran," he said.

On Tuesday, McIntyre will departing Springfield on a chartered 737 jet as part of 162 Veterans, guardians and LLHF personnel.

They will fly to Washington, where they will be transported on three coach buses designated Red, White and Blue for the day.

Their itinerary includes the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War National Memorials, the Air Force and Marine (Iwo Jima) Memorials, the National Air and Space Museum and Arlington National Cemetery.

There, they will view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and Changing of the Guard. During the day, all will also have the opportunity to visit the Lincoln Memorial, as well as see the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and the Pentagon prior to departing back to Springfield.

"We signed up for this two years ago," McIntyre said. "Kansas City did flights and Springfield did. Kansas City stopped doing their flights, which pushed us further back."

The newspaper will have additional coverage of McIntyre's experience in a future edition.

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