Vietnam veterans share their stories during event at Bellevue University (2024)

Four Vietnam veterans shared stories of their service and struggles during a Voices of Vietnam lunch and learn March 28 at Bellevue University. Below are two of those stories.

Jeff Flagg

Lt. Col. Jeff Flagg’s dad served in World War II, his grandpa served in World War I and a relative fought in the Civil War, he said. With service in mind, he attended Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont – the nation’s only private senior military college. At Norwich – the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps – he went through officer training and stayed an extra year to teach.

In a civilian job he had, Flagg was hit in the eye with a steel fragment. The injury threatened his plans to join the Army, but an eye surgeon was able to save his vision. He graduated as a 1st lieutenant, joined the Army in 1967 and completed basic training and advanced officer training, as well as airborne school and ranger school. He went from Vermont’s minus 20 degrees to California’s 70-something to Vietnam’s 120 degrees.

“My wife was four months pregnant when I went over,” he said.

Flagg was assigned to the mechanized infantry and transported troops in and out of a rubber plantation in an armored vehicle and supervising vehicle maintenance. CBS News wanted to do a ride-along with him, so he was careful to keep them out of harm’s way. He didn’t see the segment until decades later, when an employee at KMTV tracked it down and put it on a flash drive for him.

“I’m forever grateful to CBS for doing that,” he said.

In his spare time, he took many photos during his deployment and mailed them to his wife, Gretchen. He took only one combat photo.

Part of Flagg’s time was spent in Cambodia. As they prepared to head into the jungle, they were given pills that were supposed to help keep them from getting malaria, which was common there, he said.

“Nobody in our unit got malaria,” he said.

By the time the news that Gretchen had given birth was relayed to Flagg, the baby was 2 months old, he said. His deployment ended after a year, and the couple was able to spend some leave time in Hawaii. He then spent some time at Fort Riley, Kansas, retraining soldiers who had gotten into trouble.

Nine years after returning from Vietnam, Flagg was deployed to Korea. His unit rotated with others to guard the Demilitarized Zone. He traveled a lot and spent six months at division headquarters near Seoul. After a year in Korea, he received more training in the States and became a training commander. He took a turn as a recruiter in Baltimore and also served as a military police commander and an assistant inspector general. For four years, he was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, where he was commander of a Boeing 747 E4V, where the president and his staff would work in the event of a national emergency. Next, he was appointed operations officer at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Flagg retired as a lieutenant colonel after 25 years in the Army and spent the next 17 years as commander of the JROTC unit at Burke High School in Omaha, then three years as a JROTC commander for Omaha Public Schools.

“The 17 years I spent in the (Burke) JROTC was the most rewarding job I ever had,” he said.

Flagg also started giving presentations on Vietnam to students, organizations and care center residents.

“I have about 120 slides,” he said. “I do presentations all the time. I’ve probably done 200 to 300 presentations on Vietnam at different times.”

Flagg also started visiting veterans receiving hospice care – both in hospice houses and veterans’ homes – which he continues to do.

Bill Robinson

Lt. Col. Bill Robinson grew up in southern California and earned a bachelor’s degree before joining the Air Force in 1970.

“I wanted to get my college degree completed first so I could go in as an officer,” he said.

Robinson completed basic training in Texas and returned to California to train as a navigator. He was then sent to Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, South Dakota, to train on the B-52 bomber. After that, he was deployed to U-Tapao Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, and Anderson AFB in Guam. He was the navigator on a crew that flew bombing missions into Vietnam at various times of the day and night, usually targeting transportation hubs or logistical areas. After his first tour, he was given 30 days’ leave before being deployed again.

“I ended up doing four deployments to the same place over the next two or three years,” he said.

In late 1972, they started focusing on North Vietnam, Robinson said.

“There was quite a bit of antiaircraft and fighter activity during those missions,” he said.

During one trip, their plane was damaged by surface-to-air missiles, forcing them to abandon it, Robinson said. As it turned out, his first jump was at night over a jungle.

“We were able to get over to Thailand, where it was safer,” he said.

The war was about over when they finished their missions, which totaled more than 100 combat sorties, Robinson said. Next, he was sent back to Ellsworth, where he worked with Minuteman missiles. He did a couple 24-hour shifts a week, rested and trained on a simulator decoding encrypted messages. After almost 10 years, he spent three years at Minot, North Dakota.

After that, he was sent to California, where he helped with B-52 operations and oversaw several bases.

Robinson spent his last two years as commander of an ROTC detachment at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and retired in 1993 after 23 years in the Air Force. Then he spent one year teaching JROTC students in San Diego. He moved to Nebraska in 1994 and worked in tech support at Creighton University for 20 years. He enjoyed working with ROTC and JROTC programs.

“That was very gratifying and a way to make sure they get the best start they can get,” he said.