Robert J. Herring, U.S. Army

Robert J. Herring was attending school in Jefferson County, Colo., in the early 1960s when he decided he was not satisfied with the school system and transferred to a military school. His parents, Bob (H.R.) Herring and Bobbie Herring had both served in the Navy during World War II. Because of the junior Herring's background at military school, he joined the U.S. Army.

Herring attended Wentworth Military Academy in Missouri for three years in high school and two years in junior college. "I tried it for a year and lasted for five," Herring said.

He attended Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Ga., and was also an Airborne Ranger.

Herring was assigned to Fort Polk, La., where he was in charge of Vietnam warfare. Herring had the firebase warfare set up and a friend was a guerrilla warfare trainer.

"We were training National Guard and other units on their final FTX or getting ready to go to Vietnam." FTX stands for Field Training Exercise, which was their basic final after going to basic and advanced individual training (AIT), Herring explained.

Herring was stationed at Fort Polk, then went to Jungle School at Fort Sherman, Panama in the canal zone. He then went to Vietnam.

Herring was with MACV (Military Army Command Vietnam) unit and was a COVAN advisor to the South Vietnamese Army. "At any one time, four of us would train 30 to 200 to 300 Vietnamese."

Herring, who was a First Lieutenant, worked with other officers, usually a Captain from the Army or Marines, an Army Australian Warrant Office (WO) and an Army or Marine NCO (non commissioned officer) to train the Vietnamese.

The Captain and Lieutenant were in charge of operations, which included tactics, Herring said. The WO advised in artillery and the NCO worked with the Vietnamese in communications.

"When the Vietnamese would have questions about how to do their job, we would advise and tell them how to do it," Herring said.

Herring admits he is not sure how he ended up working with the Vietnamese, but he thought it was because he was an Airborne Ranger. "From the time I finished my officer basic, I was never assigned to a regular garrison type unit," Herring said. He had always been assigned to special operations or a tactical unit.

Herring said if he had been assigned to a garrison unit, he probably would have been working with Montagnard – mountain people in the villages in Central Vietnam.

More than 2 million people lived in the mountains of Vietnam during the 1960s according to Larry R. Jackson, who route "The Vietnamese Revolution and the Montagnards" in 1969.

Herring was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 2nd ARVN (Army Republic of Vietnam) Division. He was an advisor to both the 1st and 2nd Battalion, but spent most of his time with the 2nd Battalion.

Herring was the only American with the Vietnamese when they went to the field.

When the Vietnamese would go into the field, Herring would work with the Battalion commander and help plan the operation. "I would offer advice, supervision or say, 'It looks good' and give it your best shot," Herring said.

"We would call our counterparts in the American units," Herring said. It an American unit know the Vietnamese were coming through the area of operations, to ensure they were not be perceived as an enemy. It didn't always work the way it should and Herring and the Vietnamese were fired upon sometimes.

The camaraderie and the discipline of the military is what has shaped Herring's life since. "Knowing when someone says, 'I've got your back', they really do have your back," Herring said. "The people I went through military school with and served in the service, when we get together, those are the people that we haven't seen each other for 15 or 20 years, we can talk like it was five minutes ago."

Herring prefers to think of the good times that he had in Vietnam. When asked if wanted to talk about the scary times, Herring pondered for a moment. "Not really," was his reply.

One of the good times was Thanksgiving in 1970. A helicopter pilot flew in with Thanksgiving Dinner and asked them if they had their canteen cups. Herring got his canteen cup and the pilot filled it Cognac. "Thanks for what you do," he told Herring.

Herring's biggest disappointment when he returned home after serving in Vietnam from 1970-1971 was the way he was treated. "I was spat upon and called a baby killer." Herring said it wasn't that way when the World War I, World War II or Korean War soldiers returned. That disrespect was one of the reasons he did not pursue a career in the military, Herring said.

"I was hated and disrespected any way imaginable," Herring said. "I withdrew until my time was up and got out." Before that time, Herring had considered making the military a career.

Today, Vietnam veterans are instrumental in making sure soldiers returning from the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars have someone there to say, "Welcome Home", Herring said. "It's because we came home without a welcome."

Herring is a charter member of the VFW 6125.