November 11, 1998
Sp/4 Bennett J. Herrick
Company B 3rd Battalion 506th Infantry
1st Brigade 101st Airborne Div
Panel 46E Line 17
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington, DC
Dear Ben,
It's been 30 years since I last saw you being evacuated from the battlefield, February 20, 1968. I can still see your face as our eyes meet and you gave me the thumbs up. As that duce-and-a-half pulled away passed Charlie Company I thought to myself, "at least you were out of this hell for awhile". The battle for Phan Thiet continued on for some time and we never saw each other again.
Our next contact would be March 25, 1968 when the medi evac brought your body in. Charlie Company had been brought back to LZ Betty for some R&R and I was drinking beer at the NCO club when I heard the Huey that brought you in from the field on you journey home. I don't remember who it was, but someone came in and told me that you had been KIA and it was you on that chopper. Bennie I was so upset that I drank myself into a stupor and Lt. Cox had to carry me back to my hooch.
The next day I was told that someone had bugged out on you which resulted in your death and I was plotting his demise when I learned that I had been misinformed. For the next several days I could hear the generator going at the Graves Registration tent and I wanted to go there and say goodbye but I just couldn't get myself to enter that refer to talk to you. You were sent home and I went on to a second tour with the 5th Special Forces.
Looking back at our days at Fort Campbell it is hard to comprehend that I made it through 2 tours of duty in Vietnam and all these years as a policeman and you died at such a young age. Ben I can guarantee that so long as I live you will not be forgotten.
After I returned to the States and became a PFC, enrolled at Kansas State University and studied political science. I was dating a girl from Kansas City and every time I visited her or passed through on my way back to Indiana I wanted to call your folks and talk to them but I just couldn't get up the nerve to do it.
I got married in 1972 and my wonderful wife Donna can tell you that I have gone as far as looking in the telephone directory for your parent's number but I could never call.
We went on to raise 2 wonderful children, Kim and JL and watch them grow into young adults. Kim has graduated from college and married a fine young policeman. JL is a junior in college and would make a good trooper.
Both of them went skydiving with me a couple of years ago. It was really strange seeing my kids jump out of a perfectly good airplane. But having been there and done that you know the feeling of jumping. It is a bit different from a small civilian aircraft rather then a C119 or C130.
Last year I contacted the Kansas City Star and asked them to research your name. A very nice lady named Jennifer Dalton wrote back and gave me the details from your obituary and also gave me the telephone number of you mom and dad. Well… this past spring I finally got up the nerve and made the call. Your dad answered the phone and I just said, " Mr. Herrick I was a friend of Ben's, would you mind talking to me"? He certainly did and we talked for about an hour. I told him about our battalion PIO, Jerry Berry who is in the process of writing a book about our battalions formation at Fort Campbell, the boat trip on the USNS Wm. Wiegel through the units first year in Vietnam. I also told him that the 506th Infantry Association reunion was scheduled for July of this year. Your dad asked if he and your mom could come and I told him that they would be welcomed at the reunion and as members of the association.
We exchanged addresses and I sent your folks some pictures I had and your dad sent me a copy of the Western Union Telegram they received and also a copy of Captain Pearson's letter along with a photo of you. Your dad sent Jerry a wealth on information about you and you will be in his book, which will allow others to read about yourself and other Currahee's that made the supreme sacrifice.
On to the Currahee reunion. Your folks made it to Reno and Donna & I met them in the hotel lobby and we all went to breakfast. We had a good meal and a lot of good conversation about you and your brother Dennis. You and Dennis should be very proud of your wonderful parents. They have maintained such a great attitude after loosing 2 sons to Vietnam. I was deeply saddened when I learned that your brother had also died in the Nam. The scholarship fund your folks started in memory of you has helped several drama students go on to college and they are very active in Vietnam Veteran affairs. They traveled to Washington, DC this September for a Gold Star Mothers national meeting and we hope to visit with them again in the future. During the reunion they meet several of the guys but I think the highlight for them is when they meet Captain Pearson and he gave them the details of your death. I was talking to your mom later that evening and when I asked her how they were doing, she replied, "Mike you don't know what it means to us to know that someone got that son of a bitch that killed our son". I've enclosed a picture of Captain Pearson presenting a 506th Infantry Association hat with your name embroidered on it to you parents. They were so proud. I can't tell you how much it meant to all of us to see the joy in their faces and feel the sadness in their hearts as they sat around and looked at the slides and photos that were in the hospitality rooms. Jerry Berry has hundreds of photos and slides of our operations and our base camp at LZ Betty. It's hard to describe the feelings, as we looked at those images from so long ago.
We had a memorial service for all of our fallen comrades. It was a very simple but solemn candle lighting ceremony. I don't think there was a dry eye in the banquet room. After the service and a few words by the association officers I had the privilege of introducing your wonderful parents, Loren and Marge to those attending and they addressed the group. I think your dad surprised several people when he told of his part in WW II as crewman on a troop carrier dropping the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment into Europe. He was so proud when he talked about the day you came home and told them you had enlisted "to do your part" and he was overwhelmed when he talked about your assignment to the 506th. What a coincidence, there were some WW II vets at the reunion that your dad may have dropped into Holland. I think they really enjoyed talking. That was one of the really neat things about this get together, there were vets from WW II through Vietnam from the 506th and we all respected each other for what we are, veterans of the 506th Infantry Regiment.
I'm sorry it took 30 years for me to accomplish this mission but maybe it was best that I did. There are a couple of other guys who have been thinking about the same type of thing and have not been able to make the call. However, after talking to your parents and being reassured that it is the right thing to do I think they will call their friends parents too. I sure hope they do because after seeing the happiness it brought to your folks I hate to see other parents of KIA's denied the information about their sons that some of us may have. I think it also exorcised some of the demons that Captain Pearson has had to deal with all these years. The responsibility of command and loosing some of your men is overwhelming even though you know in your heart you did the best you could do. I didn't know Pearson in the Nam but he is a fine man and I'm sure you were proud to serve with him.
I've enclosed a couple of photographs from the reunion. One of them is of my wife Donna, Mike Pearson, your mom and Mario Escabar at the reception; the other is of Jerry Berry and me. I thought you might like to see what we look like today. Some of us haven't changed much like Jerry, still skinny as a rail and I've put on about a hundred pounds.
The reunion came to an end and about 20 of us met for breakfast and after some tearful good-byes we went our separate ways.
Ben, I must close now and I'll talk to you again the next time I visit the Wall.
Your friend always,
Mike Krawczyk
C 3/506th Infantry 101st Airborne
RVN 1967-1968
These pages are maintained by veterans of the 506th Infantry Regiment
Send comments to: Currahee