Dale Bernard: Combat in Vietnam and Desert Storm

 

BY DONNA CULOTTA
    The other day I sat down with Dale Bernard of Marksville and we talked about his many years of military service. Veterans Day is celebrated Nov. 11 and I wanted to honor them all by talking to one.
    When he entered the United States Army in 1966, Dale was sent immediately to South Korea. As an E-5 he worked aircraft maintenance.
   “One day, while stationed in Korea, they called four or five of us and told us we were going to Vietnam,” Dale related.  “I became a supply sergeant and ordered equipment and handed out clothes and other things to the servicemen.”
   Although he wasn’t in direct combat, Dale was in a combat zone, which was just as bad, especially in Vietnam.
   “We had mortar fire every night. One time I was in a jeep with a friend and a shell hit real close. Shrapnel hit my leg so I went to the medic station to be patched up and I was sent back.”
   Another occasion that Dale remembered vividly was a time when he flew with a friend who was a pilot. “We flew over the jungle and followed the canals. We were fired upon by the Viet Cong and when we landed there were bullet holes in the back of the plane. 
“The next time the pilot went up he asked me to go but I didn’t fly with him that day. He was shot down and treated brutally then killed.” Shaking his head, Dale said, “I saw things (in Vietnam) I wish I had never seen.”
   When Dale and other Vietnam vets returned home to the United States they were treated with very little respect. “They called us baby killers and spit on us.”
   It wasn’t until after Dale’s Marksville National Guard unit returned from the Gulf War when things changed. “We landed in California and were told all Vietnam vets go to the left and Gulf War vets go to the right. We were treated to punch and cake; it was the first time we were recognized and it made us all feel good.”
   Back tracking a little bit, Dale entered the National Guard when he got out of active duty. He was a member of the 527th Engineer Battalion in the Marksville unit. 
   His time of service was 34 years. Not only did his service in the National Guard take him to Saudi Arabia, he was in Belize helping rebuild a school. Dale’s service in the Gulf War was harder because by that time he had a wife and three children. 
   Even though his time in the Middle East was only six months where they built roads and air strips, “It seemed like forever for us,” Dale’s wife Mary said. “But he always managed to call home; he was going to find a phone and call.”
“I really enjoyed being in the National Guard and would have stayed longer but diabetes forced me out. I can’t say anything bad about the service; the Marksville group was one big happy family.”
   To emphasize the point Dale spoke fondly about Idal Guillot of Fifth Ward and Tom Wall of Marksville, both of whom have died. As a mess sergeant, Dale said, “Those two were my back up people. I told them what to fix and they cooked it. Idal was a good cook and Tom made the best baked goods.”
    It makes no difference if you served with a gun or a clipboard. War demands the best to be better and those who are called to fulfill a duty. The smallest act adds up to the whole of dignified service. This is what Dale Bernard can be proud of and to him and all our veterans; we say a deep and heartfelt thank you.