Soldier's wife learned husband survived battle in Vietnam

Soldier's wife learned husband survived battle
By SHERRI BROWN - LaGrange Daily News

LAGRANGE, Ga. -- Her life was measured in news reports. She watched the early morning news and the evening news on television, combed the newspaper photos and reports, looking for any word of her husband and the war he fought on the other side of the world.

It was October 1967 and Patty Longgrear, 21, and her infant daughter, Honey Lee, had moved in with her parents and younger sister while her army husband fought in Vietnam. Living in Columbus, she arranged her days around every television newscast and memorized the location of every local newsstand.

Her father, a retired army colonel, had received a letter from his son-in-law, Paul Longgrear, with the news that he was heading to Lang Vei and warning him that it could be a volatile battle ahead. Patty Longgrear did not receive the same letter.

"He would never have told me anything that would have made me worry. He's always protective. He had written to my dad, but my dad didn't tell me either. The news went from protective husband to protective father," Patty Longgrear said.

She did know he was in Lang Vei, but didn't know the potential for trouble.

"I heard about it on the morning news. It was 7 a.m. It was a really big thing because it was the first time the North Vietnamese used Russian tanks in the war. This was more than just another battle," she said. "They said the North Vietnamese army had overrun the special forces because of the tanks. It was devastating."

Word went out that only 14 soldiers had survived the battle. Before the day was over, photos of two American soldiers were shown on national television. Neither was Paul Longgrear.

"We knew it was a dire situation. You go into shock mode," Longgrear said. "I was glued to the television. Everything else stopped. You focused on what news we could get - and that wasn't much. The communication was not anything like it is now."

The one thing Longgrear didn't want to hear was the doorbell ringing.
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