Tennessee Valley Veterans Return to Vietnam, Reflect on Trip

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — It’s a war that still haunts some of the veterans who fought in it.

More than 58,000 Americans were killed or missing in the Vietnam War, and some of the survivors were tortured in prison camps.

And when the servicemen and women returned to the U.S., they did not get the customary warm welcome they expected.

Despite those bad memories, some local vets teamed up with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Business to return to Vietnam for the first time since they served there.

What they found there, was not what they had expected.

Tennessee Valley veterans Bill Raines and Bill Gauntt served in the Vietnam War in different military branches, and roles around the same time.

More than 40 years later, they recently returned to the country together, to reflect on their time there.

Major General Bill Raines says he was hesitant to go back.

“I never anticipated going back to Vietnam,” Raines said. “I was so happy to be back in the good ole USA, the real world as it was called, that I kissed the ground when I got back.”

Gen. Raines says he had a lot of negative thoughts while in Vietnam, and when he returned to the U.S.

But over the years, a lot of people encouraged him to make this trip, including Vietnam veteran and POW, Sen. John McCain.

“He said, ‘Bill, look, the people of Vietnam love you. If I can forgive and forget, you can too. You ought to go.’ And so that was 15 years ago, and that has haunted me several years. I had no excuse. If I was ever going to go, I needed to go now. So I went back and certainly, it helped me change my reflections on that year that I spent over there,” Raines said.

Raines was an Army battery commander at the time on the DMZ, and wanted to visit the firebase where Medal of Honor recipient Mitchell Stout, a Lenoir City, Tennessee native, was killed. He wanted to pay his respects.

“When the battle had subsided, he was in his bunker, and a grenade was thrown into the bunker,” Raines said. “He picked up the grenade, and was running out the door when it exploded, killing him, but saving the lives of about nine other soldiers there.”

This trip was also emotional for Air Force veteran and pilot, Lt. Col. Bill Gauntt.

On the trip, the group went back to the site where Gauntt’s fighter plane was shot down and crashed on August 13, 1972. It killed his backseater and good friend, Fran Townsend.

“He and I had flown a number of missions together before this fateful day,” Gauntt said.

Even though he had visited Vietnam a few years ago, this was Gauntt’s first time meeting a Vietnamese man, who had taken care of the crash site all these years.

“He said, ‘We knew you would return one of these days, and so I saved something for you,'” Gauntt said. “As we were getting ready to leave, he came out, he brought three pieces of the airplane to me that he gave to me to bring back – part of the canopy, part of the metal frame, and part of the engine turbofan blades.”

After the crash, Gauntt was eventually captured and taken to Hanoi, where he was held in a prison camp for about 230 days.

He says he wasn’t tortured, but he went without food, and was put in solitary confinement a few times.

But on this recent trip to the prison, Gauntt says he had a much more pleasant experience.

“They had arranged unbeknownst to me, a special ceremony when I returned to the prison, just for me, and cameras and newspaper people and then a special tour guide at the site, along with the other people in the group, and so that was kind’ve a unique experience to be welcomed back to the prison site as an honored guest,” Gauntt said.

Bill Raines says spending time in Vietnam allowed him to see that the war made a difference.

“But Vietnam, the people, the seeds we planted with free enterprises flourishing, the Vietnamese people know that we were there for the right reasons,” Raines said. “We weren’t there to colonize them, and so that is a really good feeling, more positive. I think our country ought to send every Vietnam veteran back to Vietnam if they would like to, to see the fruits of our labor, and our sacrifices that were tremendous sacrifices made.”

Gauntt also encourages Vietnam vets to visit, saying this trip brought him closure.

“War is always a tragic event, and there are things that occur that are tragic,” Gauntt said. “There is recovery. I mean, and you can get by. You can get over and live your life, and realize there’s a reason for you being here. I’ve asked that question many times of myself, but I know why I survived in the last 40 years to help other people understand and help my family get through it, so it’s a life changing experience.”