1967 Vietnam: A Memorial Day Story

Normally, I would be witty, make a few strong points, and add graphics to enhance my writing. Today, being Memorial Day, 2021, I will tell you without my usual style the only story my dad has told me which included the death of US troops.

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When Hugh was in Vietnam, his assignment was not flying. Aviators must keep up their flight hours in order to keep their wings. So he did what many other aviators did; he hung around the bars that Air America used to recruit pilots. In the Vietnam era, Air America was the not so secret "company" that was really the CIA.

Hugh took an assignment with Air America to fly two guys to one of the US fire bases north of Saigon at night. 

Because our fire bases were in hostile territory, the landing strips were off the base and not secure. The proper protocol was to call in to the base when the plane was 10-15 minutes out, the troops would then leave the base, secure the airfield, and when the plane left, they would all go back to the base with the men who had been dropped off.

On this occasion when they were 10-15 minutes out from the base, the two men told him not to bother calling in. They would make their way to the base on their own. 

It was a fatal decision.

Even as he was landing the plane, they started to take enemy fire. He dropped the two off and immediately took off again. He continued to take fire and called the base to tell them that the two guys were already on the ground and taking fire. 

As he rose in the air, he got a good perspective on what was happening on the ground. Unfortunately, what he saw was muzzle flashes surrounding the area he had dropped the two men off. He is convinced to this day that those men did not survive, could not have survived their decision to land on their own.

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I looked online to see if CIA officers KIA were on the Vietnam wall. The CIA has their own memorial, so the answer is "no." Below is a picture of a page from the CIA memorial. You will notice that instead of names, there are stars for when the operative could not be identified, even in death. 

Remember, Memorial Day is to honor those who gave their lives for our freedom, the last full measure of devotion.

1953 - The Korean War, the Frozen Chosin, and HD

Following the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel Latitude into two occupation zones, one administered by the Soviets and one administered by the US. By 1948, there were two distinct nations in Korea, both claiming sovereignty over the whole peninsula. In the North, Kim Il-sung (no relation) led the socialist regime. In the South, Syngman Rhee was in charge of the capitalist government.

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 when the army of North Korea invaded South Korea. At that time, Hugh Sheffield had been in the US Navy, active duty for two years.

The North Korean army swept through South Korea and until the United Nations interceded (really it was the USA. 90% of the military was from the US), the war looked like it would end quickly and Kim Il-sung (no relation) would control the whole Korean Peninsula.

Even with US military intervention, we struggled in the small bit of land we controlled until Gen. Douglas MacArthur planned a successful campaign where he landed UN (90% US) forces at Inchon, far north of where the North Korean Army was fighting. That was a turning point of the war as the NK Army began withdrawing and the SK Army + the UN (US) began pursuing. 

By October, 1950, the SK Army, and the UN/US forces had reached the Chosin

Reservoir with little to no resistance from the NK Army. The Chosin Reservoir is just south of the Yalu River, the border with Communist China.

Seemingly out of nowhere in November of 1950 120,000 Chinese soldiers moved to surround the 30,000 UN forces. It was freezing cold (hence the nickname "Frozen Chosin), the Chinese were relentless in their attacks and it was determined that the UN forces needed to head to the coast for evacuation, which they did, through the Chinese army. 

What follows I learned in 2019, 69 years after the event. Granted, I was not alive at the time, but still, he waited 69 years to tell me?! Please! As Hugh told me about it, there was no drama, just a father telling his son a story. I was incredulous, having read the history of the Frozen Chosin, to find out that my dad had played a part in rescuing those men, the Marines, specifically.

It is at this point that Hugh Sheffield enters the picture. In Japan, where he happened to be in December of 1950, US Navy pilots were ordered onto 8 PBY amphibious aircraft to pick up as many US Marines as possible at a place called Hungnam. They ran missions back and forth from Japan and Hangnam until the Marines were all evacuated. Most were taken by ship, some went by PBY flown by Hugh and the other Navy pilots. They had to get the Marines out as quickly as they could because the Chinese Army was all around them. So Hugh Sheffield was a part of the fighting evacuation of the Marines from Chosin. Pretty cool.

Read up on the Chosin Reservoir and the fighting evacuation. Lots of books have been written about it. It's very famous and helped build the Marines mystique. 

1970 - Retirement or Misery

I remember one day in Georgia my dad coming home and telling us we could all move to Misery (Missouri, for the two of you proud of the state) for what would most likely be three years or he could retire. 

A few thoughts came into my 11 year old mind:

• What in the Sam Hill is the US Navy doing in Missouri?!
• What would life be like to live like all the little people out in the world away from a base, grocery shopping in a, in a, in a...STORE? And...
• What in the Sam Hill is the US Navy doing in Missouri?!

Missouri for heaven's sake! I could not get over that one.

I had spent my whole life, all 11 years in the Navy and could not imagine what life was like outside of the safety of the US government (don't laugh, I really thought that and I was only 11).

But this is not about me...mostly.

My Dad, LCDR HD Sheffield had decided he would not advance any further and his career was over. I think when he came home with the options of Missouri or retirement, there was only one option for him. 

Anyone who has done something and given their heart and soul to it, knows what it is like to come to the conclusion that it's time to part ways with that love. Dad had reached that point. He had served the Navy well everywhere they sent him and had been a part of some of the 20th Century history's most epic events, had served in a way no other Navy officer had served, and the Navy did not love him back as he loved it. 

After 22 years of active duty around the world and three wars, it was time.

We packed up our belongings...ok, the Navy packed up our belongings and we headed to California where both sets of grandparents lived (my grands, not dad's). We settled in San Jose, for what reason I would not find out about for 48 years.

Just to be clear, this is not a memorial for my dad. He's still around at 92 1/2 (we use 1/2's for kids and seniors because it means more at those ages. Have you had a person tell you they were 43 1/2? I think not.) and doing pretty well.

(Monty Python and the Holy Grail, FYI)

Also, I am not the blond kid in the background left behind my dad. I am in the background on the right hidden in the crowd.

1945 - The Beginning*

War is raging in Europe and the islands around Japan. The United States of America is fighting on both fronts and, while we now have the upper hand, don't know how much longer this World War will last. The military must still recruit young men for the war effort. It had been estimated to attack the Japanese mainland would require 2 million soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen (initially). Zoom in on Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno, CA, home of the Rough Riders. A Naval recruiter steps on to school campus and speaks to the boys of Roosevelt. This particular recruiter is looking for a specific type of boy for a specific task, naval aviation - Navy pilots. He offers a free round trip to San Francisco on the train to see if any of the boys would qualify to be a naval aviator. To be clear, he offers all the eligible boys a roundtrip to San Francisco.

Let's get this straight: a bunch of high school boys from Fresno are offered a free trip to San Francisco, a place most of them had never seen in person, to see if they could fly airplanes?! Um, yes please!

Many, if not most of these boys took the Naval recruiter up on the offer and early one morning caboosed...um tracked...ah, rode the train to San Francisco where they were taken to a hotel along with boys from other schools as well and given written tests, physical tasks, and interviews over the course of the day.

One by one all his friends, acquaintances, and classmates dropped out and by the end of the day, the only one left was the son of Alton and Lucille Sheffield, brother of Alton, Jr. (Sheff), Lajuana Jean, and Jurhee - Hughie Don Sheffield.

He was signed up then and there and offered two years of college, flight school, then to be a Naval Aviator. He was considered on active duty for WWII, even though he was still in high school because the Navy had their hooks in him and had planned out his next few years, with Hughie and his parents permission, of course.

*This blog is recollections of Hugh (he changed his name from Hughie to Hugh somewhere in his adulthood, go figure [and still named me "Kim!" What the heck!]) Sheffield as either written down by him or as told to the author, the aforementioned "Kim," the youngest of three children: Debbie, Cheryl, and me with his wife of 68 years, Marilyn. Sometimes what I write as facts may not be 100% accurate. They are memories and as we all know when we have misplaced our car keys, are often not perfect. I am doing my best to be as accurate as possible, but the main purpose of this blog is to retell the amazing story of one of the greatest generation and all he has experienced in his career as a Naval Aviator. As a very good friend of mine tells me often, "You need to write your dad's story down before it's lost forever." He's right. So this is the first of many stories I will tell of my hero, my Dad - Hughie (we kids like to remind him of his humble beginnings) Don Sheffield, US Navy.

(This pic has a hint of a future blog post. Hint: note the rank on his shoulder boards. A nickel for anyone (other than Joseph) who can ID this rank.)