14 U.S. VETERANS MAGAZINE WWW.USVETERANSMAGAZINE.COM
FEATURE
effect on them. I had a couple of incidents in Vietnam. One was getting wounded, which actually was not particularly traumatic; it was kind of a great adventure. I was 19 and felt a little bit like a character in Steven Cranes novel, The Red Badge of Courage. The Confederate Army said to the Yankee kid, dont get yourself a red badge of courage; in other words, dont get yourself shot. So, I was under a tree with three other guys, and we were shooting in all directions, and we really didnt know where the enemy was. As luck would have it, the enemy was behind us, and we were shooting in the wrong direction. That morning, I had never seen combat before, and I had no idea how disorganized it was. But the day before, we had lost 14 guys; I think only two of them died, maybe three, but this battle went on for three hours. We had helicopters, artillery, M-16s and machine guns; it was just unbelievable. I got up the next morning, and I got a feeling I was going to get shot. So, I took my Army poncho, folded it up and put it behind my pistol belt. That way, if a bullet or some shrapnel hit me, I would have some protection over my spinal cord. And guess what? Im standing behind this tree and firing my rifle, and the next thing I know, I can't fire my rifle anymore. I've got shrapnel in my right arm. My fingers are straight out like theyre paralyzed, so I started moving my toes because, you know, people say if youre wounded, but you can move your toes, that means your legs are still there. I was all alone because one guy panicked, dropped his rifle, and started running through the woods. Then my platoon sergeant went after him to keep him from being captured or killed, and I was sitting there by myself. I was able to get another magazine in the rifle and chamber it so it would be ready if I had to use it on somebody, and I was looking for targets. I said to myself I think Im bleeding to death, and I dont think I can shoot anybody. I was bleeding out. I said the Lords Prayer; I said it because this was it. I prayed to God and said, this is not fair. Im 19 years old, and I think I dont deserve this. I had kind of an out-of-body experience, and I was kind of looking down at myself and my spirit or whatever is going up, and Im watching my body there. So, a weird experience. These guys started carrying me in a stupid stretcher they made out of my Army poncho, and Im singing Leaving On a Jet Plane. I got to the field hospital, and the next day I said to myself, this is friggin cool; Im 19 years old, I got shot full of holes and the Army poncho is what kept my spine from probably being seriously severed or certainly hit because it stopped a lot of shrapnel. One piece was bigger than a golf ball. It stopped it. I started talking to this guy, the one who ran away, and I say to him, Hey man, we
(L-R) Arrival in Vietnam. Jan Scruggs with mother, Louise Scruggs. Carrying his rifle on patrol near Xuan Loc, Vietnam.
BILL SHUGARTS
The plaque was dedicated in 2004.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JAN SCRUGGS
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