I was drafted and chose the medical field because my father, Vincent A. Glennon was a medic in WWII with the 4th Infantry. He was wounded and was my Hero. Dad passed in 1998.

I was drafted and sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basics and then to San Antonio, Texas for medical training. I arrived in Vietnam January of 1970 served 11 months there and got out in December 1970 about 10 days before Christmas.

I served in 1 corps in the farthest north of the DMZ with 2/506 Infantry Alpha co 2nd Platoon. This group picture was taken early in the morning around February or March 1970. We were taking a break. You can only see my head starting to rise up here. We were around Shau Valley in Vietnam 2/506 Infantry 101st Airborne 2nd Platoon. A company.

This picture is of my sister Kathy and Nancy and myself at the Chesterton, Indiana wall with the names of those killed from Indiana. The second picture is of my four sons and myself lifting our new flag for the 4th of July.

One of the worst parts of being a medic is you try to keep the wounded alive for as long as you can. If they don’t make it you sometimes have a guilt complex and feeling there was something more that could have been done. It’s called, “Survivor’s Guilt.” The group photo is of our unit taking a very early morning break. The one event that stays with me to this day was when we surrounded by NVA soldiers with only 70 of us on triple canopy jungle. The major battle was Operation Firebase Ripcord, which lasted approximately from April 1, 1970 to July 23, 1970. There were approximately 2,000 men including support elements on this mission.

Psalm 91, Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God is the center of my Vietnam experience. I made a commitment to Jesus and that’s why later I went into the chaplaincy to hopefully be a healing catalyst for veterans.
~ Martin James Glennon, Vietnam Veteran, Pastor of Liberty Zion Christian Church and author of THE DECISIVE BATTLE, A MEDICS STORY, available upon request