Groton’s Gary Watrous reflects on time spent in Vietnam — then and now

By Linda Competillo

As the year comes to a close, Gary Watrous is reflecting on a different sort of closure — his trip to Vietnam, where he served in the U.S. Army nearly 56 years ago. Gary and his wife, Kathy, joined Charlie and Janet Lieb and Peter and Christine Meloro on a 15-day quest for closure on the time Gary, Charlie and Peter had spent there.

“Charlie talked about going back for years, but I had no interest in it,” Gary said. “Actually, neither of us really wanted to, but finally Charlie made a plan and invited us and the Meloros to go, so we went.”

The three “comrades in arms” have remained in contact through the years and had seen one another periodically at reunions. Most interesting, though, is that they rarely saw one another while in Vietnam but became close via radio communication.

“I was 19 when I went over [to Vietnam], and I was the youngest in our area, so they gave me the [radio] call name Teenager,” Gary explained. “Charlie’s call name was Tuna, and we only knew one another by those names for most of the time we were over there because radio was the only communication we had.”

Gary and Charlie each led a platoon but were out in the jungle miles away from one another. Peter was the company clerk, described by Gary as their “Radar O’Reilly from M.A.S.H.” They rarely, if ever, saw one another until the last two months of Gary’s tour of duty.

“Charlie and I spent every day together those last two months at a fire base, which is an area that had a perimeter on a hilltop that would make it difficult for the enemy to reach,” Gary explained. “That’s when we became good friends.”

And so, the friends reunited in this very special way as they visited the country they’d actually seen very little of when they were there previously. Gary said that he never saw a civilian or a village or a road the whole time because they were always in the jungle, so everything he saw on the recent trip was brand new to him.

Gary and Kathy shared many photos and stories about the trip that would fill a book, but some of the highlights began in Hanoi, which took three airline flights to reach.There, they connected with the others and embarked on the guided tour that Charlie had arranged.

Some of the other cities they toured were Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. Gary said that they tried to get the tour guide to take them to “Ripcord,” the hilltop where he and Charlie had spent their last two months in Vietnam together, and where Gary had been wounded, but they were told that it was too overgrown to even find.

“We went all over in every mode of transportation there was,” Kathy said. “We traveled by vans, rickshaws and Vespas, which were electric scooters, and fishing boats, which were baskets made by the Vietnamese women. In fact, the women do all the work over there!”

Both Gary and Kathy were amazed that everyone spoke English everywhere, and that the children were well dressed and wore school uniforms. Overall, they said the trip was beyond what they could have imagined — that everything was lovely, the food was wonderful and the only thing they needed to be aware of was to drink only bottled water.

“I had many sleepless nights even thinking about going back,” Gary said. “It was just too emotional. I was worried about being welcomed, but everyone was very friendly and welcoming, especially the children.”

“This trip meant a lot to me because Gary had talked about his time in Vietnam, but never any details, not even in the letters that he sent,” Kathy said. “I just wanted to see where he had been and go through the emotions Gary had gone through.”

“It was enlightening for us and good for all our wives,” Gary said. “It definitely gave us closure because the people are better off now than when we were there. I thought it would be more backward, but the country has progressed so much, especially in education!”

Many in Groton know Gary from his many years of service at the First National Bank of Groton. Those who might like to learn more about him and his service to the bank and to our country while serving in the Army may read the Sept. 4, 2019 issue of this column. Gary is a 1967 Groton High School (GHS) alumnus, who was inducted into the GHS Distinguished Graduate Hall of Fame in 2013, and a decorated war hero!

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at 607-227-4922. 

In brief:

Southern Gospel music concert

The Rolling Hills Southern Gospel Quartet will present at Groton City Church, 47 Groton City Rd., at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11. A free-will offering will be received, and refreshments will be served. All are welcome.

Youth basketball coaches needed

Groton Recreation is looking for coaches for its youth basketball sessions. The program is designed to introduce basketball to young players in kindergarten through second grade. Each session will be based on basic skills and fun drills/games.

All sessions will be held at the Groton Elementary School gym on Saturdays Jan. 11 through Feb. 16. Please email Becky at recreation@grotony.org  for more information or if you would like to volunteer to coach.

Town parking restrictions

Just a reminder that the parking of vehicles is prohibited on all town highway rights-of-way within the Town of Groton between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. from Nov. 1 to May 1 of each year. Violators may be fined, and vehicles may be towed at owners’ expense.