Vet News: Basic Trainees Carry Legacy of Vietnam Vets

FORT BENNING, Ga., July 12, 2006 -- Pvt. Jay Grassel believes he has a lot in common with Pfc. James Murphy. Both Pittsburgh natives joined the Army at 19, fresh out of high school. Both were assigned to 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment.

When the going gets tough, Grassel looks to Murphy for inspiration.

But Murphy doesn't know it. He was killed by small arms fire 44 days after arriving in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago.

"He knew he was going to war when he enlisted. I enlisted knowing I’ll go to war," said Grassel, who's training with the 1st Bn., 50th Inf. Regt.'s C Company on Sand Hill. "I've had some hard times here, when I want to go home. That's when he gives me strength."

Grassel carries in his breast pocket an index card, tucked inside a zip-lock plastic bag, with Murphy's name on it. The Legacy Card bears Murphy's birth date, hometown, date of enlistment, where and with what unit he served, the date and cause of his death, and where his name can be found on the Vietnam Wall. Grassel knows every word by heart.

All 200 of his C Company comrades and the cadre carry similar cards, each inscribed with the name of a Soldier from the 1st Bn., 50th Inf. Regt., killed in combat in Vietnam. They were given the cards after the third week of basic training, after the "total control phase," when the drill sergeants began teaching them the Army values.

The Soldiers will carry the Legacy Cards, which reinforce the value of honor, until they're given their crossed rifle pins in a ceremony on Honor Hill in their 13th week of basic training, just days before their Aug. 25 graduation. Then they'll lay their cards at the foot of the 1st Bn., 50th Inf. Regt., memorial outside their headquarters building.

"To some of these kids, the Vietnam War is about as foreign as the Civil War. I tell them wars are fought not by guys my age, but kids their age, just like them. That makes it real to them,” Robinson said. “They need to know the history of the unit and carry on that legacy."

Since the company began distributing the cards three cycles ago, the attrition rate has declined drastically, Robinson said, though he wouldn't commit to hard figures. But he knows the cards are making an impact on the unit and the individual Soldiers.

At the end of each cycle, Robinson sorts through the cards to see which ones are worn and need replacing. Occasionally, he said, he'll find one that's been improvised.

"They're supposed to keep it on them at all times and never lose it. But I've seen where they'll write it verbatim on a part of an MRE box because the first one got lost or damaged," he said. "That tells me they've taken it to heart."

SOURCE: VNIS - American Forces Press Service