Van of Valor

The Tree That Saved Him

Chuck Deeters was a full-time college student working double shifts when his draft board decided night school “didn’t count.” He was drafted in 1969 and sent to Vietnam with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

What followed was 14 months of jungle patrols, ambushes, and moments of pure luck that defy explanation.

In this interview:

The draft board that didn’t count night school

Landing at Cam Ranh Bay and seeing gunships firing into the jungle

20-day patrols, sleeping in hammocks, and calling artillery on his own position

Friendly fire that killed three men in his squad

Laying flat as 80 NVA soldiers walked within feet of his 14-man team

Stepping on an 18-foot python that had just swallowed a deer

The morning Charlie Company was nearly wiped out

Getting shot in the back of the head and pulling the bullet out himself

15 years of jungle rot cured by oregano oil

34 years as a school principal at Scott Air Force Base

Big Lesson:
“You’ve got to smile, otherwise you cry. Work together as a team. Back up your buddies.”

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