We have been learning about Porter’s Dan Dybsetter and his Vietnam service. Dan graduated Canby High School in 1963, graduated from SMSU in 1968, and was drafted into the Army. The Army trained him as an Infantryman and deployed him to Vietnam in March 1969.

The Army assigned Dan to the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta where his Infantry Company did a lot of combat patrolling. His platoon leader asked him to carry the radio after the platoon sergeant’s RTO (radio telephone operator) was wounded. Dan recalled thinking that over.

“I thought nobody wanted to carry the radio. They weighed 26 pounds plus your ammo, water, grenades and other stuff. But you didn’t have to carry machine gun ammo and extra stuff. So, I took the radio and ended up being RTO the rest of my time in the field. I started carrying the radio for the platoon leader and ended up carrying the radio for the company commander.”

Dan explained how this changed his role in his unit.

“Your job was communications. You still carried your rifle and you would shoot back in a firefight, but your primary job was to answer the radio or call for help.”

This change in duty became clear later that month on a combat patrol.

“I was carrying the radio for the platoon leader. 2nd Platoon was in front of us. They were going to let 2nd Platoon come back and 3rd Platoon go up and take point. Just as we were doing that machine guns opened up on us. So, everybody dived in this canal. On your hands and knees you were in water up to your neck. I had been carrying the radio for a couple weeks by then. So, when I dived in the canal I put my rifle down and kept my radio handset up. These handsets were not waterproof. So, I had a working radio, but my rifle was in the mud. They had us pull back to a cross-dike a little bit behind us. The wounded guys were up front. We backed up and they were shooting at us down this canal. If you stayed in tall grass on the edge it didn’t seem like the rounds were coming into the grass. So, we got back to the cross-dike.”

Dan began clearing mud from his rifle when his squad leader told him the unit needed his radio up front.

“The front of the column was where the FO (forward observer) was. They didn’t have a working radio and they needed to call in artillery on those bunkers. I had to go back up that canal and 2nd platoon was still coming down. They had right-of-way as they were coming down with the wounded. So, every time we passed I had to get into the open. Don’t ask me how, but I made it up there and the artillery FO used my radio to call in artillery. Then we pulled back to the cross-dike and stayed there in water up to our necks. We knew we had to assault that wood line in the morning. The next morning we started up the trail. They had pulled out. They chose not to fight.”

Dan explained finding bunkers in the Mekong Delta was not unique and that fear was a constant companion.

“Every wood line you went into had bunkers and every hootch had a bunker in it. I felt fear all the time. You had a little knot in the pit of your stomach that never went away. By Thanksgiving I was running on automatic pilot because after a while you started to shut down emotionally.”

Thanksgiving brought Dan a different challenge.

“We were on our night ambush, set up around a cluster of hootches. I was carrying the radio for the company commander. That night was quiet. During the night a mama-san from this hootch came with a lantern and wanted to go. We’ve got our ambushes in the area. It wouldn’t have been safe to let her go. My commander said, ‘Somebody find out what the deal is.’ Somebody went and here is a woman about ready to give birth. This lady wanted to get the midwife. They sent the medic, a Black guy named Brown. The commander said, ‘Dybsetter, go in and help Brown.’ Farm kids are supposed to know about birthing and that sort of thing. (Dan chuckled) I went in and Brown wanted me to boil water, but there wasn’t any way to do that, so we gathered up towels. I turned around and came back and she had this little baby without hardly a whimper. He was holding this little baby boy and he gave the baby to me. They must have trained on childbirth because he knew what to do. He made cloth strips and tied off the umbilical cord before he cut it. Then he wrapped the baby up and gave it to Mom. I was proud of him.”

Serving as his commander’s RTO gave Dan other, more sobering responsibilities.

“When I got to be RTO for the commander, I called in quite a few dust-offs and helped load bodies on the chopper. Guys would get hit and they were just gone. We had a memorial service for people that were killed.”

Dan was nearing nine months in-country.

The Lyon County Museum has opened an exhibit about the Vietnam War and Lyon County. If you would like to share Vietnam experiences or help with the exhibit, please contact me at prairieviewpressllc@gmail.com or the museum at 537-6580.