Sheriff Joseph M. Underwood Jr. recalls service in Vietnam

Sheriff recalls service in Vietnam


By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:35 AM EDT
Dowagiac Daily News - MI, USA
Cass County Sheriff Joseph M. Underwood Jr.'s great-uncle died in the Civil War on the same date he was wounded in Vietnam, Nov. 9.


Carl Biek and Ann Biek helped conduct the veterans tribute put on after the parade at Riverside Cemetery by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1855 and its Auxiliary.

His grandfather fought in World War I, his dad in World War II.

Underwood, Dowagiac's keynote Memorial Day speaker, recalled Monday being drafted for Vietnam and "going from a young, carefree 19-year-old" to traveling by train to a destination he thought was Fort Knox, Ky., but turned out to be Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

"What an experience," the sheriff said from the podium erected in front of City Hall. "You had to grow up very, very fast. We became trained and, in a short period of time, I found myself getting off the plane in Saigon on Christmas Eve. I'll never forget that day or that night, hearing gunfire, seeing flashes of light, hearing screams. The next day, seeing the wounded and those who died. This is what we had trained for. Were we ready for the next step?"

Underwood was wounded on Nov. 9 after serving 11 months in Vietnam.
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Sheriff recalls service in Vietnam