Vietnam Vet Recalls Serving with Quality People
As a young captain, Mike Roddy had an unsettling first night in Vietnam in January 1970. He was kept awake by the horrible nightmares of Soldiers whod been in the war zone for multiple tours.
Im thinking, What have I gotten myself into? Roddy recalled.
But the two and a half years he spent in Vietnam proved to be personally fulfilling. Roddy decided to stay in the Army and retired as a colonel in 1996 after 30 years.
The thing that stands out in my mind (about Vietnam) is the quality of the people you were working with, he said, whether it was enlisted men when I as a company commander or senior officers when I was down at Long Binh. Everybody had a job to do and they did it to the best of their ability.
Roddy, an Ordnance officer, served as commander of C Company, 704th Maintenance Battalion. Later he became a staff officer at the Armys headquarters in Long Binh. He once delivered a briefing to a roomful of general officers that included Gen. William Westmoreland, chief of staff of the Army, on Westmorelands farewell retirement tour.
The mortar attacks from the enemy were constant. Occasionally these mortars would hit close by, Roddy said. He recalled that a young Soldier he worked with was killed.
During rest and relaxation trips, Roddy took advantage of the opportunity to see the world. He visited Hong Kong and Australia, among other places.
And he had the chance to meet Soldiers with whom he would reunite later in his career. Roddy left Vietnam in April 1972.
This was a different era. Unlike todays celebratory receptions for Soldiers returning from war, there were protests against Americas involvement in Vietnam. I would say I experienced almost no reaction, Roddy said of his return.
He appreciates that todays veterans are being welcomed back with open arms. Im so pleased theyre being recognized where our generation wasnt, he said.
Roddy, 70, grew up on a farm near Nebraska City, Nebraska. He was the oldest of six children five sons and one daughter of Mike Jr. and Catherine Sullivan Roddy. His father was a farmer who served in World War II as a sergeant. His mother was a registered nurse.
He was in ROTC and graduated from Notre Dame in 1966 with a bachelors in mechanical engineering. He got his masters in mechanical engineering from Notre Dame in 1975.
His 30-year Army career included three tours at Redstone. He attended missile training here in 1966, served with the old Viper program from 1979-82 and was the Javelin project manager from 1992-96. Roddy worked with industry after leaving the military. He retired in March 2014 as director of Army business development for Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc. in Huntsville.
Roddy resides in Madison, where he attends St. Johns Catholic Church. He serves as secretary of the Redstone-Huntsville Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army, and as secretary of the National Defense Industrial Associations Space and Missile Defense Working Group. He is also a member of the Kiwanis Club of Huntsville.
I think we possibly couldve won the war (in Vietnam) if we had let the military run the war instead of the politicians, he said. I think it was a sad time in our Army to leave without winning the war.
Tags: Veterans News
