JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Retired Army Col. Carl “Skip” Bell shared the more fond moments of his two tours during the Vietnam War, one on the ground and one in the air.
Bell was the guest speaker at a ceremony in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day March 29 at The Wall That Heals at Newtown Park, a monument that memorializes more than 58,000 lost in the Vietnam War.
The event was held through a partnership between the Johns Creek Veterans Association and the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association, which Bell serves as chairman.
“Like most of y’all, I have some good memories of my tours in Vietnam, and I got bad memories, and what I would like to talk about today is some of the good ones,” Bell told the crowd, many of them, veterans of the war.
On his second day as a cavalry troop commander, Bell said he was assigned to cover a convoy that had been ambushed. A track vehicle in the lead platoon cut out of formation to fetch cases of beer that were in the back of a burning truck, he said, one hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
“This is in a firefight, and I call the lead platoon leader up, and I say, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ And his answer was, ‘Two cases are yours,’” Bell said. “You gotta love soldiers.”
When looking back at the positive aspects of his Vietnam War experience, Bell said he met people he otherwise wouldn’t have and made lifelong friends because of it.
“I am closer to some of those folks than I am to my own brothers,” he said.
Bell also said the experience has allowed him to connect with other Vietnam War veterans, a group he said he feels the safest around.
“I know who you are and what you’ve done, and I appreciate that,” Bell said.
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